President John Dramani Mahama has debunked reports that government has approved the teaching of Arabic and Chinese in all public schools.
He said Cabinet has not approved any such policy and asked the public to ignore the claims.
The President was speaking on Saturday, September 12, at 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.
“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.
He President questioned why Chinese would be introduced when the country was still struggling to get enough teachers for French, which he described as more relevant due to Ghana’s proximity to Francophone countries.
“We’re not even getting a handle on the teaching of French. Why would we go and introduce Chinese?” he asked.
On Arabic, President Mahama said its teaching in some schools was not a new nationwide policy. He explained that English-Arabic schools were introduced under former President Jerry John Rawlings to encourage enrolment in Muslim communities where parents feared their children would be converted if sent to regular schools.
He added that training of Arabic teachers has since continued to support teaching in those schools.“ But there’s no new policy to introduce Arabic and Chinese in all public schools in Ghana,” President Mahama stressed.
