The Ministry of Education has dismissed claims that it is seeking to impose the teaching of Arabic on students in Ghanaian schools.
The Ministry said there is no policy or directive making Arabic compulsory for Ghanaian students and urged the public to disregard misinformation on the matter.
In a statement, the Ministry explained that the development of a standardised Arabic curriculum is not a new initiative of Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu, as the process began several years before he assumed office.
“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 said Arabic is a language and should not be interpreted as an attempt to promote or impose any religion.
“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.”
According to the Ministry, Arabic has been taught in English-Arabic and Islamic schools in Ghana for decades following its recognition as part of the primary school curriculum.
However, the teaching of the language in such schools has largely been done without a single standardised curriculum, with individual schools using their own programmes.
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) subsequently developed a standardised Arabic language curriculum to provide a common framework for teaching the subject in these schools.
The Ministry said NaCCA’s recommendation for the adoption of the curriculum was intended for existing English-Arabic or Islamic schools, as well as any other public primary school that may voluntarily choose to implement it.
“It was never meant to make the language a mandatory or compulsory subject in our primary schools,” the Ministry stressed.
The Ministry said there are already hundreds of Islamic schools across the country where Arabic is taught to meet the educational and linguistic needs of their communities.
It said the standardised curriculum is intended to bring consistency and quality assurance to the teaching and learning of Arabic.
“The Ministry wishes to make it absolutely clear, that Arabic is not a compulsory subject for Ghanaian students generally,” it stated.
It added that Arabic, like French and other foreign languages apart from English, remains an optional subject in public schools.
“The development of a standardised curriculum does not amount to making Arabic compulsory for non-Muslim students, nor does it constitute an attempt to impose any religion on Ghanaian learners.”
The Ministry has urged the public, media practitioners and other stakeholders to rely on authoritative sources when discussing education policies.
It warned that circulating unverified claims could create unnecessary fear, misunderstanding and religious tension.
“The Ministry therefore urges the public, media practitioners and all stakeholders to verify information from authoritative sources before drawing conclusions or circulating claims that may unnecessarily create fear, misunderstanding or religious tension.”
The clarification follows public claims suggesting that the Education Ministry was seeking to introduce Arabic as a compulsory subject in Ghanaian schools.
The Ministry maintains that the ongoing standardisation of the Arabic curriculum is aimed at bringing structure and consistency to a language that is already taught in several schools, particularly English-Arabic and Islamic schools.
It has therefore stressed that Arabic remains optional and there is no directive requiring Ghanaian students generally to study the language.
