Ghana's basic school curriculum is set for a major overhaul, with computing, coding, citizenship education and ethics becoming central to classroom teaching under sweeping reforms announced by the Ministry of Education.

The revised curriculum, developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), also places renewed emphasis on Ghanaian languages as the main medium of instruction from kindergarten to Primary Three, while introducing Chinese as an optional foreign language and standardising the teaching of Arabic.

The reforms follow a comprehensive review of the existing curriculum, which identified significant learning gaps, particularly in Mathematics, Ghanaian Languages and other core subjects.

Presenting the revised curriculum, the Executive Secretary of NaCCA, Prof Samuel Ofori Bekoe, said the changes are aimed at equipping learners with the knowledge, values and practical skills needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

He explained that the review led to four major structural changes, with one of the key reforms being the introduction of a dedicated Citizenship Education subject.

According to him, civic education had previously been spread across several subjects, making it less effective.

"We did the curriculum mapping to identify what we have to do. Four major structural changes have been brought into this new curriculum," he said.

Professor Bekoe explained that NaCCA decided against introducing several new subjects that could overburden learners. Instead, it proposed a single subject to bring together civic knowledge, values, attitudes and practical skills.

"We were looking at a subject that can hold all these competencies, being the knowledge, the attitudes, the values, and then the skills that learners need to become effective civic participants in the Ghanaian economy."

He said the proposed Citizenship Education subject would also incorporate areas such as history to help build responsible and active citizens.

"We are proposing... that Citizenship Education should be the subject that will consolidate all these civic competencies and learnings that will make our learners functional."

Another major reform is the integration of coding and computational thinking into the curriculum to prepare learners for emerging technologies.

Professor Bekoe said coding concepts would be introduced through both Computing and Mathematics lessons.

"With computing and mathematics, we deliberately have introduced aspects of coding. In computing it's called computational thinking, in mathematics they call it quantitative thinking."

He said these would provide learners with the basic skills needed to understand coding, automation and artificial intelligence.

"These are the basic skills that learners need to grasp the concept of coding and then automation and AI going forward."

The revised curriculum also proposes the introduction of Chinese as an optional foreign language in selected schools.

Professor Bekoe said the decision was influenced by Ghana's growing trade relationship with China.

"Now Ghana's major trading partner is China. Many people go to China to do all kinds of trade."

He said that Chinese would not be compulsory but would be offered in schools with the necessary resources and trained teachers.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Cape Coast has already partnered with NaCCA to develop a curriculum and has pledged to support a pilot programme in 10 schools.

"The Confucius Centre says that they are ready to sponsor about 10 schools for now to start as a pilot. They have trained teachers who can handle the 10 schools at the beginning."

Professor Bekoe also announced that Arabic, which has long been taught in some schools, now has a standardised curriculum for Primary One to Primary Six.

Previously, different schools followed different teaching materials.

The curriculum review also places greater emphasis on continuous classroom assessment.

"We deliberately have made formative assessment a core issue in the curriculum," he said.

Minister for Education Haruna Iddrisu welcomed the revised curriculum and directed the Ghana Education Service (GES) to complete its review within one week to ensure the reforms are ready for implementation.

"The GES is given one week from today to review and bring the curriculum up to full implementation readiness and strict quality standards," he said.

The Minister said this would allow the GES to take early ownership of the reforms and ensure smooth implementation in classrooms across the country.

Mr Iddrisu also accepted NaCCA's recommendation that Ghanaian languages should become the main language of instruction from kindergarten to Primary Three.

"Accordingly, I accept your recommendation that Ghanaian language be the medium of instruction from kindergarten to Basic Three."

He explained that children at the early stages of education would learn to read in their local language, while English would continue to be taught as a subject using play-based oral activities.

"Learners at this level will be taught to read in a Ghanaian language. English language will be taught as a subject with an explicit emphasis on play-based oral activity."

According to the Minister, teaching children in their mother tongue during their early years improves both cognitive development and reading comprehension.

"Grounding early learning in a child's native language significantly improves cognitive development and reading comprehension, which actually accelerates second language," he said.