'Islamic Republic of Ghana'?

Emotions in Ghana are running high as the Education Minister has announced the introduction of Arabic and Mandarin into the country’s school curriculum. Arabic has been taught in Arabic schools in Ghana for years, ensuring pupils can read the original text of the Qur’an and align more closely with the Arab world. These schools taught—and continue to teach—Arabic as a subject of choice, knowing that all students attending would take up the language as standard. (How many Christian pupils attend Islamic schools?) Individual schools’ decisions should now, according to the Minister, become the state norm by standardising the teaching process.

Critics have raised concerns over the Minister’s move. They ask: what has changed in society that a subject of choice should now be standardised? Does the Minister foresee that Ghana, as a society and economy, is missing out on business and job opportunities for its people? Does he see knowledge of Arabic as essential for job creation? Learning foreign languages is a long‑term process before it can benefit any society. The benefits can be witnessed in twenty, thirty or more years when targeted at a broad base of pupils across the country. How does the Minister envision Ghana by then? A nation with close ties to the Arab world—away from Europe, the USA, Asia and, most of all, a united Africa?

As learning Arabic outside the Arab world is closely linked to the Qur’an, critical observers suggest that behind the stated goal of opening up the national economy to opportunities in the Arab world, the move may have a hidden agenda. The pool of pro and contra arguments is not filled by the Minister with hard evidence that standardising Arabic in Ghana’s current curriculum would bring a projected additional amount of GDP income to Ghana—income that other current or potential curriculum changes, such as entrepreneurial skills, would not be able to achieve.

The Minister also wants to promote Mandarin in Ghana, while Chinese citizens are eager to learn English to engage in global business and travel the world. Chinese actors have taken over galamsey—illegal gold mining—in Ghana. They finance major infrastructural projects, and Ghana is seriously indebted to China. Monk Martin Luther translated the Bible from Latin into German, convinced German royals (who mostly spoke French), and argued that clergy could only rule effectively when the common people understood their instructions. Unlike Thomas Müntzer, he defended the God‑given order of rulership by royals and their clergy.

The current debate in Ghana raises eyebrows, as the Minister’s idea—at this point and in general—does not seem to make much sense, while more pressing changes to the school curriculum are left abandoned by the political class. Taking one step back from the heated debate allows one to see potential strings of the real motivation the Minister may have. Sometimes things are real that the naked eye cannot see.

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