Yussif Sulemana, the Member of Parliament for Bole Bamboi, has shared a remarkable journey of how he began his primary education while waiting for a friend by the window of a Roman Catholic Primary School.
Sulemana's story sheds light on the challenges he faced in accessing formal education as a child due to his Muslim background, where attending Arabic school was the norm.
In an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb's Nimatu Yakubu Atouyese, he recalled, "I started my basic education as a Muslim, and you need to go to an Arabic school, so it was not even allowed for me to go to school. So I had to start Arabic School. So when I went to the Arabic School, it got to a point where I started following friends to their circular schools."
His journey into formal education began when he accompanied a friend named Labaran to an RC Primary School.
Sulemana's usual practice was to wait for his friend to finish school, but one day, something unexpected happened.
"I was standing by the window, and on this particular day, I was watching whatever was happening on the board. The teacher asked a question, and spontaneously, I answered because I was there when the teacher started, and I was able to provide the answer," he recalled.
The teacher was astonished by the young boy's knowledge and asked who had given the correct response.
Although Sulemana initially tried to escape, his friend eventually revealed his identity.
The teacher reported the incident to the headmaster, who happened to be a friend of Sulemana's father.
Sulemana's father was convinced by the headmaster to send his children to school, despite the prevailing belief in their community that attending school would lead to conversion to Christianity.
In those days, only a small percentage of children attended formal schools.
However, Sulemana still faced hurdles.
Due to his age and the limited availability of space in lower classes, he was placed in Primary 5 instead of Primary 3.
Thus, he commenced his formal education journey in Primary 5.
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Yussif Sulemana, the Member of Parliament for Bole Bamboi