The Ningo Prampram member of parliament expressed his worries about the dearth of Ga Dangbe language instructors in his district.
Sam George cited the decline in support for indigenous languages, especially Dangbe, as a result of the impact of some faiths and technical improvements on the deterioration of cultural values.
“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 walking away from our culture, and Mr. Speaker, as a Dangbe boy from the Ga-Dangbe ethnic group, I am very worried.”
Speaking to the House, the MP brought out the great disparity in the number of language instructors available in the Ningo-Prampram district between Akan and Dangbe. She said that in 2017, there were 37 Akan language teachers and just two Dangbe teachers.
He claimed that despite initiatives to support students to earn degrees in Dangbe to alleviate the shortfall, the issue continued.
“The posting of these Dangbe teachers to the north or to the Ashanti Region to teach social studies and Bible knowledge when they studied Dangbe did not solve the problem,” he said.
The MP expressed frustration at what seemed to be a lack of respect for the local languages and questioned the rationale for placing Dangbe teachers who had received training outside of their home region, especially because such teachers were scarce in the area.
“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.”
