Accra: Mr Haruna Iddrisu, the Minister for Education, has called on the Qatar Education Foundation to support the Ministry to establish an Islamic Medical School in the Northern region of Ghana. He said the school would serve as a teaching hospital for the University for Development Studies. Mr Iddrisu made the call when the Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Ghana, Mr Khalid Bin Jabor Al-Mesallam, paid a courtesy call on him in Accra on Thursday.

According to Ghana News Agency, 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 in that particular area can make use of it,” he said. Mr Iddrisu emphasized 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.

He 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. 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.

The visit forms part of ongoing diplomatic engagements aimed at strengthening education-focused partnerships between Ghana and its international allies.