The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, on Tuesday launched the French Teacher Mobility Programme (TFMP) in Accra with a call for young Ghanaians to be immersed in the learning of French.
An initiative of the International Organisation of La Francophone, TFMP was established to meet the needs of member countries wishing to commit to a national plan for quality teaching of and in French.
Under the Programme, Ghana has received 21 French Teachers selected from among 1,400 applications received from across the 88 member states.
Made up of 11males and 10 females, the teachers were from Andorra, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, France, Republic of Moldova, Rwanda, Serbia, Chad and Togo.
They will be deployed to the Colleges of Education in charge of the training of French teachers, the Regional Centres for the Teaching of French, and bilingual classes.
Launching the programme, Dr Adutwum explained that the teaching of French, which was the essence of the TFMP, was very critical to the teaching and promotion of the French Language in the country.
He said the government was prioritising the learning of French Language from the basic to tertiary level, and this was demonstrated through the establishment of the bilingual schools.
Dr Adutwum noted that with Ghana sandwiched between French speaking neighbours, it was important that French became a second language.
This, he said, would reposition Ghanaian entrepreneurs and professionals to explore the francophone market.
He said education was of importance to the government, stressing that the new partnership was a major step in the implementation of the Linguistic Pact signed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2019.
The signing of the Linguistic Pact culminated in the adoption of an Action Plan on four thematic areas: Education, Francophone environment, Linguistic development, and Language.
“Developing the knowledge of the young ones with the French Language will groom them to become leaders of ECOWAS and Francophone companies, and contribute to the development of the country,” he said.
On her part, the head of delegation, OIF, Ms Renie Yotova, said the signing of the agreement would strengthen the initial training of primary, secondary school students, and the continuous education of teachers and professionals in the country.
The French Ambassador to Ghana, Mrs Anne Sophie Ave, said with the strategic location of Ghana in the West African Sub-region, learning French Language by Ghanaians would go a long way to promote the socio-economic development of the country.
She said Ghana hosting the headquarters of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) meant Ghanaians needed to study French for job opportunities in French-speaking countries.
The Ministry of Education and the OIF in November 2021signed a three-year framework cooperation agreement on the programme to strengthen the linguistic and pedagogical skills of French teachers in Ghana.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL
