Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram voiced his concerns over the shortage of Ga Dangbe language teachers in his constituency.
Citing the erosion of cultural values due to technological advancements and the influence of certain religions, Sam George highlighted the dwindling support for indigenous languages, particularly Dangbe.
“Today, with the advent of technology and Judeo-Christo religions, many of the things that we refer to as our culture have been termed demonic practices,” he lamented.
“And so we’re actually walking away from our culture, and Mr. Speaker, as a Dangbe boy from the Ga-Dangbe ethnic group, I am very worried.”
Addressing the House, the MP recalled the stark contrast in the availability of language teachers between Akan and Dangbe, revealing that while there were 37 Akan language teachers in the Ningo-Prampram district in 2017, there were only two Dangbe teachers.
He said despite efforts to address the shortage by sponsoring students to obtain degrees in Dangbe, the problem persisted.
“What did not solve the problem was the Ghana Education Service (GES) posting these Dangbe teachers to the north or to the Ashanti Region to teach social studies and Bible knowledge when they studied Dangbe,” he pointed out.
Expressing frustration at the apparent disregard for local languages, the MP questioned the logic behind posting trained Dangbe teachers away from their region of origin, particularly when there was a shortage of such educators locally.
“Recently, the Ga Dangbe took a stance and said they thought that the Ghana Education Service was intentionally working to kill some languages,” he revealed.
“Because if we have trained teachers in our local languages, and there’s a shortage of teachers in the region, why post them away to teach a different language? It makes absolutely no sense.”
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