Coalition to set up Education Fund for Muslims

Members of the Coalition of Muslim Organisations of Ghana (COMOG) have agreed to establish the National Muslim Education Trust in collaboration with other major Muslim groupings in the country.

They have also agreed to convene a round table discussion that would be attended by all stakeholders in order to develop the modalities for the Education Trust.

This was the outcome of a day’s Ramadan Iftar forum organised by the COMOG in collaboration with Human Associations International (HUDAI) and Poly Products Limited in Accra.

The forum also agreed that the initial source for funding of the Trust would be through voluntary donations.

Prominent muslim personalities who attended the event included Sheikh (Dr) Amin Bonsu, Deputy National Imam, Ghana Muslim Mission and Chief Executive Officer of Ameen Scientific Herbal Clinic; Sheikh Armiyaw Shuaib, Regional Manager, Islamic Education Unit, GES; Sheikh Ahmed Kamaludeen, National Imam, Shi’ah Muslim Community in Ghana; Hajj Haruna Yahaya, Spokesman, HUDAI; and a representative of Sheikh Khalifa A. A. Faidi Maikano Jallo, leader of the Tijanniyya Council in Ghana,

Alhaji Adam Mahama, Acting National Chairman of COMOG, said one major challenge facing Muslim initiatives was funding hence their decision to establish an education trust fund which would provide adequate opportunities for Muslim children to increase their enrolment in schools throughout the country.

“The COMOG acknowledges the several initiatives made by Muslim organisations in the past for the youth to assess quality education, yet we cannot in comparison with our counterparts claim to have adequately created a generation of Muslim intellectuals in all endeavours as prescribed by Islam,” he said.

Alhaji Mahama also expressed the hope that the fund would serve as a unifier to all Muslim sects and organisations as they would be working together.

Hajj Hayati Hilmaz, Director of HUDAI, pledged his outfit’s support to any initiative that would enhance the quality of education of the Ghanaian Muslim youth.

He said HUDAI has awarded over 100 scholarships in areas of science and technology to Ghanaian students to study in Turkey.

Dr Amin Bonsu, Chairman of the forum, said the establishment of National Education was long overdue and urged Muslim leaders to ensure that their followers embrace and subscribe to the Muslim Education Trust when it comes into being.

Sheik Nuhu Sharabutu, National Chief Imam, in a speech read on his behalf, appealed to Muslim youth to resist any attempt by groups or individuals to use them to foment any trouble in the country.

Citations were also presented to individuals and groups that had supported the growth and development of Islamic projects in the country.

Source: GNA