Islamic schools commend govt for decision to make Arabic examinable
The Federation of Islamic Senior High Schools in Ghana (FISHSIG) has defended the government’s decision to make Arabic an examinable subject in first and second cycle schools in the country.
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It said the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) already had Arabic examiners from Ghana who moderated and marked papers in Arabic, written by candidates from other member countries.
At a press conference in Accra last Wednesday, the General Secretary of FISHSIG, Mr Sumaila Mohammed, said there were Arabic teachers already teaching the subject in basic schools who were employed and paid by the state since 1987.
"If the government has been paying teachers to teach the subject all these years, and has now decided to make the teaching and learning of the subject more effective by making it part of the examinable subjects for students who choose to study it just like French, then what is the big deal about this?" he asked.
Arabic instructors
Besides, Mr Mohammed said the University of Ghana, Legon, the University of Education, Winneba, and the Ghana Institute of Languages (GIL) were already offering Arabic and producing Arabic instructors to feed the pre-tertiary schools.
Therefore, he said, it was wrong for anyone who had not done any research on the matter to say that there was no infrastructure to mount Arabic as a subject.
Following the announcement by the government to make Arabic an examinable subject in junior high and senior high schools, a number of Ghanaians had expressed varied views on the issue.
While some Ghanaians welcomed the decision, others argued that such a move was not relevant to the country's educational needs.
Research
Mr Mohammed said Arabic was an examinable subject during the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary and Advanced level era.
He said Ghana only stopped it when the country introduced the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE).
He said since the introduction of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), Arabic has been part of the examinable subjects offered by WAEC in the other West African countries, and indicated that efforts to reinstitute it as an examinable subject in the country since 2010, had proved futile.
Mr Mohammed said for the past years, FISHSIG and the Baraka Policy Institute (BPI), in consultation with the Offices of the National Chief Imam, the Chief of the Ahlussunna Wal Jama'a and the Federation of Muslim Councils, intensified the process of getting the approval for students in Islamic senior high schools (SHSs) preparing for WASSCE, to write the Arabic examination beginning from 2017.
He said a research that the stakeholders conducted in all Islamic SHSs registered under the Ghana Education Service (GES) indicated that, all the schools were ready to write Arabic at the WASSCE in 2017.
"The schools are already using WAEC examination syllabus to teach Arabic; the schools have competent Arabic teachers who graduated from the University of Ghana and other reputable universities from the Arab world and the schools are using textbooks prescribed by WAEC in teaching the subject," he said.