A Family Education Expert, Prof. Kofi Awusabo-Asare, says he is very sad to hear some religious protest vehemently against the introduction of the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) into the country school curriculum.
According to the Educationist who has extensive knowledge about the CSE, most of the religious leaders criticizing the CSE were part of a group of religious leaders engaged at a meeting held at the La Palm Beach Hotel to solicit their views and inputs into the draft working document.
“I am so sad about our leaders who are saying they’ve not heard about this issue [CSE]. We have held so many meetings with these leaders that I have been part of. In one instance, we met all religious leaders at La Palm Hotel and I spoke at the function. It was specific for religious leaders. We had various meetings for various groups of people. The religious leaders were one of the groups”, Prof. Awusabo-Asare who works with the University of Cape Coast (UCC) noted in an interview with Kwaku Owusu Agyei on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.5 FM, Monday, October 7, 2019.
He said it was important for the religious leaders to be engaged for them to understand the CSE to enable them also educate their various congregations.
An attempt to introduce CSE into the country’s curriculum by the Ghana Education Service has been met with a public outcry with various leadership groupings questioning the rationale behind such a move.
Many believe the integration of the CSE into the Ghanaian curriculum is to subtly expose students to LGBT issues.
The Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, for instance, has said it was not consulted on the introduction of the CSE and that it will reject it if it is indeed an attempt to introduce children to LGBT issues as suggested.
The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) has also warned government and its allied agencies that it will resist attempts to “smuggle” the controversial CSE into the mainstream school curriculum.
The Office of the National Chief Imam (ONCI) in collaboration with the Tijjaniya Muslims of Ghana, the Islamic Peace and Security Council of Ghana (IPASEC), the Islamic Council for Development and Humanitarian Services (ICODEHS), the Islamic Research Association of Ghana and the Association of the 16 Regional Chiefs Imams, have also kicked against plans to introduce the CSE into the mainstream curriculum.
The Ghana Education Service and to a larger extent, government, on the other hand, believes CSE will equip the school children with age and cultural appropriate information to explore and nurture positive values and attitudes towards their sexual and reproductive health; develop self-esteem; respect for human rights and gender equality; and to make informed decisions about their health, with emphasis on Ghanaian cultural values and norms.
Prof. Awusabo-Asare commenting further on the issue, said the CSE has no hidden agenda of introducing LGBT to the school children and urged Ghanaians to exercise restraint and read the contents of the documents very well before commenting on the subject.
