Education Ministry Denies Plan to Make Arabic Compulsory in Schools
By Maame Efua Kwaduah
The Ministry of Education has dismissed reports suggesting that the government intends to make Arabic a compulsory subject in Ghanaian public schools, describing the claims as misinformation and misconceptions.
The Ministry said there is currently no policy or directive requiring Ghanaian students to study Arabic, stressing that the development of a standardised curriculum for the language is aimed at improving the quality and consistency of its teaching in schools where it is already offered.
In a statement issued by the Press Secretary to the Minister for Education, Hashmin Mohammed, the Ministry explained that the process of developing the standardised Arabic curriculum began several years before the appointment of Haruna Iddrisu as Education Minister.
According to the Ministry, the review of the Arabic curriculum at the senior high school level began about four years ago as part of efforts to regulate and improve the teaching of the language.
It explained that Arabic has been taught in English-Arabic and Islamic schools in Ghana for several decades. However, there had not previously been a single, officially approved curriculum governing the teaching and learning of Arabic across such institutions.
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), therefore, developed a standardised Arabic language curriculum to provide structure, consistency and quality assurance in the teaching of the language.
The Ministry said the curriculum is primarily intended for schools where Arabic is already being taught, as well as any other public primary school that may voluntarily choose to introduce the language.
It stressed that the development of the curriculum should not be interpreted as an attempt to impose Arabic on students or promote any particular religion.
“The Ministry wishes to state categorically that there is no policy or directive to impose the study of Arabic on Ghanaian students,” the statement said.
The Ministry further explained that Arabic, like French and other foreign languages taught in Ghanaian public schools apart from English, remains an optional subject.
It also sought to draw a clear distinction between Arabic as a language and Islam as a religion, noting that the teaching of Arabic does not automatically amount to religious instruction.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Arabic is a language, not a religion. The teaching and learning of Arabic should therefore not be misconstrued as the promotion or imposition of any religious belief,” the Ministry stated.
The Education Ministry said there are already hundreds of Islamic schools across the country where Arabic is taught, primarily in response to the educational and linguistic needs of their respective communities.
It maintained that the standardisation of the curriculum is intended to ensure that students in schools offering Arabic receive structured and consistent instruction, rather than to introduce the subject as a compulsory requirement across the public education system.
The Ministry also emphasised that the teaching of Arabic in Ghanaian schools predates the current Education Minister’s assumption of office and should therefore not be viewed as a personal initiative of Mr Iddrisu.
