The Centre for Public Opinion and Awareness (CenPOA) has strongly condemned recent comments by the Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, describing them as misleading and potentially harmful to the longstanding relationship between the government and Ghana’s faith-based schools.
The Minister had suggested that certain missionary schools, particularly Wesley Girls’ Senior High School, were engaged in “religious discrimination”, a claim CenPOA says disregards the historical foundations and contributions of mission institutions.
In a press statement signed by Michael Donyina Mensah, Executive Director on November 26, 2025 CenPOA argued that the Minister’s remarks risk creating unnecessary tension between the State and church-founded schools, which have been central to Ghana’s educational development since the pre-independence era.
The organisation stressed that missionary bodies, including the Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian and Anglican churches built their schools with their own resources, at a time when formal education was scarce.
Their aim, it said, was not only to provide academic instruction, but to instil moral, spiritual and character values rooted in Christian beliefs.
CenPOA emphasised that the academic excellence and strong value systems of mission schools made them attractive to the government, which later partnered these institutions to expand access.
Importantly, the organisation noted that it was the churches themselves that opened their schools to students of all faiths, an act it described as inclusion, not discrimination.
According to the group, insisting that mission schools must now alter their founding religious identity in order to accommodate every religious practice is “historically inaccurate” and unfair to the institutions that built the schools, long before government partnership.
Mission schools, CenPOA said, were never designed to be multi-faith spaces; their ethos and routines are intentionally centred on Christian values. Parents and students seeking an environment fully aligned with different religious practices, it argued, have numerous public, non-mission schools available to them.
“The Minister’s assertion that mission schools are violating human rights by maintaining their religious character is misleading,” the statement said, warning that such claims ignore the major contributions of church-run schools to Ghana’s education sector.
Mr. Mensah called for “constructive dialogue” instead of what it described as a combative posture from the Ministry of Education.
It urged government, mission schools, parents and other stakeholders to work collaboratively to protect both the constitutional rights of students and the religious heritage of mission-founded schools.
The organisation reiterated its commitment to promoting fairness and respect for institutions that have shaped generations of Ghanaian leaders.
It appealed to the ministry to prioritise engagement and consultation, noting that educational choice including the option of a faith-based environment remains crucial to the holistic development of young people.
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