Mahama Promises to Expand Islamic Education and Offer Scholarships for Arabic Teachers
Freda Solomon 
Former President and presidential aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, during his campaign at the palace of the Kumbungu in the Northern Region, promised the Islamic community that he will increase the number of Islamic schools in Ghana if he becomes president.
According to Mahama, it was the NDC that introduced the Islamic Education Unit and created English Arabic schools, which encouraged parents and guardians to send their children to school. He plans to further support these schools and help them thrive by increasing educational opportunities for children in vulnerable areas within Muslim communities. “NDC alone has built 195 Islamic schools and when we come, we are going to increase the number of Islamic so that all our brothers and sisters in the vulnerable areas especially where Muslims live will have the opportunity to go to school,” he pledged.
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His focus extends to the tutors as well. He plans to enlarge the training of Arabic teachers so they can become more adept in the language. A strategy he’s considering to achieve this is to grant teachers scholarships to Saudi Arabia and other Arabic countries to deepen their knowledge. He assured “We are going to give scholarships for teachers to go to Saudi Arabia and other Arabic countries and learn the language and come and teach our children so that our children will be proficient in Arabic language.”
To show his commitment to the Muslim community’s concerns, Mahama claimed that the National Chief Imam presented him with a 14-point Muslim manifesto, from which he incorporated 12 points into his own manifesto.
Mahama isn’t the only presidential aspirant making such a promise to the Islamic community. Alan Kyerematen, who moved from the NPP to form the Movement for Change, has also pledged that if he becomes president, he will ensure that Arabic teachers are integrated into the Ghana Education Service (GES).
