The Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, has called for the immediate withdrawal of portions of a Senior High School teacher manual which he says introduce redefined concepts of sex, sexuality and gender identity that conflict with Ghana’s cultural, religious and moral values.
Addressing a media briefing in Parliament, Mr Assafuah expressed concern over content contained in the Physical Education and Health Elective Teacher Manual for Senior High Schools, developed under the supervision of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA).
He described the inclusion of concepts relating to sexual orientation, sexual rights and gender identity as “ideologically driven” and an attempt to introduce LGBTQ-related ideas into the education system through state-approved materials.
According to him, the issue goes beyond curriculum development and raises questions about parental authority, national values and Parliament’s constitutional oversight responsibility.
He criticised what he described as the government’s silence on the matter, despite previously describing issues relating to sexuality and family values as matters of national urgency while in opposition.
Mr Assafuah accused the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) of inconsistency, arguing that although the party now controls both the Executive and holds the Majority in Parliament, it has failed to act decisively on the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill.
He noted that Parliament had, within the first session of the current House, passed several bills under certificates of urgency, demonstrating that legislative urgency is applied when there is political will.
He further explained that the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, which lapsed with the dissolution of the previous Parliament, was reintroduced as a Private Member’s Bill in the current House but was removed from the Order Paper within 24 hours at the instance of the Majority Leader.
He described the explanation offered for its removal as unacceptable and said the development had effectively frustrated the bill.
The Old Tafo MP also recalled that Comprehensive Sexuality Education was introduced into Ghana’s education policy framework between 2012 and 2016 under an NDC administration, insisting that current developments reflected a pattern of political inconsistency.
As part of his demands, Mr Assafuah called for the immediate withdrawal of all teaching and learning materials containing LGBTQ-related content from schools, a transparent review of such materials involving key stakeholders, and the dismissal of the Director-General of NaCCA and the Chairperson of its Board for what he described as failure of oversight.
He also called for a full parliamentary inquiry into the development, approval and circulation of the materials, including the role of external partners.
Mr Assafuah appealed to religious bodies, civil society organisations, parents, traditional leaders and teacher unions to speak out on the issue, stressing that it was not a partisan matter but one concerning national values and the moral direction of the education system.
He challenged the government to state clearly whether it still stood by its earlier position on sexuality and family values, warning that history would judge Parliament not by rhetoric, but by its decisions and actions.
Source :www.kumasimail.com
