National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) has firmly denied media reports suggesting that it partnered with the Confucius Institute at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) to train teachers for the implementation of a Chinese Language Curriculum, describing such characterisation as inaccurate and not reflective of any official institutional action.
Addressing the matter and recent media publications and public commentary on the matter, NaCCA stated categorically that it did not organise, commission, sponsor or authorise the programme at the Confucius Institute as an official teacher-training initiative bearing its institutional endorsement.
According to NaCCA, the Council never constituted or formally mandated a delegation to participate in the Confucius Institute programme on its behalf.
It clarified that the NaCCA officers who did attend the programme did so strictly in their individual capacities as participants or resource persons, rather than as official representatives acting under institutional authorisation.
“The NaCCA officers who attended the programme did so in their individual capacities as participants or resource persons, and not as representatives of the Council acting under institutional authorisation,”
NaCCA
The Council further stressed that the involvement of these individual officers must not be interpreted as evidence of an official NaCCA programme, partnership, endorsement or policy position on the matter.
Media Reports Urged to Correct Institutional Attribution
NaCCA specifically addressed reports suggesting that “NaCCA and the Confucius Institute trained teachers,” describing such framing as creating an inaccurate impression of formal institutional collaboration that requires correction.
The Council was explicit in stating that the participation of individual officers in an external professional or academic programme does not, by itself, transform that programme into an official activity of the institution where those officers are employed.
“Individual participation does not constitute institutional authorisation, partnership or policy approval,”
NaCCA
Accordingly, NaCCA respectfully requested that media organisations which had portrayed the programme as an official NaCCA-Confucius Institute teacher-training initiative correct the institutional attribution and accurately reflect the actual capacity in which the individual officers participated.
No New National Policy on Chinese Language Instruction
Beyond addressing the institutional attribution issue, NaCCA moved to clarify that the programme in question does not constitute the introduction or rollout of any new national policy on Chinese language instruction within Ghanaian schools.
“National curriculum policy and implementation are undertaken through established statutory, policy and stakeholder-consultation processes and are formally communicated through the appropriate official channels,”
NaCCA
NaCCA urged both the media and the general public to draw a clear distinction between individual professional participation in external programmes and formal institutional authorisation, as well as between routine technical or academic engagement and officially approved national curriculum policy.
Commitment To Transparent Communication
NaCCA reaffirmed its commitment to the transparent and professional discharge of its statutory mandate, stating that it would continue to provide the public with authoritative information on matters relating to Ghana’s national curriculum and assessment framework.
NaCCA’s clarification comes amid a broader wave of public confusion and political controversy surrounding the proposed introduction of Arabic and Chinese language instruction in Ghanaian public schools, with opposition figures previously accusing government of policy incoherence after apparently conflicting statements from the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service and the Presidency.
NaCCA’s intervention adds a further layer to this unfolding controversy, specifically addressing claims that its own institutional authority had been directly involved in advancing Chinese language curriculum development through the Confucius Institute programme at UCC.
READ MORE: Ministry of Health Pushes Clear Food Labels To Curb NCDs
