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<h3 id="gmail-0.4665313009300478">Give prominence to local languages - Catherine Afeku</h3>
<span id="gmail-0.5701347362335146"><i class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-calendar" id="gmail-0.2437902854716113"></i> | Updated Feb 22, 2018 at 12:19pm</span>
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<strong id="gmail-0.9395057277402469">Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Catherine Afeku</strong>
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The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Catherine Afeku, has called
for local languages to be given prominence on the occasion of
International Mother Language Day.<br id="gmail-0.5944892395595928">
<br id="gmail-0.5933799176155603">Speaking at a stakeholders event in Accra,
the Minister, said although English is the official language of the
country, the local languages cannot be allowed to go extinct.<br id="gmail-0.6858131038014486">
<br id="gmail-0.9381203424863411">The stakeholders concluded that all 59 local languages spoken must be accorded equal importance.<br id="gmail-0.8340888524294089">
<br id="gmail-0.6963222335270259">The current language policy of Ghana is that approved Ghanaian languages, are used as medium of instruction at the basic level.<br id="gmail-0.35229011053984405">
<br id="gmail-0.4197812909644145">English language is studied as a subject to
prepare pupils for the use of the English language as a medium of
instruction from class 4.<br id="gmail-0.1973986429561233">
<br id="gmail-0.46079891548676644">The Bureau of Ghana Languages, the
institution mandated to implement this policy has translated 11 of the
indigenous languages which are studied in schools.<br id="gmail-0.4872968024158526">
<br id="gmail-0.5543472146759783">The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Catherine Afeku charged the Bureau to digitalise the 11 languages taught in schools.<br id="gmail-0.07074388177378832">
<br id="gmail-0.11458411990489703">She encouraged Ghanaians to make practicable the essence of the Day.<br id="gmail-0.3467212115073601">
<br id="gmail-0.4599361404897644">A retired Professor of the University of
Ghana and first Director of the Center for Languages, Prof Gilbert Ansre
gave a breakdown of the language structure in the country.<br id="gmail-0.9386502796471283">
<br id="gmail-0.49246259102920853">Speakers at the event were hopeful that the
Bureau of Ghana Languages, now under the Ministry of Tourism Arts and
Culture will implement the language policy to the letter.<br id="gmail-0.30205104928835624">
<br id="gmail-0.4387661588387498">GBCONLINE
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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