NaCCA withdraws SHS teachers' manual over gender identity concerns

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) has ordered the withdrawal of hard copies of the Senior High School Physical Education and Health teachers’ manual following controversy over a section that defined gender identity, graphic.com.gh reports.

The move comes after public debate surrounding the wording of the definition, which NaCCA admits was not meant to appear in the final version of the teaching material currently in use in some schools.

In an exclusive interview with Adom News on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, NaCCA Board Chairman Professor Vincent Assanful said teachers who received the manual have been instructed to return it as part of a broader curriculum review.

He explained that the review seeks to align educational content with Ghanaian cultural values while maintaining academic integrity, noting that the exercise covers the entire education system from the basic to the secondary level.

“In the review process, we should have flagged that definition. We are undertaking some changes in the curriculum. I have instructed my Director-General that they should issue a statement to clarify and to make a point that that bit and in fact it is not only that bit, the whole section of definition of terms we will have to have a second look at that section.

“I am working on it and I assure teachers, well-meaning Ghanaians and parents that that aspect in the review of the curriculum we will work on it,” graphic.com.gh quoted him as saying in the interview.

Professor Assanful explained that the matter was brought to his attention earlier in the day and was promptly referred to NaCCA’s technical team for verification.

He further noted that although the manual had gone through several expert review stages, the inclusion of the controversial definition exposed gaps in the internal quality control process.

“It was brought to my attention this morning, and honestly, I didn’t understand it well. So, I forwarded it to the Deputy Director in charge of Technical Services, who oversees curriculum development. He confirmed to me that indeed the document is from us so in terms of its authenticity, it is an authentic document which originated from us.

“I drew the Deputy Director’s attention to the definition. It is obvious that during the preparation of the document, a subject expert reviewed it. He said he would contact the subject expert and find out how come that definition came into the document. He has communicated the expert’s response, but I am not convinced. I have engaged the Director-General as well, Prof Bekoe,” he noted.

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