The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has told President John Dramani Mahama to sack Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu over plans to introduce Arabic and Chinese in Ghanaian schools without presidential or Cabinet approval.
According to the NPP, the Education Ministry and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) had already taken steps towards implementing the initiative.
In a statement issued by the NPP Education Sector Policy Committee on Wednesday, September 16, they questioned how the Education Ministry and its agencies could have progressed with curriculum development and teacher training if the policy had not received the required approval.
They argued that Haruna Iddrisu had earlier announced that Chinese and Arabic would be compulsory foreign languages at the secondary school level and even went on to link the initiative to President Mahama’s vision for education.
The NPP disclosed that NaCCA has subsequently engaged about 160 writers and reviewers to develop a revised curriculum, which they say was presented to the Education Minister on July 22.
According to the NPP, Haruna Iddrisu did not reject the curriculum but referred it to the Ghana Education Service (GES) for review and implementation.
The NPP also referenced the teacher training conducted by NaCCA on September 3, with support from the Confucius Institute at the University of Cape Coast, as evidence.
The NPP argued that the chronological sequence of events leaves the government with two questions: whether the Education Minister acted without presidential or Cabinet authority, or whether Mahama and Cabinet were aware of and authorised the work.
The NPP stated, “Either the Minister was advancing a major policy direction without the President’s authority, despite presenting it as part of the President’s vision, or the public has still not been given the full account of what Government had actually authorised and pursued”.
According to the NPP, if the Education Minister acted without presidential or Cabinet approval, President Mahama should remove him.
“If the Minister announced and pursued this policy without presidential and Cabinet approval, the President must sack him. If, however, the Minister acted with the authority or knowledge of the President or Cabinet, then the President must apologise to the Ghanaian people for denying a policy his Government had already set in motion,” the statement said.
“If there was ‘absolutely no new policy’, why were public resources committed to developing the curricula, preparing the system for implementation and training teachers?” the party asked.
The NPP comments come on the heels of President John Dramani Mahama rejecting claims that his government has approved a policy to introduce Arabic and Chinese as subjects in Ghana’s public schools.
According to John Mahama, no such policy had been approved by Cabinet and urged the public to disregard reports suggesting that the two languages were being introduced nationwide.
Mahama’s clarifications, however, contradict the Education Ministry position who had earlier clarified that the government’s language of instruction policy for basic schools does not intend to make Arabic and Chinese languages compulsory.
On August 2, 2026, in a statement issued by Hashmin Mohammed, Press Secretary to the Minister, disclosed that in the revised basic school curriculum, Ghanaian languages will be the primary medium from Kindergarten (KG) to Primary Three and used alongside English from P4 to P6.
The Education Ministry clarified that foreign languages such as French, Arabic, and Chinese will not be compulsory subjects but will instead be offered as optional courses for pupils who wish to acquire additional language skills, subject to the availability of qualified teachers and resources in their schools.
However, President Mahama on Saturday, September 12, during a citizens’ engagement at the University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS) in the Upper West Region, as part of his Resetting Ghana Tour, boldly stated that, “No such policy has been approved by the cabinet that I chair. So let’s put that matter to rest once and for all”.
Mahama further questioned the rationale for introducing Chinese at a time when Ghana was already struggling to provide enough teachers to effectively teach French.
According to Mahama, French remains particularly important because of Ghana’s proximity to several Francophone countries.
“We’re not even getting a handle on the teaching of French. Why would we go and introduce Chinese?” he asked.
Mahama further clarified that Arabic being taught in some schools is not the result of a new policy to introduce the language across all public schools.
He explained, “There is training of Arabic teachers because, in Rawlings’ time, we noticed that the Muslim communities were not sending their children to school.
They were not sending their children to school because they were afraid that their children would be converted to some other religion. So, Rawlings introduced English-Arabic schools. They allowed Arabic to be taught in those schools”.
“But there’s no new policy to introduce Arabic and Chinese in all public schools in Ghana,” he said.
@ghnow_ A look at the proposed Sentuo Airport Garden City, set to transform the Airport area with a modern mixed-use development #GHnow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
@ghnow_ The sod-cutting ceremony for the Sentuo Airport Garden City is currently underway at 10 Giffain Road, Airport, Accra. #GHnow #fyp ♬ original sound – JUDITH 💞
