The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called for the removal of Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu if he pursued plans to introduce Arabic and Chinese in Ghanaian schools without presidential or Cabinet approval.

The party says the demand follows President John Dramani Mahama’s declaration that Cabinet has not approved any policy to introduce the two languages across Ghana’s public schools.Ghana Business Insights

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 and teacher training if the policy had not received the required approval.

President Mahama said on September 12 that Cabinet had not approved any policy to introduce Arabic and Chinese across Ghana’s public schools.

“No such policy has been approved by the cabinet that I chair. So let’s put that matter to rest once and for all,” President Mahama said during a citizens’ engagement at the University of  Business and Integrated Development Studies in the Upper West Region.

He also questioned the feasibility of introducing Chinese when Ghana continues to face challenges recruiting teachers for French.

“We’re not even getting a handle on the teaching of French. Why would we go and introduce Chinese?” he asked.

The NPP, however, said the Education Ministry and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) had already taken steps towards implementing the initiative.

The party said Mr Iddrisu had earlier announced that Chinese and Arabic would be compulsory foreign languages at the secondary school level and had linked the initiative to President Mahama’s vision for education.

According to the NPP, NaCCA subsequently engaged about 160 writers and reviewers to develop a revised curriculum, which was presented to the Education Minister on July 22.

The party said Mr Iddrisu did not reject the curriculum but referred it to the Ghana Education Service (GES) for review and preparation for implementation.

The revised curriculum submitted to the Minister included Chinese and Arabic among foreign-language options. The Education Ministry subsequently clarified that the languages would not be compulsory under the proposed basic-school curriculum.

The NPP also cited teacher training conducted by NaCCA on September 3, with support from the Confucius Institute at the University of Cape Coast, as evidence that preparations had progressed beyond an initial proposal.

A former NaCCA chief, Dr Prince Hamid Armah, has separately questioned the President’s position, saying the actions of the Education Ministry and its agencies indicate that work on the initiative had already been undertaken.

The NPP said the sequence of events leaves the government with two questions: whether the Education Minister acted without presidential or Cabinet authority, or whether 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.

The party said that if the Education Minister acted without presidential or Cabinet approval, President Mahama should remove him.

“If the Minister announced and pursued this policy without presidential and Cabinet approval, the President must sack him. If, however, the Minister acted with the authority or knowledge of the President or Cabinet, then the President must apologise to the Ghanaian people for denying a policy his Government had already set in motion,” the statement said.

The NPP also questioned the public resources 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 party asked.

The controversy follows the Education Ministry’s earlier clarification that Arabic and Chinese would be optional under the proposed basic-school curriculum, while President Mahama has said there is no new policy to introduce the two languages across public schools.

The NPP said the issue therefore raises broader questions about policy coordination, ministerial authority and communication between the Presidency, the Education Ministry and its agencies.

Source: Citinewsroom