Kumasi, June 20, GNA - Sheikh Ishaq Nuamah, a renowned Muslim theologian and educationist in Kumasi, has reiterated the importance of education as a vital tool for the political and socio-economic development of Ghana.

He has therefore urged parents and guardians in Muslim communities to give quality education to their wards especially the girl-child to enable them contribute meaningfully to society.

Sheikh Nuamah was speaking at the sod-cutting ceremony for the construction of a four-storey building for the senior secondary school department of the Al-Alhariya School for Islamic Ideology at Old Tafo in the Kumasi metropolis on Sunday.

The project, which will be made up of a 27 classrooms, three science laboratories, library and administrative blocks is to be financed by the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Sheikh Nuamah said the establishment of the SSS programme would help in absorbing the junior secondary school products that pass out every year.

Sheikh Mohammed Zainudeen Abdulmumin, a lecturer at the Institute of Languages in Kumasi, expressed regret that some Muslims have neglected secular education and advised them to invest in the education of their children.

Sheikh Mohammed Kamil, Director of the school, said the school, established in 1954 with an enrolment of 30 pupils, now has population of nearly 3,000.

He said the school which runs a nursery, primary and JSS in Arabic, is being expanded to the SSS programme to help absorb over 150 students who complete their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) every year.