The President of the African Foundation for Educational Development(AFFED), and the Oti Regional Coordinator of GNECC, Ernest Adade over the week, added his expert view to issues arising in a basic 4 history textbook which some parents are raising concerns about.
“In the book entitled History of Ghana for Basic Schools, authored by Francis Benjamin Appiah and Henry David Appiah, a section lists some points about the negative effects of Christian missionary activities. Among the points listed, it is stated that Christianity has led to an increase in poverty in Ghana.
It is also stated in the book that religion is a major cause of physical and doctrinal disputes in Ghana.
This has ignited a debate with some parents expressing worry about how a book approved by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) portrays religion and Christianity.”
In an interview with Metro TV’s sister station Original TV, the Education Specialist established that the rising issue is nothing but the concomitant aspects of a curriculum at play.
Read his full comments and view the attached video interview below
“I understand that, as a country, we are recovering but will not fully recover until after a while from the paradigm shift from the Objective-based curriculum to the Standards-based curriculum. The former was characterized by perennial and essential approaches to learning, hence, the need for a paradigm shift.
I can also appreciate the quest of the authors to bring to light that, the European form of Education was somewhat introduced through Christianity and presented as though Ghana and by extension, Africa was an ahistorical land mass that was just discovered as edited by Ali A. Abdi in the book “Issues in African Education, A Sociological Perspective”.
However, Ghana is a state, that allows for diverse religious practices with emphasis on three main religions. On no grounds should we begin a conversation that tries to dictate to learners the disadvantages of one religion or the other, especially because Ghana’s curriculum aligns with the progressive approach to learning and as such learners must be allowed to form their own opinion about a phenomenon as they explore to solve the challenging situation it comes with.
Once we begin discourses of this kind, the peace and tranquillity we enjoy as a nation are at risk.
The rise in issues of this kind is always expected to happen because they form a concomitant aspect of the curriculum where some contents especially religious and cultural, that are taught at home is likely to contradict what is taught in school.
Many curricula have failed due to implementation processes that were not well-catered for (Addai- Mununkum, 2020). Ghana’s curriculum is outstanding
There’s always the need to take authors through the Mutual Adaptation Approach of curriculum implementation to help reduce these occurrences.”
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SOURCE: Coverghana.com.gh
