The Ghana Education Service (GES) has stated that it has no intention of making Arabic a compulsory subject in the country.
According to the GES, the subjects to be studied in literacy components under the curriculum review for primary six were the English language, Ghanaian language (s) and French.
In a statement signed and issued by the Head of the Public Relations Unit of the GES, Ms Cassandra Twum Ampofo it said : “As a matter of fact, none of the 152,000 kindergarten and primary school teachers who took part in the recent nationwide orientation on the new standards-based curriculum received training in Arabic.â€
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The statement explained that though the JHS curriculum was yet to be reviewed, “there are plans to develop a curriculum for Arabic at the JHS level, considering its present global status as a modern foreign languageâ€.
It said currently, Arabic was offered in some schools in the Islamic Education Unit, expressing the concern that the absence of an official curriculum in Arabic had culminated in a situation where different schools resorted to their own arrangements and materials to teach the subject.“
The GES and NaCCA deem it necessary to provide schools that are currently offering Arabic and those that wish to do so with a curriculum.
“This will ensure the harmonization of the study of Arabic in all such schools,†the statement explained, adding that it would not be a compulsory subject for any school or group of persons.
The statement explained that the decision to teach Arabic or not would be based on the individual school, as well as the availability of an Arabic teacher.
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