NPP Tells President John Mahama To Sack Haruna Iddrisu

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has demanded the removal of Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu if he moves forward with plans to implement Arabic and Chinese in Ghanaian schools without the necessary approval from the President or Cabinet.

This call to action comes in light of President John Dramani Mahama’s statement that Cabinet has not sanctioned any initiative to introduce these two languages into public schools across Ghana.

In a statement released by its Education Sector Policy Committee on Wednesday, September 16, the NPP raised concerns about how the Education Ministry and its associated agencies could be advancing curriculum development and teacher training without the essential approvals.

On September 12, President Mahama remarked that there have been no approved policies regarding the introduction of Arabic and Chinese in Ghana’s public educational institutions.

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“No such policy has been approved by the cabinet that I chair. So let’s put that matter to rest once and for all,” President Mahama said during a citizens’ engagement at the University of Business and Integrated Development Studies in the Upper West Region.

He also questioned the feasibility of introducing Chinese when Ghana continues to face challenges recruiting teachers for French.

“We’re not even getting a handle on the teaching of French. Why would we go and introduce Chinese?” he asked.

The NPP, however, said the Education Ministry and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) had already taken steps towards implementing the initiative.

The party said Mr Iddrisu had earlier announced that Chinese and Arabic would be compulsory foreign languages at the secondary school level and had linked the initiative to President Mahama’s vision for education.

According to the NPP, NaCCA subsequently engaged about 160 writers and reviewers to develop a revised curriculum, which was presented to the Education Minister on July 22.

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