No more miniskirts in Islamic schools-Unit

Female teachers would no longer be allowed to wear miniskirts to Islamic schools in the country. This is because they could badly influence pupils of those schools, Alhaji Baba Yahya Khalid, General Manager, Islamic Education Unit hinted on Saturday. He was speaking at a conference in Ho to deliberate on the future of Islamic Schools in the Volta Region. It was on the theme, �The future of Islamic Schools in Volta Region: The Role of Stakeholders.� Alhaji Khalid said Islamic values and tenets demanded that women covered their whole bodies, except the face and the palms; hence �improper dressing� could not be tolerated in Islamic educational institutions. He said consequently, regular orientations would be given to teachers in Islamic educational institutions, so that they could impart �right values and attitudes� to the children. �Our system is very free. Our schools are open to non-Muslims, but they must respect our tenets and dress codes while in school,� Alhaji Khalid said. He appealed to Directors of Education to confer with Islamic Education Unit Directors on the posting of head-teachers to Islamic schools for the necessary �preparations� to be made to avoid rejection of head-teachers. Hajia Nasiba Taahir-Swallah, a lecturer at the Islamic University College and a Clinical Psychologist, urged Muslim parents to choose �right� schools for their children, because as children grow, their teachers, friends and school environment exert influences on them. She asked parents to regularly monitor the lifestyles of their children and give them positive models to imitate and not allow them to go astray. Hajia Taahir-Swallah also asked Muslim parents to develop the habit of visiting their children at school and make time for them at home. Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, Volta Regional Minister in a speech read on his behalf, said government was making education �almost free� hence; there was no excuse for any child to be kept out of the classroom. Mr Iddrisu Abass Amedor, Volta Regional Manager of the Islamic Education Unit, said enrolment in the 40 Islamic basic schools and one Senior High School in the region increased from 5,000 to 7,000 in 2013, representing 40 per cent. He, however, noted that out of 300 zongo communities, only 35 have formal schools since the establishment of the Islamic Education Unit in the Region in 1999. Mr Amedor, therefore, called for concerted efforts to address the challenge.