[lg policy] Ghana to change English as medium of instruction

[Harold Schiffman]

Ghana to change English as medium of instruction
<https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ghana-to-change-English-as-medium-of-instruction-388207&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoTOTA4MDQyNDkwNTA5NTY4NzI1MDIaZTg4YjRlMWZjZmQyMWM0OTpjb206ZW46VVM&usg=AFQjCNFU_bTzliwnVLk79CWznGuxkldvag>

The minister of education has stated that Ghana would very soon change the
use of English as a medium of instruction in school.

Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang largely blamed the inability of the
educated working class to develop the nation to the language used in
teaching them in schools.

The minister who was part of the “Shared Prosperity Forum” Friday indicated
that she was determined to push through the language policy at the highest
level so that school children can be taught in their mother tongue.

The forum held at the University of Ghana assembled several high-level
opinion leaders from the public and private sectors to reflect on two
ambitious goals- end extreme poverty by 2030, and to effectively promote
income growth among people in the bottom 40 percent of the population in
every country of the world.
The panelists were Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank Group; Dr.
Akinwumi Adesina, President, African Development Bank; Mr. Tony Elumelu,
African Entrepreneur and a Philanthropist; and Jane Naana
Opoku-Agyeman,Minister of Education, Ghana. It was moderated by Lerato
Mbele of the BBC.

Prof. Opoku Agyemang was optimistic that once “we can remove [English as
the medium of instruction], we will change this country.”

The call to change the use of English language as a medium of instruction
in school at all levels has been raging for years but there has always been
a lack of political will to walk the talk.

The minister’s stance drew thunderous cheers from the gathering which
included students and lecturers and members from the general public.

Countries such as Korea which used to be at par with Ghana are now way
ahead in terms of development because they taught their school children
using their native language, she recounted.

“Because the Koreans were taught in a language they understood, education
picked up; because we are teaching our children a language they can’t event
follow, we are drawing them back.

“The real change for me is not about reviewing the curriculum, it is not
about extension of construction it is about relevant,” the education
minister intimated.

She noted that Ghanaian children a bright but most of them are trapped in
the basic school without being able to advance because they were “taught
wrongly in a medium they couldn’t relate to”.

What would appear as a daunting task for the minister is settling on one
out of the numerous languages spoken in the country. Ghana has over 46
dialects but English is the official language of Ghana and is universally
used in schools in addition to nine other local languages. The most widely
spoken local languages are: Ga, Dagomba, Akan and Ewe.

The Minister however did not mention or suggest any language she would want
used as the medium of instruction in schools.

According to the World Bank, several African countries have seen
significant successes in reducing extreme poverty, including Ghana, which
reduced extreme poverty to 25.2 percent in 2005/06 from 47.3 percent in
1991/92 (under the $1.90 poverty line). But the region as a whole lags
behind the rest of the world in progressing toward the goal.

Sub-Saharan poverty fell from an estimated 56 percent in 1990 to a
projected 35 percent in 2015, according to the latest World Bank estimates,
which are based on an extreme poverty line of $1.90 a day. Rapid population
growth remains a key factor blunting progress in many countries.

After the hour-long lively debate, Lerato Mbele asked each panel member to
suggest what Africa must do to end poverty.

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina was emphatic in his conviction, “Africa has no
business with poverty so simply end it; there is no other thing more than
that”
For the astute entrepreneur, Mr. Tony Elumelu, “We must create employment
and we must embrace local value added industrialization.”

Dr. Jim Yong Kim wants Africans to “Listen to the young people; listen to
the women.”

After years of working in the field of humanity, the former Vice Chancellor
of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman, stressed,
“In order for Africa to end poverty, it must focus on quality, relevant
education delivered in the right medium.”

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ghana-to-change-English-as-medium-of-instruction-388207



-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its
members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or
sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who
disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write
directly to the original sender of any offensive message.  A copy of this
may be forwarded to this list as well.  (H. Schiffman, Moderator)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20151017/3ec3a3f1/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list