By Bertha Badu-Agyei
France, Aug.1, GNA-The Government of Ghana with support from the French government is to roll out a 10-year project to expand bilingual teacher training schools across the country.
The move is part of a broad based strategy to strengthen the learning of the French language to boost the bilateral relation between the two countries.
Ms Mavis Ama Frimpong, Ghana’s Ambassador to France disclosed this when a delegation of Ghanaian journalists paid a courtesy call on him at the Ghana embassy in France.
The call was as part of their participation in the Centenary celebration and annual conference of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in France.
“So, we are looking at a 10-year project where the French government will support Ghana government to bring in French teachers and establish exclusive bilingual schools, bilingual training colleges to teach English and French only, in Ghana”.
The Ambassador noted that already eight of such training facilities in Ghana were not functional in terms of the objective of establishing such schools.
We are going to reintroduce the objective and purpose of such institutions whiles two new facilities would be built to add up to the 10 under the project for the expansion of teaching and learning of French.
These institutions would be placed strategically across the country so that teacher trainees interested in teaching French at the basic level could apply.
As part of the project, there would be dedicated model bilingual basic schools where teachers who have completed the training would be posted.
That, she said was to ensure strict utilisation of teachers who had trained to become French teachers for the intended purposes.
Research has shown that, at the basic level, children can learn as many as 13 languages once introduced early.
“And so, asking our kids from the basic school to the JHS level to be bilingual would not be too much. By the time they get to secondary school, they are already abreast with the language, because, they have the interest.”
Currently, depending on where one schooled at the basic level, French is optional and at the secondary school level, opt-out is about 95 percent because French is an elective subject.
GNA
Edited by Linda Asante Agyei
Reporter Bertha Badu-Agyei
Email: [email protected]