N-R: Group Holds Forum To Highlight Importance of Mother-Tongue In Basic Schooling

The “Ti Bom Neesim-Neesim Viela” Group, a non-profit organisation based in the Northern region, has organized an open forum on the importance of mother-tongue in basic education.

This forum, which was held at the Tamale College of Education (TACE), brought together parents, teachers, community members, traditional authorities, political leaders, representatives of the Ministry of Education (MOE), Ghana Education Service (GES), the general public, and other stakeholders in education.

It was revealed that many children in Northern Ghana are not able to read and understand a simple text by the age of 10; they suffer from learning deprivation. It also emerged that among the Dagomba, 787,800 children who are between the ages of 7 and 14 (representing 89%) lack foundational reading skills.

Accordingly, most schools force children to learn to read in English, a language they do not yet understand.

The language policy for education in Ghana and the GES curriculum support Mother-Tongue Based Education, but there is a mismatch between policy and classroom practice.

It is against this backdrop that the organization held this forum, the purpose of which is to reduce the high illiteracy rates and poor educational outcomes among children in Dagbon resulting from the lack of enforcement of the use of the mother tongue as provided in the GES curriculum.