Sat 28 December 2019:
Ghana may be a divided nation on other issues but not on the controversial sexuality education which caused an uproar that stands out through the course of the last twelve months.The resistance against the planned introduction of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) into the basic school curriculum is one of the top stories that hit the country in 2019.
Members of the media, religious groups, civil society organizations, traditional leaders, politicians, influential individuals, as well as the public expressed disapproval of the policy.
The government said the CSE is created with the intention of reducing unwanted and unplanned pregnancies, as well as lowering rates of domestic and sexual violence, thus contributing to a healthier society, both physically and mentally.
The government through the Ghana Education Service tried hard to explain the importance of CSE to Ghanaians to no avail.
It was through the social media that Ghanaians got to know that government had already introduced the policy in basic schools and teachers were teaching it to children.
They got alarmed when a pupil in a school asked his teacher unprintable questions during CSE lessons which went viral.
Lawyer Moses Foh Amoani, an activist against CSE brought the secrete introduction of the policy to the fore and sustained it for almost one month and over in the media which also encouraged research into the issue with regard to its possible financiers.
What made matters worse was the revelation by the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) that they were not consulted before the introduction of the policy.
NAGRAT President, Angel Carbonu, says graduate teachers are not likely to accept the contents of the CSE curricula.
The Catholic Bishop Conference and Office of the National Imam all condemned the introduction of the policy and followed up with an ultimatum to government to withdraw it immediately.
Initially, the Minister of Education, Mathew Opoku Prempeh denied that the government had introduced the policy, saying it was studying the guidelines regarding its possible introduction.
However intense scrutiny and pressure from the general public forced President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo himself to confer with stakeholders and assured them that his government would not implement the policy.
Public opinion saved Ghana its culture, moral values and traditions which to many citizens looked threatened by the CSE.
The Ghanaian government and the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) launched the CSE programme this year in a bid to empower adolescents and young people to attain a Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE).
Known as the “Our right, Our lives, Our Future (O³) it was supported by the governments of Sweden and Ireland with 24 million euros budgetary allocation.
What even irritated the public the more was the Ghana Education Service (GES) argument that the subject content of the CSE would be age-appropriate to enable pre-schoolers for example to be empowered with values that would protect them from sexual harassment.
But most critics argued that the age of five is too early for children to learn about sex while others say some of the topics, such as “Being Male or Female” under a broader topic of “Knowing Myself” resonates with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) activism.
Since 2011, some Western countries have brought pressure to bear on Ghana to introduce gay and lesbianism but this was met with fierce resistance from Ghanaians.
Late President John Evans Atta Mills resisted it when former British Prime Minster, David Cameron threatened to withdraw grants to Ghana if it did not accept the rights of LGBTs.
The immediate past British Prime Minister, Theresa May also had her fair share of criticism in 2017 when she urged Ghanaians to accept gays and lesbians in their society.
The division in Ghanaian society does not go as far as allowing their cherished cultural, moral values and traditions to be eroded by new ways of life that seem to be dictated from other parts of the world where they are a given.
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