When a child enters a classroom and cannot comprehend the language of instruction, learning is already thwarted. Yet this remains the experience of many Ghanaian schoolchildren who speak Ewe, Twi, Dagbani, Ga or Nzema at home, but suddenly face English-only instruction from the first day of school. Nearly seven decades after independence, Ghana still appreciate English as the sole legitimate language of education, social mobility and official expression.
The recent call by Minister of Education Haruna Iddrisu for teachers to prioritize Ghanaian languages at the basic level has resurrected a long and emotional national debate. Detractors contend that utilizing local languages in schools will weaken global competitiveness and trap students in linguistic boundaries. Apologists like myself, view it differently that a country cannot build confident, thinking, and innovative citizens when children begin their education in a language they do not fully understand.
Language is far more than a tool for communication; It carries our history, identity, memory and worldview. As the renowned Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o puts it, language is the “carrier of culture.” When a child is tutored exclusively in English, that child is alienated from their own lived reality and from the stories and wisdom of their community.
In Ghana, most children speak an indigenous language fluently before starting school. However, almost all schools persist to treat English as the sole language of intelligence and progress. The repercussion is predictable: rote learning, where students memorize words and notes without understanding concepts deeply. Learning becomes passive instead of engaging. Myself, as a former Senior High School tutor in Ghana, I can attest that when lessons are explained in the local languages, even students who typically struggle demonstrate improved understanding and actively participate in class discussions.
Ghana is one of the most linguistically diverse countries in Africa. According to linguistic studies, about 47 percent of Ghanaians speak an Akan language, 17 percent speak Mole-Dagbani, 14 percent speak Ewe and 7 percent speak Ga-Adangbe. Despite this multilingual reality, only about 46 percent of Ghanaians aged 11 and above are literate in both English and a Ghanaian language.
This means a large proportion of students are being taught in a language that is not their strongest. Although nine Ghanaian languages are officially recognized in basic education, implementation remains weak. In many schools, especially in urban areas, speaking English is still seen as a mark of intelligence, progress & modernity, an attitude bequeathed from colonial rule. This notion does not optimize learning outcome but continues to torpedo effective learning.
The fear that promoting local languages will limit global exposure is not supported by evidence. Countries like Ethiopia, Tanzania and Rwanda have successfully integrated mother-tongue education in their systems. Ethiopia uses multiple local languages throughout primary school and has seen improvement in literacy. Tanzania uses Kiswahili as a foundation of national identity. Rwanda elevates Kinyarwanda alongside English and French. These examples show that children who learn first in their mother tongue are better equipped to learn second and third languages, including English.
If Ghana objects a substantive educational reform, language must be at the heart of policy change. This requires training more bilingual teachers, providing textbooks and teaching materials in Ghanaian languages, public campaigns should also be done to reframe Ghanaian languages as symbols of intellect, cultural pride, and identity rather than signs of backwardness, rewarding schools that implement bilingual education effectively. Ghana must redefine success not as “how early a child speaks English,” but “how well a child understands what they are being taught.”
In essence, if Ghana is sincere about educational transformation and national development, it must begin with linguistic empowerment. As the Great Montessori reminds us, “to know your mother tongue is to reclaim your world.” The reclamation of Ghana’s world begins in the classroom tutoring children first in Akan, Ewe, Ga, Dagbani, Nzema, Dagaare, and other indigenous tongues, before extending their linguistic horizons through English.
By Francis Pimpong, Graduate Student, University of Kansas (USA)
