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24.08.2009 Education

Government to promote teaching of French - Tettey-Enyo

24.08.2009 LISTEN
By GNA

Accra , Aug. 24, GNA - The Government will promote the teaching of the French language in Junior and Senior High Schools in recognition of the subject's strategic importance to Ghana , which is surrounded by French-speaking countries.

This would be done not only through the delivery of quality teaching, but also by encouraging French clubs in schools and the optimal use of facilities for the study of French in all the 10 Regional Centres for the Teaching of French (CREFs).

Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, Minister of Education, said these in a speech read on his behalf by Ms Bernice Juliet Adu, an official of the Ghana Education Service, during the speech and prize-giving day of Le Roi Mobile Language Foundation in Accra at the weekend.

He said the government recognised the need to partner private institutions in the provision of quality education for the people. "Government, therefore, appreciates efforts Le Roi Mobile is making in the promotion of French language in this country."

The Minister said French was the second most frequently taught foreign language in the world after English, and that it is the only language other than English spoken on five continents. "French is also one of the official working languages of the UN, UNESCO, International Olympic Committee, Universal Postal Union, International Red Cross and the dominant working language at the European Court of Justice," he added.

Mr Tettey-Enyo lauded the school for offering French classes to Junior and Senior High School graduates during holidays to prevent them from idling or engaging in other unproductive activities.

"You have indeed done a good work since the establishment of the NGO in 1996 to help promote oral and written communication in the French language in Ghana ."

On the theme for the celebration, "Selfless Community Service, A Good Choice," Mr Tettey-Enyo said those who do selfless community service do so without expecting returns of any kind. "They are driven by a desire to help others, which is in turn driven by a feeling of self satisfaction."

The Minister commended the school for introducing a programme to assist the inmates of the Weija Leprosarium.

GNA

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