Bridging medical education gap between north, south: Education Ministry to establish Islamic Medical School
The Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Ghana, Khalid Bin Jabor Al-Mesallam, yesterday paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, in Accra.
The courtesy call formed part of ongoing diplomatic engagements aimed at strengthening education-focused partnerships between Ghana and its international allies.
The discussion focused on bilateral relations, particularly in the area of education and how the two countries could collaborate to strengthen those relations.
Islamic Medical School
Welcoming the ambassador to his office, Mr Iddrisu called on the Qatar Education Foundation to support the ministry to establish an Islamic Medical School in the Northern Region of Ghana.
He indicated that the school would also serve as a teaching hospital for the University for Development Studies (UDS).
Mr Iddrisu added that the initiative by the ministry was aimed at expanding access to medical education and enhancing healthcare delivery in the northern regions.
“If you can give us a friendly concessionary financing to do that in order that the umma (Islamic folks) in that particular area can make use of it,” he said.
Bilateral relations
Mr Iddrisu emphasised the need to further strengthen bilateral relations between Ghana and Qatar, with a particular focus on enhancing cooperation in the field of education.
He expressed Ghana’s interest in deepening institutional ties between the Ministry of Education of both countries to support the mutual exchange of knowledge, best practices, and investment in education.
The minister noted that the Islamic curriculum for basic schools would be reviewed for basic education beginning with kindergarten to encourage the teaching of Arabic in basic schools in Ghana.
Mr Iddrisu expressed Ghana’s interest in participating in the upcoming global Education Conference scheduled to take place in Geneva in September 2025, where Ghana’s progress and priorities in the education sector would be showcased on the international stage.
He expressed gratitude to the ambassador for the courtesy call at short notice and hinted at plans to arrange a visit to Qatar to discuss a number of issues in the area of education.
For his part, Ambassador Al-Mesallam expressed strong interest in the discussions and reaffirmed Qatar’s willingness to explore collaborative opportunities in support of Ghana’s education sector.
“It is very important for us as a State of Qatar that we explore the opportunity with the industry to manage the realisation between the two countries,” he said.
Ambassador Al-Mesallam said he looked forward to welcoming the Ghanaian delegates, especially the minister at the Global Education Conference in Geneva.
