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The Member of Parliament for Asawase Constituency, Muntaka Mubarak, has cautioned against government’s plan to give more control of mission schools back to the religious bodies.

President Nana Akufo-Addo over the weekend reiterated his government’s plan to give churches more control in the management of mission schools.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony of Trinity College in Accra on Saturday, President Akufo-Addo said he is confident the move to give the churches more control, will improve discipline among students.

“The traditions of discipline, hard-work and integrity that characterize the churches are needed in the country. That is why my government is keen on restoring more control to churches over the missionary schools. I’m glad that many religious groups now seem to want to concentrate on the tertiary sector in the provision of education. The exponential growth in the number of tertiary institutions in the last few years, certainly shows that has been the most popular decision by the churches and others that have gone into the sector,” the President stated.

Speaking on Eyewitness News however, Mr. Mubarak downplayed the move, arguing that these schools might eventually become centres of indoctrination when the religious bodies are given more power in their management.

“Individual churches or the mosques may have their individual agenda that may not be necessarily be the agenda of the country. We have a country that we have to run . Those schools might become centres for indoctrination and what kind of citizens do you want to produce?” he asked.

Gov’t must come clean on

The Minority Chief Whip also asked the President to come clean on how much control government intends to give to the religious bodies, since it was not clear whether government will fully handover the such schools to the churches or mosques.

“I think the President should come clear on what he means by more control because I don’t think it will be proper talking about handing over national assets to individuals. This may raise constitutional issues that may be very difficult to test at the Supreme Court. “

The 1984 take-over of the mission schools, largely placed the administration and management under government.

The churches for some years now have been calling on government to give them more control in some areas, citing issues of indiscipline among others.

The Catholic Bishops Conference and the Christian Council of Ghana have been at the fore front of this demand.