President John Dramani Mahama has dismissed claims that his government has approved a policy to introduce Arabic and Chinese as subjects in Ghana’s public schools.

He said no such policy had been approved by Cabinet and urged the public to disregard reports suggesting that the two languages were being introduced nationwide.

President Mahama made the clarification on Saturday, September 12, during a citizens’ engagement at the University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS) in the Upper West Region, as part of his Resetting Ghana Tour.

“No such policy has been approved by the cabinet that I chair. So let’s put that matter to rest once and for all,” President Mahama said.

He also questioned the rationale for introducing Chinese at a time when the country was struggling to provide enough teachers to effectively teach French.

According to him, French remains particularly important because of Ghana’s proximity to several Francophone countries.

“We’re not even getting a handle on the teaching of French. Why would we go and introduce Chinese?” he asked.

Arabic teaching

On Arabic, President Mahama clarified that its teaching in some schools does not stem from a new policy to introduce the language across all public schools.

He explained that English-Arabic schools were established during the administration of the late former President Jerry John Rawlings to encourage Muslim communities that had been reluctant to send their children to school over concerns about religious conversion.

He said Arabic teacher training has consequently been ongoing to support the teaching of the language in those schools.

President Mahama reiterated that the government had not approved any policy to introduce either Arabic or Chinese across all public schools.

“But there’s no new policy to introduce Arabic and Chinese in all public schools in Ghana,” he said.