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In the first part of this package, I raised issue with some of the decisions that our policy-makers come up sometimes. I mentioned that sometimes one is left in ‘wonderland’ trying to figure out just how these government officials come to such conclusions. I specifically talked about the ‘one-uniform’ policy under Rawlings, the Harry Sawyerr-led ‘deboardinization’ that did not come to pass, and the recent call by David Anaglate to do away with private schools. Well dear reader, brace yourself up for yet another ‘wonderful’ policy from these same people again. Apparently there is supposed to be a new policy which would make the use of Ghanaian languages mandatory as the medium of instruction for the first three years of basic education. And as Ato Kwamina Dadzie brilliantly wrote in his piece, this has ‘failure written all over it’.

According to the so-called experts, this has worked in other countries so automatically it would work in Ghana. Fifty-two years after Independence, we still engage in wholesale lifting of ideas from elsewhere without factoring in our own unique circumstances.

After reading the report the question I kept asking myself is this: is this the best our policy-makers can come up with to address the deteriorating standards in education?

At the time when Junior High School leavers cannot construct one complete error-free sentence in English (or any other language for that matter) is this the way to go?

Nobody should get me wrong. Personally I believe that nobody is completely ‘educated’ if he or she cannot read and write his/her own indigenous language. So yes, I do know the importance and significance of being able to read and write one’s language. English was supposed to be our second language but has now become our first and official language.

A lot has been said about getting an official language for Ghana and we all do know which language should be the obvious choice but as Ato Kwamina Dadzie rightly pointed out, ‘any attempt to make Twi a national language will be fiercely resisted even though it’s a language spoken widely in Ho as in Kumasi’. I will even add that Twi is the language used in the marketplace in far away Wa. Visionaries like Dr. Ben Abdallah knew this and did not have any problem expressing as much. I remember one time when he spoke succinct Twi to address an official gathering. The point is in order for this new policy to be effective, there has to be an official language. Why do we always put the cart before the horse? What is wrong with us? Ato Kwamina Dadzie mentioned the role of Swahali in the nations where it is spoken. Is this really the time to cut down on the study of English? When the Chinese and Japanese and others are paying huge sums so their children could be taught English? When Chinese students are striving to learn English by studying speeches made by Barack Obama? We really do not have any choice or say in the matter; English is the ‘official’ world language and we either engage or get left behind. I can express myself very well in the two languages that are indigenous to me, and it is not because I had three years of basic education with these languages as media of instruction!! And what happens after the three years? Is there any guarantee that these students would be able to communicate effectively in their languages later on in life? And by the way, why can’t we have both? Why can’t the schools teach both English and the other languages for the three years in question? Can’t we adopt and adapt policies to suit our interests?

I hope the policy-makers would listen and have another look.

Submitted on December 9, 2009

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