Beyond New Subjects: What Ghana's Curriculum Reform Must Get Right

Ghana's proposal to introduce Artificial Intelligence (AI), coding, and Chinese as an optional foreign language into the basic and senior high school curriculum has generated significant public debate. While curriculum reform is necessary to prepare students for the future, successful educational reforms are not measured by the number of new subjects introduced. They are measured by whether schools have the capacity to teach them effectively.

I am not opposed to students learning a foreign language. In fact, multilingualism can open doors to international trade, diplomacy, scholarships, and cultural exchange. However, introducing Chinese into Ghana's basic and senior high school curriculum raises important implementation questions.

Even at the university level, where Chinese is already offered, many students struggle due to an inadequate number of qualified instructors and limited learning resources. I personally know some university students who found Chinese assignments extremely challenging and frequently complained about the lack of sufficient academic support. If universities with relatively better resources face these challenges, how prepared are our basic and senior high schools?

On the other hand, the introduction of AI and coding deserves commendation. We are living through the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where artificial intelligence, automation, robotics, and digital technologies are transforming education, healthcare, agriculture, finance, manufacturing, the labor market, and almost every sector of the economy. Ghana cannot afford to leave its young people behind. Digital literacy is no longer optional; it is becoming a basic life skill.

However, my concern is not with the content of the curriculum but with Ghana's history of implementing educational reforms.

When the previous curriculum was introduced in 2019, it took several years and in 2022 before many schools received the required textbooks. In numerous schools, teachers had to rely on self-sourced materials because official learning resources were unavailable. Some of these unofficial textbooks were later withdrawn after the Ghana Education Service cautioned schools against using them because they did not meet the approved standards. Unfortunately, by then, many teachers had already taught from those books because they had no alternative.

We should not repeat the same mistakes.

A curriculum is only as good as the classrooms that can bring it to life.

Teaching AI, coding, programming, and productivity software requires more than writing definitions on a chalkboard or marker board. Students learn coding by writing code, making mistakes, debugging programs, and using computers. Productivity software such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint can only be mastered through hands-on practice. Without

computers and reliable internet access, these subjects risk becoming theoretical instead of practical.

Technology in the curriculum without technology in the classroom is merely theory dressed as innovation.

This is why infrastructure must accompany curriculum reform.

A few months ago (December 4, 2025), I argued in my Modern Ghana article, "Bridging the Digital Gap: The Case for the One Basic, Ten Computers (1B10C) Policy in Ghana's Basic Schools," that every basic school in Ghana should have at least ten functional computers. This policy should be implemented gradually using durable computers. That proposal remains relevant today. If we are serious about teaching coding and AI, every learner must have regular access to digital devices from the basic level, not only after entering senior high school.

Government has previously distributed computers to some senior high schools under different initiatives, but many of these devices did not last because of poor quality, maintenance challenges, inadequate technical support, and weak monitoring. I have seen countless students using their tablets for purposes unrelated to learning. While some schools maintained the gadgets in their computer laboratories, others distributed the tablets to students, after which some of the tablets were damaged, stolen, or became unusable. Future investments should prioritize quality, durability, maintenance, electricity, internet connectivity, and teacher training. A computer that becomes unusable after a short period is not an investment; it is a missed opportunity.

Digital skills should be nurtured from the basic school level so that students gradually develop confidence and interest before progressing to senior high school and tertiary education.

Beyond digital education, Ghana must also strengthen environmental education.

Environmental sustainability should move beyond classroom theory and become community practice. Environmental education should include practical activities such as waste segregation, tree planting, recycling projects, climate action clubs, and community clean-up exercises. Students should participate in cleaning public spaces, desilting choked drains, removing waste from waterways, eliminating stagnant water that serves as mosquito breeding grounds, and planting trees within their communities. These activities should form part of continuous assessment so that learners appreciate environmental stewardship as a civic responsibility rather than an occasional campaign.

This is particularly important because Ghana continues to experience devastating floods almost every year. While climate change has increased the intensity of rainfall, much of the destruction results from human activities, including poor waste management, blocked drainage systems, building on waterways, weak enforcement of planning regulations, and rapid urbanization. Flooding in Ghana is therefore not only a climate problem but also a governance and behavioral

problem. Schools can play a major role in changing this narrative by producing environmentally responsible citizens.

Curriculum reform should therefore go beyond adding new subjects. It must ensure that schools have trained teachers, adequate learning materials, functioning computer laboratories, reliable electricity, internet access, and practical learning opportunities. Otherwise, we risk introducing ambitious policies that cannot be effectively implemented.

Education should prepare students not only to pass examinations but also to solve real-world problems. AI, coding, environmental sustainability, and digital literacy are essential for Ghana's future, but they must be supported by adequate infrastructure, practical learning, and sustained investment.

If we get the implementation right, today's curriculum reforms could produce a generation that is digitally skilled, environmentally responsible, globally competitive, and ready to lead Ghana's development in the decades ahead.

By: Stephen Agbemasiku
MPhil Economics Candidate, University of Cape Coast stephen.agbemasiku@stu.ucc.edu.gh / agbemasikustephen@gmail.com

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