Minority members in Parliament have raised concerns over the threat to Ghanaian Languages. They fear that some Ghanaian Languages will be extinct if drastic pragmatic steps are not taken to preserve them.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, Samuel Nartey George, Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, indicated that there are inadequate Ga-Adangbe teachers in schools situated in the Ningo-Prampram district – a Ga Adangbe community.
“In the Ningo Prampram district, there are 37 Akan Language teachers but there are only two Dangbe teachers, in a Dangbe community like Ningo Prampram. So there is a shortage of teachers,” he said.
“Mr Speaker, I made a conscious effort within the first four years in office to work with the University of Education, Winneba, which has a Bachelor’s degree in Dangme. And we sponsored children to go and study and get the degree but that did not solve the problem. You then have the Ghana Education Service post these Dangbe teachers to the North,” he added.
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In support of his colleague, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for North Tongu, also revealed how dire the situation is in Accra – Ga land. There are inadequate Ga language teachers in schools.
“Mr Speaker, not too long ago, in the capital here in Accra, a Ga Chief raised a concern about the lack of Ga teachers in the Greater Accra Region. Only a few months ago, they could not get adequate Ga teachers and in a lot of basic schools-the Ga Language was not taught at all,” he said.
He added, “A number of Languages are on the verge of extinction. It is a matter that requires urgent national attention – the President, the Executive Arm, the Minister for Education, the Minister for Culture. It is a matter that we must escalate to the highest of levels”.
Ghana is a multilingual country with the English Language as the official language and over eighty indigenous languages. However, many of these Ghanaian Languages are less spoken or never taught in schools.
In Ghanaian educational institutions, particularly at the primary and secondary levels, efforts have been made to incorporate the teaching of indigenous languages alongside English. This is in recognition of the importance of preserving and promoting Ghana’s cultural heritage and linguistic diversity.
However, according to UNESCO, the 2010-2013 Official Curriculum, a significant portion of language instruction in the first two years of secondary school is allocated as follows: 60% is dedicated to teaching the official national language, English, while the remaining 40% is designated for teaching an international language, French.
Despite national commitments to promote the development of Ghanaian languages, none of the mandatory curriculum is allocated to any local or regional languages, despite the Bureau of Ghana Languages recognizing 81 such languages and actively promoting 11 of them.
Although the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ministry of Education have approved these 11 languages for inclusion in the educational system, they are only offered as optional electives within curriculums.
