Alhaji Muhammad Braimah Youseph, an Islamic Scholar, has impressed upon Muslims to embrace secular education.

He said this was required to boost their knowledge and also equip them with the relevant skills to contribute meaningfully to the nation’s development process.

“We are obliged religiously to avail ourselves of the type of education that tend to increase our faith, general knowledge and our socio-economic standings in the society for own benefit,” he stressed.

Alhaji Youseph was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi, on the sidelines of a ceremony to officially launch a free educational programme put together by the Ghana Muslim Students Association (GMSA).

The five-week programme, targeting Second and Third year Muslim students in the Senior High School (SHS), aims at building their capacity in all the subject areas to enhance their literacy levels.

The resource persons comprise experienced examiners and tutors who are expected to impart the needed knowledge into the beneficiaries to bolster their confidence for examination and academic purposes.

It is being sponsored by Legal-ink, a legal firm.

The free education programme, which used to be vibrant in the early part of the 1990s, helped to nurture personalities such as Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawasi, Alhaji Nurudeen Hamidan, Asokore-Mampong Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), and some technocrats and elites, who are now contributing their quota in all spheres of society’s development.

Alhaji Youseph, also Chairman of the Planning Committee for the programme, expressed delight at the enthusiasm of students from all over the country to get registered, urging the beneficiaries to abide by all the rules and regulations to ensure its success.

He said the only means to alleviate poverty in the Muslim-dominated communities is through education and, therefore, tasked the students to be serious with their studies.