The Member of Parliament for Assin South, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, has called for the resignation of the leadership of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA).

This follows the withdrawal of a Senior High School (SHS) teacher manual that contained content deemed inconsistent with Ghanaian values.

Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Wednesday, January 14, Rev. Fordjour described NaCCA’s handling of the matter as “bizarre, very unfortunate and appalling”, arguing that the magnitude of the lapse warranted accountability at the highest level of the institution.

“Professor Bekoe, the Director-General of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), Prof. Samuel Ofori Obuobisah Bekoe, should be resigning by now,” he said.

“If we are in a serious country, you cannot print such manuals, distribute them to schools and then turn around to say they are optional.”

NaCCA recently withdrew printed copies of the Year Two Physical Education and Health (Elective) Teacher Manual after acknowledging that sections on “gender identity” did not align with Ghanaian culture, norms and values.

The manual, developed in 2024 as a supplementary guide to support teachers delivering the new SHS curriculum introduced last academic year, had already been approved, printed with public funds and distributed nationwide before the controversy emerged.

A revised version has since been released, which NaCCA says reflects national values and a biological understanding of gender.

Rev. Fordjour questioned how such content could have passed through NaCCA’s review and approval processes, stressing that the council is mandated by law to act as a gatekeeper to ensure that all classroom materials are wholesome and aligned with Ghana’s culture, laws and moral framework.

“You review the manual, you approve it, you print thousands of copies with taxpayers’ money and distribute them as the pedagogical guide for teachers,” he said.

“And then, when concerns are raised, you say it is optional. If it is optional, why expend public funds to print and circulate it in the first place?”

The Assin South MP argued that the issue was not limited to a single definition of gender identity but reflected what he described as widespread problems throughout the manual.

According to him, definitions relating to sexual orientation, sex and sexuality were flawed and inconsistent with Ghana’s constitutional and legal framework.

He also criticised NaCCA for making what he described as hurried online amendments to selected sections of the manual, while leaving other contested definitions unchanged in the printed copies already in circulation.

For Rev. Fordjour, responsibility lay squarely with NaCCA’s leadership, which he said should take responsibility for approving and releasing the material.

“When an institution entrusted with safeguarding our children fails at this level, the leadership must accept responsibility,” he said. “This is not a minor oversight; it is a fundamental breach of trust.”

The MP further expressed concern that teachers had already begun using the manuals in classrooms before their withdrawal, meaning students had been exposed to the content during the first week of instruction.

“One week is already gone. These concepts have already been taught,” he noted. “Yet there has been no clear directive on how teachers are expected to correct or undo what has already been delivered to students.”

Rev. Fordjour concluded that the resignation of NaCCA’s leadership would be a necessary first step towards restoring public confidence in the curriculum development process and ensuring that similar incidents do not recur.