By Iddi Yire
Accra, Feb. 16, GNA – Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembele has advocated the inclusion of the Nzema language in the curriculum of Colleges of Education in the Western Region.
This, he said, was to enable the Colleges of Education to train teachers of Nzema for Nzema schools.
He said though Nzema was the major Ghanaian language studied at the basic level in the Western Region, it was not included in the curriculum of the three Colleges of Education in the Western Region.
“As a result, Nzema students who desire to study the language in any of these institutions are compelled to study either Mfantse or Twi at the expense of their preferred Nzema,” Mr Buah stated on Thursday in his statement on the floor of Parliament, dubbed “The Problems Confronting the Promotion and Development of the Nzema Language.”
He said the lack of teachers to teach the language at the basic level had affected the performance of the schools.
He said the non-employment of Nzema language graduates to teach the language extensively at the Basic and Senior High School levels should be addressed.
“Teachers of the Nzema language should be posted to Nzema schools where they can teach the local language effectively instead of posting them to non-Nzema areas and vice versa,” he said.
Mr Buah, who is also the Deputy Minority appealed to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, the mother Ministry of the Bureau of Ghana Languages (BGL) should staff the Ga, Akuapem, Mfantse and Nzema sections of the Agency to provide the needed language services.
He said the Language Committees should be resourced adequately to be functional to meet their mandates.
“Mr Speaker, the Nzema language is one of the 11 local languages in the curriculum of the Basic and Senior High School levels,” he said.
“The language is examinable at both the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) levels organised by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).”
He noted that it was also one of the languages studied at the University of Education Winneba, Ajumako Campus.
He said scholars who had passed through this institution and other reputable universities in Ghana and abroad had researched extensively into the language and had produced a lot of research materials and publications.
Mr Buah said this shows that the language does not lack Literature which was a plus for a developed language.
“Mr Speaker, it is a matter of worry worth noting that despite the high level of development of the language, interest in the teaching, and learning of the language in our educational institutions is waning drastically,” he said.
“Consequently, students who study Nzema as an elective subject at the SHS level keep on reducing over the years.”
He said one of the reasons that had resulted in disinterest in the learning of the language was the lack of qualified teachers of Nzema at the basic level which was the foundation-building stage in the language learning process; declaring that “things are not working.”
He said the University of Education, Ajumako Campus, produced only a handful of qualified graduates in the language every year, which was not enough for the numerous schools; adding that even the few graduates who passed out had not been employed and were at home.
All contributors to the statement from both sides of the House called for measures to be put in place to promote the teaching and learning of Ghanaian languages in basic and secondary schools in the country.
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, NDC MP for North Tongu in his contribution to the statement said the issue of endangered languages, as UNESCO calls it, was an important one, which must engage the attention of the House.
He said according to UNESCO, out of the 7,040 languages spoken across the world, 40 per cent were endangered, stating that “they are on the verge of going extinct or totally extinct.”
He said not too long ago, in Accra, the nation’s capital, Ga chiefs raised a concern about the lack of Ga teachers in the Greater Accra Region; “they could not get adequate Ga teachers here in the capital”.
He said in a lot of basic schools within the Greater Accra Region, the Ga language was not being taught at all.
He reiterated that language was important, which was what represents the heritage, culture, and traditions of the people; saying “If the language goes extinct, the people are gone, their culture is gone, their identity is gone.”
“So, Mr Speaker, it is a very crucial matter, those of us in the Volta Region, we have discussed at our Caucus Meetings how it has become difficult in recent times to even get an adequate supply of teachers who had been trained in their mother tongue languages to teach in basic schools.”
Dr Stephen Amoah, New Patriotic Party (NPP) for Nhyiaeso, underscored the need for Ghanaians to ensure that their children could speak, read, and write their mother tongue languages.
GNA