Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang – Former Education Minister
It
is turning out that the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) appeared to
have been found in the curriculum for basic schools was introduced by the
previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government in 2015.
The
CSE issue has sparked heated debate in the country after it met stiff
opposition from religious bodies in particular.
CSE
is to integrate gender, human values and sexual and reproductive health rights
perspectives into sexuality education in the country. Through CSE, it was anticipated
that at age six, Primary One pupils would be introduced to values and societal
norms, and how to interact with the different sexes and groups.
In
the ensuing heat, the Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, at a
press conference, debunked the claims that the Ghana Education Service (GES)
had approved the controversial sex education course at basic school level.
He
said neither the government nor education authorities had given the go-ahead
for the introduction of the CSE as part of the curriculum to be used in basic
schools in the next academic year.
According
to him, “the so-called Comprehensive Sexuality Education is not part of the
approved curriculum for usage for KG to Basic 6.”
As
usual, the NDC has tried to take advantage of the issue, with former President
John Mahama leading the charge and attacking the government for the initiative.
He
said the government should withdraw the CSE with immediate effect but it turned
out it was during his tenure that the CSE was first introduced.
A
Spokesperson at the Ministry of Education, Vincent Ekow Asafuah, countered the
NDC propaganda on the issue by revealing that a CSE document was published
before the NPP assumed power in January 2017.
According
to him, the material was meant to serve as a source document for teachers on
the CSE programme.
The
2015 document was signed by then Director-General of Ghana Education Service,
Mr. Jacob Aworb-Nang Maabobr Kor, under then Minister of Education, Prof. Jane
Naana Opoku Agyemang.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a former Deputy
Minister of Education under the Mahama administration, even claimed that the
government of Sweden had already committed $22 million to Ghana and the other
five countries towards the acceleration of the CSE
initiative.
He claimed that “one of the key deliverables upon which our government
received the first tranche of money is a promise to ‘overcome social resistance
and operational constraints’.”
No Money
In a
rebuttal, Chairman of the GES Council, Michael Nsowah, challenged the
claim by Okudzeto Ablakwa that the Swedish government had committed some $22 million
into the CSE programme.
According to Mr. Nsowah, the processes towards the
signing of the CSE started by the NDC government when he (Okudzeto Ablakwa) was
a deputy minister of education and has urged him to show where the said money
can be located.
He denied knowledge of any said amount paid by the Swedish government.
By Nana Kwasi
