'We're even struggling with French, why introduce Chinese in public schools?' – Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has dismissed reports claiming that the Ghana Education Service (GES) is introducing Arabic or Chinese into the curriculum of public schools.

Speaking in Wa during his Upper West Resetting Ghana Tour on September 12, 2026, the President assured Ghanaians that no such policy has been approved by Cabinet.

*“Let me disabuse your minds. There is absolutely no new policy that says that Arabic and Chinese are going to be introduced in our school curriculum. I chair Cabinet, and I can tell you no new curriculum has come for approval by Cabinet,”* he stated.

Mahama explained that Cabinet is the body responsible for approving curriculum changes, and therefore any new subjects must pass through Cabinet before becoming official policy.

He further questioned the practicality of introducing Chinese, noting Ghana’s struggle to adequately train French teachers despite being surrounded by French-speaking countries.

*“We’re not even getting a handle on the teaching of French. Why would we go and introduce Chinese? Where are we even going to get Chinese teachers? Even French teachers are hard to find,”* he said.