Member of Parliament for Effia, Isaac Boamah-Nyarko, has urged parents to carefully examine the belief systems and internal culture of schools before enrolling their children.
His comments come in the wake of renewed national debate over alleged religious restrictions at Wesley Girls’ Senior High School.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Saturday, November 29, 2025, Boamah-Nyarko said parents must look beyond a school’s reputation and academic performance and pay attention to its values and practices.
According to him, parents should choose institutions that support the holistic development of their children.
“A school has its own belief system; they have their own practices. We as parents, if you want to choose a school for your child, you should look at all the complexities that are available in the school and then choose the school that you think would enhance the totality of your child,” he said.
He further stressed that the primary focus of secondary education should remain academic excellence rather than religious expression.
“What do we go to school for at the secondary level. We are going for education, we are not going to school to enhance our religious faith. The fundamental point is that we go to school to learn, which is the purpose of going to school. The religious issue comes in as part of your training and guidance,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has formally responded to a lawsuit challenging what plaintiffs describe as discriminatory religious practices at Wesley Girls’ SHS.
The suit, filed on December 24, 2024, by private legal practitioner Shafic Osman, invokes the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Articles 2(1)(b) and 130(1)(a) of the 1992 Constitution.
It contests alleged restrictions on Muslim students, including claims that they are barred from wearing the hijab, fasting during Ramadan, and observing other Islamic practices — actions the plaintiffs argue violate their constitutional rights to religious freedom.
The Attorney General’s response has reignited national conversations about the intersection of religion, education, and state policy, as stakeholders await the Supreme Court’s determination.
