It’s not right to phase out Ga language in Accra schools – Oyibi Chief

It said it is worrying that lack of qualified teachers to tutor pupils on the Ga language has reached this far.

Nii Frankwa, therefore, called on the Ministry of Education to make it a priority to train teachers to take up the subject.

He noted that all basic schools in the Greater Accra region must also be compelled to study the Ga language.

Oyibi Gonten Mantse, Nii Bortey Kofi Frankwa II Pulse Ghana

“We have seen that gradually, some basic schools in the Oyibi area and other parts of the region are not offering the Ga language anymore because of the lack of qualified teachers to take pupils through the subject, so we would like to seek the government’s intervention to correct this anomaly with immediate effect,” he told the Daily Graphic.

“Some of these things must be done at the national level to ensure that every local language has equal representation in the education curriculum and adequate teachers for that purpose because it cannot be right for schools in a Ga community to offer any other local language and ignore Ga.”

Earlier this week, there was an uproar on social media after Valley View University Basic Schools served notice to parents that it was phasing out the teaching and learning of Ga language.

The school said it was struggling to get qualified teachers to teach Ga and, therefore, was replacing the subject with Twi.

Nii Frankwa, who is the Regent of the Nungua Mankralo Stool, said there’s a limit to what Chiefs in Ga communities can do in this regard.

He explained that Chiefs cannot draft teaching curriculums or train teachers, insisting the Education Ministry and Ghana Education Service (GES) are the ones who can change things.

“There is an extent to what the chiefs, for instance, could do because we are in a democratic era and everybody has a role to play in the development of the country.

“Beyond offering advice, chiefs are not to be seen as interfering in the works of other people paid to develop the education sector,” Nii Frankwa added.