We ascribe a different sense of value to non-local languages - Former Education Minister

A former Education Minister has lamented the prioritisation of English and other foreign languages over local languages.

Naana Opoku-Agyeman said a different sense of value is added to non-local languages by Ghanaians.

She told Daniel Dadzie on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Tuesday that “if you speak English you means you are educated, you are advanced…”

She said this is due to the use of English to teach in schools during the colonial era.

Prof. Agyeman explained understanding and speaking different languages is itself not an issue but the problem comes with replacing one’s own language with a foreign one.

Prof. Charles Owu-Ewie of the University of Education, Winneba who was also on the show noted that the trend is gradually putting “our local languages under threat.”

A language is not a human that dies instantly but rather dies gradually, he said.

Follow the discussion below on the role of local language in basic school

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Local Language

Naana Opoku-Agyeman