Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Minister of Education
Some six Colleges of Education dedicated to the teaching and learning of French Language in Ghana have received some Information Communication Technology (ICT) teaching and learning materials and French manuals from the French Embassy in the country.
The French Ambassador to Ghana, Anne Sophie Avé, made the presentation at a short ceremony at the Ministry of Education in Accra on Friday.
The six colleges are Mount Mary College of Education, Somanya; Wesley College of Education, Kumasi; Enchi College of Education, Enchi; Bagabaga College of Education, Tamale; Gbewa College of Education, Pusiga; and E. P College of Education, Amedzofe.
The Minister of Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, receiving the items, lauded the embassy for its support for the promotion of teaching and learning of French in the country.
According to the Minister, the current trend towards international co-operation, peaceful co-existence and technology transfer necessitates that a person be able to communicate in a language that is understood by his neighbours.
“An ability to communicate in at least two major international languages has strategic importance in such areas as commerce and industry, science and technology, telecommunication, diplomacy, management, among others,” he said.
He noted that Ghana is surrounded by French-speaking countries, and is one of the only five English-speaking countries in the West African sub-region, adding that it is, therefore, imperative, in the national interest, to take the learning of French important to give the country advantage and leverage in trade and commerce.
He disclosed that the country signed a linguistic pact with the International Organisation of La Francophonie, in May 2018, and is currently implementing an action plan for the country.
Promoting French
Dr Opoku Prempeh stated further that Ghana is keen on promoting the French language in the country’s centres of learning, adding that various policies have been envisaged in this direction.
“And key amongst these policies are the reforms of school curricula, to include the teaching and learning of French at the primary level, from Basic Four to Basic Six, through a standard-based curriculum, and we have taken a step ahead of many countries to initiate a bilingual school project on pilot basis, three years ago,” he said.
“These teaching and learning ICT equipment and French manuals will go a long way to equip the language laboratories and classrooms of the six Colleges of Education and the 45 bilingual schools nationwide,” he added.
He was hopeful that the next Solidarity Funds for Innovative Project will put more premium on the human resource development through the creation of regional centres for the teaching of French in the newly created regions.
Source: dailystatesman.com.gh/Paul Dalafu
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