The presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has, among other things, promised to adopt the use of the local language, also known as the first language, in teaching under a new NDC administration.
The initiative will start from kindergarten to basic three, the former president said.
He disclosed this at an engagement he had with three preteacher unions as part of efforts to collect their inputs as the NDC finalises its manifesto for the 2024 general elections.
All three pre-tertiary teacher unions—the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT), and the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT)—were all present.
They presented a document to the presidential candidate that highlighted some of the challenges confronting the education sector and how they could be resolved.
In his remarks, the President of NAGRAT, who doubles as the spokesperson for the three teacher unions, Angel Carbonu, said it has been proven that children perform better and understand concepts much easier when thought of in their local languages.
He requested the use of the mother tongue in the teaching of pupils at the basic level.
He argued that “it has been found by linguistics that when you teach children in their local languages, they are able to appreciate and understand concepts more than when you teach them in a foreign language like the English language.”.
Mr. Mahama, in his response, said the use of the first language as a medium of instruction from the KG to the basic level sits well with the policy of the NDC.
He said this was manifested under the former education minister, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, under the previous NDC government.
He said the then minister, who is now her running mate, advocated this policy directly.
He stressed that the policy will be considered alongside the training of more teachers in the major local Ghanaian languages to make its implementation effective.
“My administration will focus on adopting ‘first language’ as a medium of instruction from KG to Basic 3 and training more teachers in major local languages to facilitate teaching and learning at the basic levels.”
He added that the NDC agrees with the unions on the need to build libraries in our public basic schools to inculcate the culture of reading in our pupils.
“This is necessary not only for knowledge but also for pleasure, which is gradually diminishing in the basic schools.
He further assured them that his administration would provide reading materials, textbooks, and other learning materials, just as it was pursued under his previous administration.
Mr. Mahama said that under the previous NDC government, all four core textbooks were provided, including those of the teachers.
“To encourage reading at the basic level, we plan to build more libraries and resume providing reading and textbooks for all basic schools.”
Source: rainbowradioonline.com
