Not long ago, the Ghana Education Service (GES), through the National Council for Curriculum Assessment, approved 11 local languages to be taught at the basic level in schools.
Gurune, which is spoken by the Frafra people in the Upper East Region, happened to be one of these approved languages.
GhanaWeb’s Upper East Regional Correspondent, Sarah Dubure, engaged a section of Frafras in Bolgatanga to gather their thoughts regarding the initiative.
Madam Martha intimated that the directive is an opportunity for most children to learn Gurune since most parents speak English to their children.
“Our children don’t understand our language, especially when they are in school. Now that they want to introduce it in the schools, it will help them to understand it better,” she said.
She added that the initiative would increase the children’s understanding of the Gurune language.
Mr. Richard, who works with a Child Rights Organization, expressed disappointment that some parents were in the habit of speaking English to their children instead of their native language, Gurune.
“I’m so much disappointed in some parents in the sense that we have Gurune speaking people who are supposed to nurture and teach their children how to speak the language, rather speak English to them. These children will go to school and learn the English language,” he pointed.
A teacher, Mr. Junior Faith, expressed the hope that the initiative would help the children learn more about their cultural practices.
“It will enlighten the kids to know more about their culture – farming, funeral performance, marriage -. The children are amazed; they don’t know how we are able to pass all that from generation to generation,” he told the media
Madam Vivian Nyaaba expressed excitement for the initiative and recounted how they had attempted to establish a similar policy when they were students, but it was abandoned soon after being introduced.
She noted that if the directive is implemented with seriousness, it will go a long way towards helping most of the pupils at school.
According to her, though she dropped out of school many years ago, anytime someone mentioned a word, she applied the consonant and vowel sounds which aided her in spelling the words.
She noted with worry that most students in recent times had issues in spelling words.
She expressed the hope that the policy, when implemented, would go a long way in helping the children overcome this deficit.
Source: Ghanaweb