The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) has urged Wesley Girls' High School and concerned Muslim citizens to remain calm as both parties work to find an amicable solution regarding the School's rules against fasting.

The Coalition in a press statement indicated that the welfare of students can only be achieved if the aggrieved parties opt for dialogue.

“We believe that each party in their respective viewpoints do wish the best for the child concerned. But this can only be done in the midst of calm.

“History has shown that whenever decisions were made out of turbulence, other problems were given birth to,” it stated.

GNECC’s concerns stem from displeasure registered by Muslim citizens against the management of WGHS on its decision not to allow a Muslim student to partake in the ongoing Ramadan fast, citing health concerns as their reason.

This led to the Muslim Caucus in Parliament intervening and entreating aggrieved citizens to remain calm as the relevant stakeholders continue to find a solution.

As a response to this, the Ghana Education Service (GES) directed "authorities of Wesley Girls High School as well as any other school to allow any such student who wishes to fast for any religious reason to do so".

“The parents of such student are also directed to write to the school indicating that the school shall not be held liable for any health condition of the student as a result of the fast,” portions of its statement read.

But according to the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition, the administrators of WGHS have failed to adhere to the said directive and believe their refusal to comply will serve as a bad precedent for other institutions in the education sector.

“It is also our concern that the school in question did not heed the GES directive because we believe this might set a precedence for other schools to disregard the Supervisory Agency in other matters.

“No matter how genuine their traditions and the welfare of the student they have at heart, we think they could dialogue a better solution before making a final verdict,” it added.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Coalition, Joseph Atsu Homadzi has entreated all parties to seek deeper interpretation into Article 14 (1) (e) of the Constitution which states that no person shall be deprived of their personal liberty/rights except “for the purpose of the education or welfare of a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years.”

Also, he emphasized the need to develop national policies to serve as a guide to deal with similar circumstances in the near future.

"It is on this premise that we of GNECC wish to call on all stakeholders especially policy makers and implementers to agree on developing national policies to serve as a guide to this issue and similar issues to ensure that all stakeholders adhere to the resolution in the best interest of the child," he stated.