Education minister directs clarity on sex definition amid LGBT curriculum controversy

Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has ordered a clear and unambiguous definition of sex, man and woman in all educational materials following public controversy over alleged LGBT content in Ghana’s school curriculum.

Responding to the issue on January 15, 2026, at an event, the minister said although the curriculum in question was not developed under his tenure, his focus is on what serves Ghana’s national interest.

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“If I wanted to be politically mischievous, I would just say that this was not produced by my era or tenure as minister, nor by President Mahama, and that this curriculum was developed in 2024. But what is important is to answer the question, what is it that is good for Ghana, and good for Ghanaian teachers, and good for Ghanaian leaders,” he said.

Haruna Iddrisu disclosed that he has directed the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) to take responsibility for the controversy and correct any problematic content.

The minister further issued a firm directive on how sex and gender must be defined in Ghana’s education system.

“Now, accordingly, my directive as minister responsible for education, there should be no ambiguity whatsoever regarding the definition of a man as in a man, a woman as in a woman, as in biological sex and sex means biological sex,” he stated.

He stressed that all references to sex in educational materials must relate strictly to biological sex at birth.

According to him, this position reflects Ghanaian values and must guide the upbringing of learners across the country.

“References to man, woman, sex means reference to the biological sex and the sex of a person at birth. So every educational literature in Ghana must reflect same,” he indicated.

“For our purposes, the sex of a person at birth holds and that depicts and reflects Ghanaian values and that is how we want to bring up all Ghanaian learners in an environment that they appreciate that the morality of our society rests in the extent to which they uphold these values,” he added.

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Haruna Iddrisu concluded by directing all agencies under the Ministry of Education to comply fully with this standard.

“Every publication of the Ministry of Education and the GES and to all heads of institutions involved in the educational space must respect this natural definition of sex and natural definition of a man and a woman, nothing more,” he directed.

MAG/EB

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