Post more Ga-Dangbe teachers to Accra to preserve language – Sam George urges GES

The Member of Parliament, Ningo Prampram, Sam Nartey George, has called on the Ghana Education Service to post Ga-Dangbe teachers to Accra and its environs to teach its people their own language.

Hon. George said that it is heartbreaking to know that students who come from the Greater Accra Region are made to learn languages from other regions instead of their own language, Ga-Dangbe.

He noted that the Ga-Dangbe Council doesn’t mind their children learning any other Ghanaian language as their second language, but he is in disagreement that other languages should be made the primary Ghanaian language for students of Ga-Dangbe descent.

He opined that this is a well-calculated attempt by the Ghana Education Service to have them lose their language and culture.

The Member of Parliament said he personally funded 14 Ga-Dangbe teachers to study a Bachelor of Arts in Ga-Dangbe at the University of Winneba and Ajumako Campus. However, he observed, they were then posted outside Accra to teach in other courses. 

According to him, the Ga-Dangbe people are hospitable, having accommodated people from other tribes in Accra. Nonetheless, it has called on the Ghana Education Service to respect their language, culture, and way of life.

“I have supported about 14 people to go and learn at the University of Education Winneba and Ajumako campuses to have bachelor degrees in Dangbe, and many of them come and the GES posts them to other regions, and they go and become classroom teachers and not subject-specific teachers,” he revealed.

We are continuing to engage the GES, but if they fail, we would lead a demonstration of Ga-Dangbe sons and daughters against the GES because it appears to be a calculated attempt to kill the language, and that’s something that would happen under our watch,” he added.

The legislator said that, due to the aforementioned concerns, some individuals from the Greater Accra Region have decided to set up an educational fund to allow them to train more Ga-Dangbe teachers and called on the authority to post them.

On whether there are enough schools in Greater Accra, Hon. George stated their priority is not on the number of schools in the region, but whether the existing schools are introducing the language and culture of the Ga-Adangbes to the students.

“We’ve got schools here, and for us, it’s not about asking for more schools; I mean, we will be grateful if we have more schools. What we are saying is that even with the existing schools, we want to just make sure that our language is taught because, as the language becomes a culture and the tradition of the people, our children need to be taught our language.”

“They need to understand who they are and where they come from, but without having that taught through the language, you call the culture, you kill the tradition, and you eventually kill the people themselves,” the legislator explained further.

Sam George said this during the launch of the “Strategic Blueprint and Education Fund” of the Ga-Dangbe Council on Friday, March 1, 2024, at the Accra City Hotel.