The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on President John Dramani Mahama to either apologise to Ghanaians or dismiss Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu over the controversy surrounding the proposed inclusion of Arabic and Chinese in Ghana’s school curriculum.
The demand was contained in a statement issued by the Education Sector Policy Committee of the NPP, following President Mahama’s recent declaration that his government had not approved any new policy to introduce Arabic and Chinese into public schools.
President Mahama, speaking during a citizens’ engagement in Wa on September 12, said no such policy had been approved by Cabinet, which he chairs. He urged the public to disregard claims that the two languages were being introduced nationwide.
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The President also questioned the feasibility of introducing Chinese at a time when Ghana continues to face challenges with the availability of French teachers.
The NPP Education Sector Policy Committee said the President’s position has created what it described as a serious contradiction within the government.
According to the committee, Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu had earlier announced on April 24, 2026, that Chinese and Arabic would become compulsory foreign languages at the secondary school level and had linked the policy direction to President Mahama’s vision for education.
The NPP argues that subsequent actions by institutions under the Education Ministry appeared to indicate that work had been undertaken on the proposed curriculum.
The party cited the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA)’s revised curriculum, which was presented to the Education Minister on July 22, 2026.
According to the NPP statement, the Minister subsequently directed the Ghana Education Service (GES) to take steps towards “full implementation readiness” of the revised curriculum.
Recent reporting confirms that NaCCA presented a revised basic-school curriculum to the Education Minister on July 22 and that the Minister tasked GES to review it for implementation readiness. The curriculum included Chinese and Arabic among foreign-language options.
The controversy intensified after the Education Ministry issued a clarification in August stating that foreign languages, including French, Arabic and Chinese, would not be compulsory under the proposed revised basic-school curriculum.
The NPP committee has also questioned the expenditure incurred during the curriculum development process.
It argued that curriculum development involves writers, reviewers, workshops, technical personnel and administrative support, and therefore asked why public resources would have been committed to the process if, as the President stated, there was no new policy.
The committee further questioned the progression from curriculum development to implementation preparation and teacher training.
The NPP also argued that Arabic and Chinese should not necessarily be treated as identical cases.
According to the statement, Arabic is already being taught as an optional subject in some Ghanaian schools before the current government took office.
The party said Chinese is different because, in its account, the 2026 process involved curriculum development, presentation of the revised curriculum to the Education Minister, preparations for implementation and teacher training.
President Mahama, however, has explained that Arabic teacher training relates to English-Arabic schools established during the administration of former President Jerry John Rawlings and does not constitute a new nationwide curriculum policy.
The NPP Education Sector Policy Committee said the President now needs to clarify the circumstances surrounding the Education Minister’s earlier statements and the subsequent curriculum-related activities.
The committee argued that if the Education Minister acted without presidential or Cabinet approval, responsibility should be taken for advancing a policy direction that had not been authorised.
It said that if the Minister acted with the knowledge or authority of the President or Cabinet, the government should explain what had been approved and why the President subsequently stated that no such policy existed.
The party also questioned the broader implications for government coordination, saying the controversy raises concerns about how major education policy decisions are communicated and implemented.
The NPP demanded President Mahama either apologise to Ghanaians or dismiss the Education Minister.