President John Dramani Mahama has rejected reports that his administration has approved a policy to introduce Arabic and Chinese as subjects across Ghana’s public schools, insisting that no such decision has been sanctioned by Cabinet.
The President made the clarification on Saturday, September 12, during a citizens’ engagement at the University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, UBIDS, in the Upper West Region, as part of his Resetting Ghana Tour.
President Mahama said he was aware of reports suggesting that Arabic and Chinese were being introduced into the country’s public education system, but stressed that the claims did not reflect any policy approved by the Cabinet under his leadership.
“No such policy has been approved by the Cabinet that I chair. So let’s put that matter to rest once and for all,” he said.
His comments were particularly directed at reports concerning the proposed introduction of Chinese, with the President questioning the wisdom of adding another foreign language to the public school curriculum when Ghana continues to face difficulties providing adequate teachers to support the teaching of French.
President Mahama argued that French should remain a major priority because of Ghana’s geographical position and its close relations with neighbouring countries where French is the dominant official language.
“We’re not even getting a handle on the teaching of French. Why would we go and introduce Chinese?” he asked.
The President’s remarks therefore appear to draw a distinction between the government’s existing language education priorities and claims that it intends to broaden the curriculum by introducing Chinese nationwide.
He also addressed concerns surrounding the teaching of Arabic in some Ghanaian schools, explaining that its presence in the education system does not originate from a new government directive requiring every public school to teach the language.
According to President Mahama, English Arabic schools were established during the administration of the late former President Jerry John Rawlings as part of an effort to encourage Muslim communities that had previously been reluctant to enrol their children in formal education because of concerns that they could be exposed to religious conversion.
He explained that the arrangement subsequently created the need for specialised Arabic teachers, resulting in continued teacher training to support Arabic instruction in schools operating under that system.
The President therefore maintained that the existence of Arabic teaching in some educational institutions should not be interpreted as evidence of a newly approved national policy to introduce the language across Ghana’s entire public school system.
He reiterated that neither Arabic nor Chinese had received Cabinet approval for nationwide introduction into public schools.
“But there’s no new policy to introduce Arabic and Chinese in all public schools in Ghana,” President Mahama said.
The clarification comes amid public discussion over the direction of language education in Ghana and the role that foreign languages should play within the country’s basic and secondary education system.
President Mahama’s intervention is also likely to place renewed attention on the existing challenges confronting French language instruction, particularly the availability of qualified teachers, while putting to rest speculation that his government has already taken a Cabinet decision to introduce Arabic and Chinese throughout the public school system.
