NPP DEMANDS
The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on President John Dramani Mahama to remove Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu if he pursued plans to introduce Arabic and Chinese into Ghana’s schools without presidential or Cabinet approval.
The demand follows President Mahama’s declaration that his Cabinet has not approved any policy to introduce the two languages across Ghana’s public schools.
Speaking during a citizens’ engagement at the University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS) in the Upper West Region on September 12, President Mahama said: “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 also questioned the rationale for introducing Chinese when Ghana continues to face difficulties recruiting sufficient teachers to teach French.
“We’re not even getting a handle on the teaching of French. Why would we go and introduce Chinese?” the President asked.
NPP QUESTIONS GOVERNMENT
But in a statement issued by its Education Sector Policy Committee on Wednesday, September 16, the NPP questioned how the Education Ministry and its agencies could have progressed with curriculum development, implementation preparations and teacher training if no such policy had received presidential or Cabinet approval.
According to the NPP, Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu had earlier announced that Chinese and Arabic would be introduced as foreign languages at the secondary-school level and linked the initiative to President Mahama’s vision for education.
The party further alleged that the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) subsequently mobilised about 160 writers and reviewers to work on a revised curriculum.
The NPP said the completed curriculum was presented to the Education Minister on July 22 and that, rather than rejecting it, Mr Iddrisu referred it to the Ghana Education Service (GES) for further review and preparation towards implementation.
The controversy has since generated conflicting accounts about the status of the proposed languages. The Education Ministry has clarified that Arabic and Chinese would be optional under the proposed basic-school curriculum, while President Mahama has maintained that there is no new Cabinet-approved policy to introduce the languages across public schools.
TEACHER TRAINING RAISES QUESTIONS
The NPP also pointed to teacher training undertaken by NaCCA on September 3, with support from the Confucius Institute at the University of Cape Coast, as evidence that preparations had progressed beyond a mere proposal.
Former NaCCA chief executive Dr Prince Hamid Armah has similarly questioned the President’s position, arguing that actions undertaken by the Education Ministry and its agencies indicate that work on the initiative had already commenced.
Dr Armah has said the Education Minister publicly announced the proposed language initiative, linked it to the President’s vision and commissioned NaCCA to begin curriculum development.
‘WHO AUTHORISED THE PROCESS?’
The NPP said the sequence of events raises fundamental questions about ministerial authority and policy coordination within government.
The party posed two possibilities: either the Education Minister advanced a major policy direction without presidential or Cabinet authority, or the President and Cabinet were aware of and authorised the work.
“Either the Minister was advancing a major policy direction without the President’s authority, despite presenting it as part of the President’s vision, or the public has still not been given the full account of what Government had actually authorised and pursued,” the party said.
It therefore challenged the President to provide clarity on who authorised the curriculum development, implementation preparations and teacher training.
‘SACK HIM IF HE ACTED WITHOUT APPROVAL’
The NPP said that if the Education Minister acted without presidential or Cabinet approval, President Mahama should remove him from office.
“If the Minister announced and pursued this policy without presidential and Cabinet approval, the President must sack him,” the party said.
However, it added that if Mr Iddrisu acted with the knowledge or authority of the President or Cabinet, then the President should explain why he publicly denied that the government had initiated such a policy.
The party also demanded an account of public resources allegedly committed to curriculum development, implementation preparations and teacher training.
“If there was ‘absolutely no new policy’, why were public resources committed to developing the curricula, preparing the system for implementation and training teachers?” the NPP asked.
President Mahama has maintained that no new policy exists to introduce Arabic and Chinese across Ghana’s public schools.
On Arabic, he explained that English-Arabic schools were established during the administration of former President Jerry John Rawlings to encourage Muslim communities that had concerns about sending their children to schools because of fears of religious conversion.
He said Arabic teacher training has continued to support those existing schools and should not be interpreted as evidence of a new nationwide policy.
