Ho, Sept.3, GNA - Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing has stated that the new Education Reform Programme launched in April this year by President Agyekum Kufuor was to rectify shortcomings of the previous educational system. He said it was also to make education relevant to the needs of society, he said, when addressing the 13th National Ramadan Conference at Ho at the weekend.

The three-day conference was on the theme: "Challenges of the current Educational Reforms in Muslim Communities". It was aimed at ushering in the holy month of Ramadan, which is a month of self-restraint for Moslems.

Alhaji Boniface said essentially, the new system laid emphasis on an all-round development of the child from Kindergarten to Junior High School.

He said under the new reforms, technical and vocational subjects, Agricultural Science, Science and Technology, and Information Communication Technology were to be given prominence. The Minister said it was the aim of the government not only to make education available to Ghanaians but also to make it affordable to people in the lower income group.

He said the construction of educational facilities, the upgrading of existing ones, as well as the implementation of the capitation grant and the school feeding programme were some of the measures the government adopted to improve education both in quantum and quality. He advised Muslims who indulge in violence to desist from such acts because Islam means peace. "Let us all endeavour to preserve the dignity of Islam by desisting from all acts of violence," he added. Sheikh Osman Sharubutu, National Chief Imam, appealed to Moslems to desist from arguments with the tendency to degenerate into unrest, adding that intra-religious and inter-religious tolerance were necessary for social cohesion.

"Let us create a platform for accommodating divergent views and use dialogue as a means of resolving our problems rather than casting insinuations and insults, which are possible recipe for chaos and conflicts", he said.

On behalf of Vice President Aliu Mahama, Alhaji Boniface presented GH=A21,000 (10 million cedis), two bags of rice and 10 crates of soft drinks to the conference.

A resolution adopted at the end of the conference confirmed Wednesday, August 15, 2007 as the first day of the 'Shaban' and that the expected date for the moon of Ramadan this year will be Wednesday, September 12.

It said if the moon is sighted, Thursday, September 13 becomes the first day of Ramadan and that if not sighted, Thursday September 14 becomes the 30th day of Shaban which is a day of doubt for which a Moslem is not supposed to fast, making Friday, September 15, automatically the first day of Ramadan 2007.

The resolution entreated all Moslems to make conscious efforts in sighting the moon and contact their various regional Chief Imams and that the National Chief Imam or his representative would pronounce the commencement of Ramadan fasting on the National Television, in consultation with the Ameer and Missionary in charge of the Ahmadiyya Moslem Mission.