Three final year students of Agona Senior High Technical School (ASTECH) in the Ashanti region failed to write their Asante Twi paper in the ongoing West African Senior Secondary (WASSCE) last Saturday, August 8, 2020.
According to the students, writing the paper on a Sabbath Day will be against their religious beliefs as Adventists.
Speaking in an exclusive interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Tuesday, one of the students justified their decision.
He explained that per their belief and doctrines, the Sabbath day was a holy day that must be kept as such therefore they couldn’t write an examination on such a day.
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He quoted the book of Exodus, 20:8-11 from the Bible to support their action, saying:
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
He served notice that he and his colleagues would boycott any other examinations that are scheduled to be written on a Saturday, be they core or elective subjects.
Meanwhile, an elder of the SDA church at Asante Agona, Elder Amofa commended the students for what he described as “their bold decision”.
“I’m extremely happy for the bold decision taken by these young boys. I’m proud of them and God will bless them,” he added.
The SDA elder bemoaned how the leadership of the church has not been able to fight for their rights and ensure Saturday, which is Sabbath is observed as such.
“The leadership of the Seventh Day Adventist Church has failed us; they should lead such campaign to ensure the work of God is protected,” he added.
Elder Kwabena Amofa said he will be forced to call for their resignation if nothing is done to change the status quo.