Basic school French can’t be compulsory – GES Council Chair

The study of the French Language as a subject in basic schools will remain optional in Ghana, the Chairman of the Ghana Education Service (GES) Council, Mr Michael Nsowah, has said.

Despite the introduction of a new curriculum for basic schools, the French Language was not included as a mandatory course even though the government has said several times that it will be considered as the second national language.

“We have been talking about making French a compulsory subject in this country for many years [but] what is lacking is that we don’t have French teachers or we don’t have enough French teachers, and as long as we don’t have enough French teachers, French will continue to be optional at the basic level,” Mr Nsowah told Benjamin Akakpo on Class 91.3FM's Executive Breakfast Show on Monday, 15 April 2019.

Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, about a month ago, said the decision by the Anglophone West African country to use French as a second language is a major concern of the Government of Ghana, in line with national priorities.

She reiterated plans by the government to include the promotion of the learning of French in basic schools and across all other levels of learning, as part of a general reform of Ghana’s education sector.

Ms Botchwey was addressing the opening session of the 2019 La Francophonie week in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, themed: “Say it in French...please”.

Ghana signed the Linguistic Pact with La Francophonie for improved technical support and capacity building for the teaching and learning of French in 2018.

The move, according to Ms Botchwey, marked the start of a historical process, aimed at improving regional integration through the development of the French language across the country.