Bawku Secondary Technical School and Bawku Senior High School emerged as the champions and runners-up, respectively, in this year’s Ghana Muslim Students’ Association (GMSA) Quiz Competition held in the Upper East Region.
The contest brought together Muslim student delegations from various senior high schools across the region, vying for intellectual supremacy in a series of competitive rounds that tested their knowledge in Islamic studies, Quran recital, current affairs, and general knowledge.
The competition began with all senior high schools in the Upper East Region organized into three zones: the Eastern Zone, the Central Zone, and the Western Zone.
Bolgatanga Girls’ SHS (BOGISS), Bolgatanga SHS (BIG BOSS), Zorko SHS, Awe SHS, Bawku SHTS, and Bawku SHS qualified for the final round of the competition.
At the final round, held at the Bolgatanga Girls Senior High School auditorium, Bawku Secondary Technical School secured the top position with a commanding lead, demonstrating exceptional preparation and poise. Their counterparts, Bawku Senior High School, followed closely behind.
The Regional Patron of GMSA, Osman Abdul-Rahman, explained the motivation behind the program: “The motivation for this program is to inculcate in the Muslim student the culture of Islam, the culture of obedience, the culture of being together with other faiths, and being peaceful. That’s basically the motivation behind this program. Usually, our students come from different homes with different training. Most often, they arrive with different orientations. There is a need for us to come together to ensure that the students are properly integrated into the school system. Let them know what is expected of them as students, especially as Muslim students — what they are supposed to do and what they are not supposed to do.”
Mr. Osman added that these interventions by GMSA have led to a reduction in clashes between Muslim and non-Muslim students: “You can bear with me that, over the years, we’ve always had problems between Muslim and non-Muslim students — there were clashes. But you can see that it has ceased. These are the steps we have taken to ensure that any student coming to senior high school receives leadership training on how to integrate into society, and inshallah, things will continue to improve.”
The National Vice President of GMSA, Abdul-Hakim Abdul-Razak, also highlighted the importance of such programs in encouraging formal education among Muslim children: “There is this notion in our society that when it comes to the youth entering the educational sector, the Muslim community tends to have fewer children represented. As GMSA, a Muslim organization that looks after the welfare of Muslim students, it is our duty and responsibility to organize such programmes so that, even if there are few Muslim students in our schools, we can showcase their capabilities within the Muslim community and motivate others to follow suit.”
Both schools were awarded certificates, trophies, medals, and Qurans as part of the prize package. The event attracted school administrators, security personnel, and religious leaders, all of whom praised the students for their discipline and intellectual engagement.
With this win, Bawku Secondary Technical School now holds bragging rights as the foremost Islamic religious scholars within the regional Muslim students’ community.
Source: A1RadioOnline.com|101.1 MHz|Samuel Adagom|Bolgatanga
