CSE Not NPP Creation – Napo Tells Traditional Authorities

The Minister of Education Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has met with traditional authorizes to explain the government’s position on the controversial Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE).

He recounts what happened: “ I was called upon by the National House of Chiefs in Kumasi to clarify government’s stance on the brouhaha over Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) which has been grossly misinterpreted and misrepresented by some citizens.

“I took my time to lay the evidence before Nananom that what they worry about is not an initiative of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government but rather, has been part of the curriculum from 2015. There is also evidence that Non-governmental Organisations operating in Ghana were allowed to carry out workshops and teacher training with elements of culturally non-conforming subjects.
“I thanked the esteemed gathering for being noble enough to call upon us to hear the side of government first before making any public pronouncements and I assured them that the new curriculum that had been rolled out from KG to Primary 6 did not incorporate CSE although it had been discussed. Since it had not been approved, we did not include it in our new Standards Based curriculum.

“Nananom concluded our meeting by stating that their fears had been lifted and admonished me to continue to involve them in the formation of government policy to ensure that our moral standards are not lowered.”

Last Week, Napo gave a similar assurance that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) led government was not going to endorse any learning material that contradicts the country’s norms and values. He spoke at the National Teachers Awards Ceremony in Kumasi:

“It is true that there are documents to show that under the watch of ex-President John Mahama comprehensive sexual education was made part of the revised curriculum that was started in 2015. It is a fact that there are manuals for teaching comprehensive sexual education started in 2015.

“In this country, there’s a policy approval process that resides in his Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana. It is a fact that when we came up with the guidelines of the new comprehensive sexual education which has been in our classrooms for a very long time, His Excellency’s Cabinet did not agree with the comprehensive sexual education. We in the Ministry directed to make sure that according to Article 39 of the Constitution this sits within the cultural norms of the country.

”As we speak we haven’t approved any guidelines for comprehensive sexual education in Ghana our Motherland,” Dr. Opoku Prempeh added.

The policy has been met with massive public uproar, and calls for its withdrawal as there are fears that its introduction could indoctrinate children to accept homosexuality and other awkward sexual behaviours.

While government says the policy had been suspended, the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) and other critics insist suspension alone is not enough.

According to the GPCC, Parliament as the representatives of the people should commence the relevant Parliamentary processes to review aspects of the 2019 budget statement that committed state resources to fund the controversial CSE by ensuring that it is withdrawn and that no funds are expended on this policy.