Ga people don’t like learning their own language – Prof. Charles Owu-Ewie

Dean at the Faculty of Ghanaian Languages, University of Education Winneba, Professor Charles Owu-Ewie says that the Ga people in the country are not interested in studying their own language.

This, he said, is the reason for which some schools may consider phasing out education in the Ga language as there are no teachers to handle the subject.

Earlier this month, the Valley View University Basic School announced that it had no teachers to teach the Ga Language, hence, it was gradually going to stop education in Ga for pupils in Grade 1 to 3.

Speaking to UniversNews, Prof. Owu-Ewie said that UEW has had witnessed a decrease in the number of those who enrol to study the Ga Language.

He said that this was despite the fact that more Ga-Adangbe’s enrol to the school.

“I dare anybody who will say we don’t have enough Ghanaian language teachers, we have them and we train them, but for Ga, I can say the students are not coming. The issue is that Ga people don’t like learning their own language. When you come to the University, the Unit with the smallest persons is the Ga when it is expected to have large numbers, but the Ga-Adangbe has more students than they have,” he said.

Prof. Charles Owu-Ewie further mentioned that the number associated with persons who are enrolled to study Ga as their second proficiency language is always higher than persons who would want to enrol in it as their first proficiency course.

“Interestingly, when we said people should do a second Ghanaian language in our faculty this year, Ga had the highest number of students as they are more than 200. But the department this year has only 15 or 20 students when Twi has almost about over 600 students, Ewes has 200 students and more”.

He expressed his disappointment at the rate at which most graduates from the faculty of Ghanaian Languages end up teaching English instead of Ga due to the market demand.

He added that most of these graduates are also posted to places only to face other language barriers.

“They are not expected to go and teach English but because the secondary schools and the rest see they are effectiveness when they do that, they go there and they tell them they don’t have the space for Ghanaian Language spaces although they are posted there” he noted.