Schoolchildren encouraged to learn French
A project to encourage schoolchildren in all primary and junior high schools in the country to read, write and speak the French Language, has been launched in Accra.
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Dubbed “French for all in Ghana”, the project would focus primarily on ensuring that there are enough French books and teachers at various schools to enable schoolchildren to grasp the fundamentals of the French language
In addition, a national quiz on the French Language would be organised annually to encourage more schoolchildren to learn the language.
The initiative is a collaboration among a non-governmental organisation, Francais Pour Tous, the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the French Teachers Association.
At the launch of the programme in Accra last Tuesday, the President of Francais Pour Tous, Mr Emmanuel Amegavi, said the agenda was to ensure that 50 per cent of Ghanaians were able to read, write and speak basic French by 2050.
“This will help facilitate business transactions between Ghanaians and other Francophone countries around the world and boost the diplomatic bond between Ghana and French-speaking countries,” he said.
Mr Amegavi said the inability to speak French had been a source of embarrassment to many leaders and businessmen and had also become a barrier to many people vying for top global positions.
He said among other strenghts that gave Mr Kofi Annan the advantage to become the Secretary-General of the United Nations, was his fluency in the French Language.
“It is therefore, time for us to also groom the upcoming generation to do more in the learning of French, than their predecessors,” Mr Amegavi added.
Awareness campaign
He called on all stakeholders to join the campaign to raise the desire to speak French, adding that without the French Language, Ghanaians would be handicapped.
A retired teacher of French, Mr Emmanuel Klussey, who launched the project, said it was time for the nation to take the learning of the French language seriously, since without it the future generation would be limited in their quest to ensure change.
He, therefore, commended these who initiated the project and urged them not to abandon it.
