Yesterday, The Statesman carried a special report on the effect of local language radio on our children's educational development; and particularly, the increasing wedge it appears to be driving between children from rural and poorer urban areas, where functionally illiterate parents tend to listen to Ghanaian language channels, and those children from middle class families with good-English-speaking parents, who listen to the English radio stations. In "Increased domestication of the airwaves: are disadvantaged children being shortchanged?” (The Statesman, 7 December 2006) William Boakye Akoto argued that the broadcast environments in which children find themselves can significantly affect their learning experience. As school children are taught in English, those who regularly hear English at home not only have better English skills but are also better able to understand concepts taught in English - therefore consistently outperforming their classmates in Junior Secondary School and Senior Secondary School examinations.

Local language radio, “may be compromising the education of disadvantaged children by intensifying the discontinuity between the language of the home and English language,” he wrote.

The situation is not a straightforward one; and indeed, the article was not a straightforward denunciation of local language radio stations. African language radio stations are of undeniable value to a new but burgeoning democracy, to a people not all of whom are conversant with the 'official" language even, for a Government and Establishment in need of disseminating information and education in such a way that everyone can understand.

The fact that functionally or semi illiterate Ghanaians, incapable of reading English, can tune in to news review programmes every morning to hear English-language newspapers translated and critiqued in a tongue they understand, is an essential means by which we will continue to build a notion of our nation. The ability of local language radio stations to disseminate important information – examples in the last year would include education about the dangers of the solar eclipse before it began; about bird flu, to avoid unnecessary panic and prepare farmers for its arrival; about health issues such as HIV/Aids – is something which we should nurture. There is no valid argument for a cessation of local language radio, and indeed, Mr Boakye Akoto was not trying to put forward this case.

The issue is a complex one, and today The Statesman would like to offer some further thoughts about the state of our radio scene, and some further suggestions and improvements.

Firstly, the ‘Akan-isation’ of our radio scene should be seen as a source for some concern. The overwhelming dominance of Twi on our airwaves mirrors the creeping influence of Akan languages across all spheres – with Akan becoming the default national language, spoken by the majority of Ghanaians, at least in the south and middle of the country, regardless of their own ‘natural’ tongue. Although the World Fact Book lists 79 languages in Ghana, many of these are confined to small areas or small groups; and as Akan replaces these, the danger of losing our other languages may become a reality.

Radio broadcasting may be seen as a valuable way of helping our children – indeed, the population as a whole – to improve their English. Regular English language programming even on local language radio stations, as Mr Boakye Akoto suggests – is a measure which must certainly be put in place to aid this. But radio broadcasting is also a way of improving, sustaining and even re-invigorating our knowledge of our own languages; and through that, our history, our culture.

The explosion of local radio stations using Twi as their main language has gone a long way towards enhancing the language itself. Local languages are often pigeon-holed as traditional – we are taught in English and we discourse in English; our intellectual debates, our argumentative literature, politics, economics, even our business deals and board meetings – all developed and debated in a language that is not our own. It is almost as if the concepts themselves are too foreign to conceptualise in our ‘traditional’ tongue. Akan radio stations have made Twi a modern language, however; evolving and growing as people are forced to learn the Akan words for “newspaper,” for “Minister”. People used to using Twi as a language in the home have expanded their vocabulary and learnt to embrace concepts of democracy and debate in their Ghanaian languages. Local language radio has sought to spread and consolidate democracy by presenting information to a wide audience in an accessible form, and by widening a sense of inclusion in the events in this country – by encouraging audience phone-ins and reading SMS messages from listeners, for example. It has also served to enhance democracy by taking what was initially a Western-import and translating it into local forms – and Akan language radio must take the credit for this. Whilst Mr Boakye Akoto sees discontinuity between an English-dominated education system and a local-language-dominated media scene, we welcome the continual expansion of local language radio, as a way of bridging the gap between ancient and modern, and harmonising concepts of development and progress with our traditional society. But Akan is not the ‘local’ language of many Ghanaians – and we believe the National Communications Authority has not done enough to encourage other local language radio stations to develop with similar enthusiasm. In Accra, we have Radio Ghana, Peace FM, Hot FM, Happy FM, Adom FM, Radio Gold, Top Radio, all transmitting in Twi. For an area where at least a third of its people are Ga-speaking, there is only one Ga-speaking station, Obonu FM.

Why the NCA has not recognised the need for a more diverse range of radio stations; why it has not made any requirements of Twi-speaking stations to allocate time to other language groups, Ga or Hausa for example, is something which ought to be asked – and addressed. Hot FM deserves commendation for introducing a Hausa segment to it morning show, but that is still not enough. Just as Ghanaians need greater access to English radio, for the development of their education, for the enhancement of job prospects, for a better understanding of the world; so they also need better access to spoken word in their own languages.

Teaching of local languages in schools is sometimes poor, and this is something which must be looked at as part of Government’s educational reforms. Provision of local language media is another means by which Ghanaians can gain a better understanding of their people and their country; and this is something which we must begin to prioritise.