French language to be compulsory at basic level - Minister

Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, Minister for Education has affirmed government’s commitment to make learning and speaking of French at the basic level education compulsory.

He noted that although French was currently being offered in the Junior High Schools and was an option in the six programmes at the Senior High Schools, the results at the Basic Education levels remained a challenge.

He explained that it was government’s vision to promote the learning and speaking of French and also to equip French Teacher Trainees to be abreast with modern French language modules.

Dr Prempeh stated this during a meeting with a delegation from the French Embassy in Accra who paid a courtesy call on him.

He said government had embraced the teaching and learning of French as the second foreign language studied in the educational institutions in addition to English, the official language, and the vernacular.

“There was the need to redefine the country’s relations with the French government to promote the speaking and learning of French at the tender age,” he added.

The Education Minister believed that if the country can get the teaching of French language at the basic level, there might not be the need to teach French at the public institutions because the foundation was strong.

Dr Prempeh thanked the Government and People of France for the continuous support towards Ghana’s educational improvement.

Mr Francios Pujolas, the French Ambassador, said the Ministry in 2016 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the French Embassy for assistance to ensure the effective teaching and learning of the French Language.

Mr Pujolas said the support, which was worth 700,000.00 Euros, was part of his Government’s “Solidarity Priority Support Fund” project, which was aimed at assisting countries to improve the teaching and learning of the French Language at the pre-tertiary and tertiary levels.

He explained that three key areas of intervention for the current support would be at the high school level, science-oriented institutions and the Mount Mary’s College of Education, which was the Regional Centre for the teaching of French instructors.

Mr Pujolas said learning the French Language would not only ensure better trade deals between businesses, but also broaden the horizon of Ghanaians to the Francophone world for healthier collaborations and partnerships.