The French Ambassador to Ghana, Madam Anne-Sophie Ave has expressed satisfaction with the progress of work on the French-English bilingual programme rolled out by the Ministry of Education (MoE), being piloted in five basic schools in the country.
Rolled out in 2018, the programme aimed to promote the teaching and learning of French not only as a language but also a medium of instruction in some selected subjects at the basic level.
Mathematics, Science, Information Technology and French are to be taught in the two languages.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Times on the sidelines after a day’s working tour of some of the pilot schools in Accra on Wednesday, Madam Ave said the programme started in 2018 and it was intended to provide bilingual classes in Ghanaian schools.
She said it was the best way to pick up any language without knowing it was when one was young, stressing that “I am very impressed with the progress so far because the children are picking up quickly.”
“But what is the most important is the enthusiasm of the teachers and that no one can provide it. When you look at these kids, when they love French, if they all want to be teachers, then it is because they love their teachers,” she added.
Madam Ave said her assessment of the programme showed that both the teachers and the kids were very convinced that there was some usefulness in the programme and they were providing them with the tools for the feature.
She said bilingual was the way to go in this era of globalisation, adding that “In the non-English speaking countries in Europe now, not speaking English is a handicap for the future, so now we all have to learn how to speak English, otherwise you don’t get a job.”
The Ambassador said the more economic links one could have with its neighbouring countries would largely depended on the ability to speak a common language.
She said with the coming into force of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, there was going to be thriving economic activities on the continent and West Africa in particular.
“Most of West African Countries actually speak French so if we want to keep the best and keep the leadership, then you would have to be able to speak the language that speaks to their heart,” she said.
On his part, a Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Adutwum said the government was mindful of the need to equip the youth with the relevant skills and knowledge to empower them towards the future.
He said the trend now in the developed world was the adoption of the immersion programme, adopting two languages as medium of instruction for their school children.
Dr Adutwum said following the success of the pilot, the programme had been rolled out in 50 schools across the country and the ministry would upscale the numbers once it received the needed financial support.
By Cliff Ekuful
