Ghana’s leading Christian bodies are invoking constitutional protections to defend the religious identity of mission schools, arguing that ongoing calls to accommodate separate religious practices for non-Christian students risk infringing on the freedoms guaranteed to faith-based institutions.
In a statement issued on November 25, 2025, the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) and the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) stressed that the 1992 Constitution upholds the rights of religious groups to establish and operate schools that express their faith traditions.
“As Christian communities, we have the constitutional right to operate schools that express our faith,” the statement said. “Expecting us to suppress the Christian identity of our schools would infringe upon this freedom.”
The leaders argued that mission schools are not merely educational facilities but extensions of the Church’s ministry, structured around Christian worship and values. Any attempt to compel the schools to modify their religious framework, they warned, would contradict constitutional guarantees of religious liberty and freedom of association.
They also maintained that government support especially in the form of salary payments and curriculum regulation does not nullify these constitutional protections.
“Financial assistance from the state must not be mistaken for state ownership,” the statement read. “Nor does it grant any authority to redefine the character of institutions we established.”
The GCBC and CCG emphasized that their stance is not about exclusion but about safeguarding rights that the constitution explicitly provides to religious bodies, insisting that mission schools must retain the freedom to operate within their founding Christian ethos.
By Theresa Kpordzo//Newswatchgh.com
