The Impact of Colonial and Postcolonial Ghanaian Language Policies on Vernacular Use in Schools in Two Northern Ghanaian Communities

Author(s): Obed Mfum-Mensah Reviewed work(s): Source: Comparative Education, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Feb., 2005), pp. 71-85 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30044519 . Accessed: 15/03/2012 21:53
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Education Comparative Vol. 41, No. 1, February 2005, pp. 77-85

Routledge & Franks R Taylor Group

The impact of colonial and postcolonial Ghanaian language policies on vernacular use in schools in two northern Ghanaian communities
Obed Mfum-Mensah*

Many 'alternative primary education' programmes operating in the developing parts of the world use children's first language as the medium of instruction. Programme sponsors often base their vernacular language policy on literature that highlights the cognitive and other benefits that accrue from using children's first languages as the medium of instruction during their early stages in school. Working within a postcolonial discursive framework the paper examines the attitudes of community members, parents, school authorities and schoolchildren toward the use of the vernacular as a medium of instruction in the Shepherd School Programme, an alternative primary education programme, that has been implemented to provide improved educational access for schoolchildren in seven rural northern Ghanaian agri-pastoral communities.

Background The use of vernacular as a medium of instruction is an important aspect of many 'alternativeprimary education' programmes (also known as complementary education programmes, community schools, non-formal basic education) operating in the developing world (see Association for the Development of Education in Africa, 2001; Miller-Grandvaux & Yoder, 2002). Sponsors of alternative primary education programmes base the use of vernacular language on the assertions in the literature about the cognitive benefits that accrue from this approach (see Andoh-Kumi, 2000; Brock-Utne, 2000; Association for the Development of Education in Africa, 2001). The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) (2001), for
instance, suggests that the use of children's first languages as medium of instruction

*303-1255 Huron Street,London, Ontario,N5Y 4L8, Canada.Email:omfummen@hotmail.com ISSN 0305-0068 (print)/ISSN1360-0486 (online)/05/010071-15 2005 Taylor& FrancisGroupLtd
DOI: 10.1080/03050060500073256

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fosters the rapid acquisitionof the basic skills of reading,writingand maths, and leads to rapid mastery of a second language. Despite the perceived cognitive advantagesthat come with the use of firstlanguages highlighted in the literature,many traditionalgroups resist vernacularuse for reasons which include the political, economic, and sociological (see Sanou, 1990, cited in Brock-Utne, 2000; Andoh-Kumi, 2000; Brock-Utne, 2000). Sanou argued that the colonial languagepolicies suggestingthat Africansuse theirvernacularsin school were inspired by racial prejudices regardingthe supposedly intellectual inferiorityof Africans. He noted that the idea was to render Africans incapable of benefiting from a western education. During that period the Africans suspected that the vernacular language policies had the objective to keep them in their social ghettos in the same way that black Americans had their education in separate institutions. The Africans therefore determined to stick to the European languages as part of their demand for education systems similarto those of their former colonial masters. In the light of this some education historianssuggest that British colonies had little choice when it came to educational policies and the language of instruction in schools. Many did however express their dissatisfaction when efforts were made to strengthen vernacular language policy just prior to independence (see Foster, 1965; Graham, 1971). At the time of independence, many African countries that faced the prospect of choosing a national language opted to retain the language of the former colonizer as a medium of instruction in school. They argued that the multiplication of local languages made it difficult to choose any one or two of them as national languages (Foster, 1965; Graham, 1971; Brock-Utne, 2000). After many years of independence, the vernacularlanguageissue has returnedto featurestronglyin policy debates throughout Africannations. On the one hand some African scholars subscribe to the use of the vernacular as the medium of instruction, with the explanation that the colonial schools deprived the African child of its cultural heritage. It is therefore argued that the postcolonial schools should promote African cultures and traditions (see Fafunwa, 1967; Okrah, 2002; Anyidoho, 2003). On the other hand, many scholarsand education stakeholdersin formerlycolonized nations view instruction in the language of the former colonizer as an approachthat will lead to greater proficiency in that language, representing a further step towards economic development and participation in the international global economy (Graham, 1971). The emphasis that many postcolonial African nations placed on foreign language instruction in the 1960s thus centres on the need to enhance economic development and participatein the global economy. The governments of these emerging states perceived that the mastery of the language of the colonizers would facilitatetheir nation's development initiatives, and help it to compete internationally (Pellow & Chazan, 1986; Shillington, 1992). Brock-Utne (2000, p. 141) observesthat when it comes to the choice of languageof instructionin Africanschools,
sociocultural politics, sociolinguistics, and education are so closely interrelated that it is difficult to sort out the arguments. While the language policy issue continues to attract attention in the postcolonial educational reforms in many formerly colonized nations, discussions about how

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colonial education contributed to the shaping of the ideology and psyche of the colonized have received little attention. Writing from a postcolonial discursive perspective, this paper therefore examines the attitudes of community members, parents, school authorities and children toward the use of the vernacular in the Shepherd School Programme (SSP) in Ghana. This is an alternativeprimaryeducation initiative introduced in seven northern Ghanaian pastoral communities. London (2003) points out that postcolonial frameworks enable us to narrate the story of colonial encounters in a way that gives prominence to many issues that have, to date, been kept on the peripheryof the education debate. A postcolonial approach also enables us to view the colonial past as a reservoirof political experiences and practices, and more importantly, as the 'scene of intense discursive and conceptual activity, which is characterizedby a profusion of thought and writing about the cultural and political identities of colonized subjects' (London, 2003, p. 291). The author developed the present article from his recently completed doctoral dissertation. For the purpose of clarity, the terms 'first language' and 'vernacular' are used interchangeably in the article. The literature review in the article focuses on the English language policies applied in formerly British colonies. The author also uses pseudonyms in place of names of specific communities and participants. Colonialism, postcolonialism and language policies The literature on education reforms in formerly colonized nations draws a connection between colonial and postcolonial education policy reforms (see Bray, 1993; Tam, 1998; London, 2003). We will need to understand the concepts 'colonialism' and 'postcoloniality,' and how they feature in these discussions. Colonialism as a concept emerges whenever discussions centre on postcoloniality. Osterhammel (1997) explains that the concept of colonialism is a relationship of domination between an indigenous (or forcibly imported) majority and a minority of invaders. He posits furtherthat colonialism is also a system of governance by which colonizers define and implement the fundamental decision affecting the lives of those colonized in pursuit of the colonizers' interests in a distant metropole. Scholars conceptualize colonialism as encompassing three distinct stages (though these stages are not part of the discussion here); the first is classical colonialism, defined as the subjugationof an indigenous society by a foreign power. The second stage is internal colonialism, defined as the domination of a nation (defined geographically, linguistically, and culturally) within the national borders of another nation-state by another group or groups. Finally, neocolonialism is seen as the domination of the industrialized nations over the Third World in differentforms (see Kelly & Altbach, 1978; Watson, 1982; Bray, 1993). The literature suggests that colonialism is also an ideological perspective. As an
ideology, colonialism cannot be identified only with economic gain and political

power, but is essentially a state of mind in colonizer and colonized alike (see Said,
1993, cited by London, 2003; London, 2003). This ideological thinking began when colonizers arrived on the scene and does not end when they go home. In other

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words, as London (2003) points out, colonization becomes an unfinished business and a footprint (my italics). One theme that moves to the centre-stage whenever discussions of colonialism come to the fore is 'dominance', of the colonized by a colonizer. Colonialism relates to postcoloniality in how the former shapes the latter. It is therefore difficult to discuss postcoloniality without bringing colonialism into the picture. Shohat (2000) defines 'postcoloniality' as a new designation for critical discourse that thematizes issues emerging from colonial relationships and their aftermath, covering a long historical span (including the present). London (2003) explains further that postcoloniality is a concern to renarrativizethe story of the colonial encounter in a way that gives prominence to issues that have to date been put on the peripheryof the education debate as it concerns colonial societies. He points out that the need to examine and understand the complex ways in which the colonial powers brought the colonized under their imperial system, arises because the impact lingers on despite the fact that many nations have attained independence. The present systems of education in many formerly colonized nations are vestiges of colonialism (Kelly & Altbach, 1978; Bray, 1993). Bray (1993) contends that the implications of colonialism may be as complex and far-reaching for education as they are for other sectors. Because of this, discussions on postcolonial language policies in many formerly colonized nations in Africa cannot trivialize the educational policies and educational objectives that prevailed in the particularnation in the colonial era. Education historians point out that the missionary schools that existed before colonialism served to proselytize, indoctrinate, and provide literacyto the indigenous people so that they could occupy positions in the missions (Foster, 1965; Graham, 1971). In their attempt to promote literacy among the indigenous people, mission schools implemented language policies that worked within a specific context. For instance, both Foster (1965) and Graham (1971) point out that the language policies that both the Wesleyan and Basel missions implemented in the Gold Coast (Ghana) were based on what these missions perceived to be workable within the context. The colonial schools however, were primarilydesigned to meet the objectives and needs of the colonizers rather than the colonized (Watson, 1982; Bray, 1993; Tam, 1998; London, 2003). The British colonizers, in particular, developed a prototype (but inferior) British education system in their African colonies as a way of educating the locals to fill lower administrative and clerical positions. English language became a tool for the formalization of the educational system. In most British colonial nations, English assured even greater significance in the school curriculum as the imperial groups in the colonies tightened (Graham, 1971; Tam, 1998; London, 2003). Pennycook (1998, cited by London, 2003) points out that policies about providing or withholding an education in English were not simple questions
to do with the medium of instruction but rather were concerned with different views of how best to run a colony. The attainment of independence in most formerly colonized nations has done little to erase the footprints of British ideology in those contexts.

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Prevailing language policies from Gold Coast to Ghana

Language policies of the Christian missions

A major objective of the missionariesfor expandingwestern-type formal education to the people of the Gold Coast (now Ghana) was to proselytize the indigenous people of the colony. The idea then was to train local people to serve as church and churchschool leaders (Graham, 1971). The Basel and the Wesleyan missions, the first Christian denominations to help expand the western-type formal schools, initially used English as the medium of instruction. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, these two missions implemented different language policies (Foster, 1965; Graham, 1971). When the Basel mission moved from the coast and relocated to the Akwapim and Akim areas in the Eastern Region of Ghana, it introduced the vernacular, instead of English, as the medium of instruction in its educational system (Foster, 1965, p. 87). This shift in language policy by the Basel mission was seen as a good idea by most indigenous people in the Cape Coast area, where the Wesleyan mission had been using English as the medium of instruction. The Wesleyan missionaries realized the need to progress with evangelization and therefore changed from English to Fante as the medium of instruction in schools. When the Gold Coast came under British rule years later, few dissenting voices from the Wesleyan mission then called for greater use of English instead of Fante. The Wesleyan mission explained that the British takeover had led to the demand for British education (Graham, 1971). Foster (1965) explains that the major objective of the Basel and Wesleyan missions in using the vernacularwas not a passion to promote the Ghanaian culture and traditions, but to proselytize even though these missions justified the vernacularteaching as educationally sound.
Colonial and postcolonial language policies

With the Gold Coast ceded to Britain after the Berlin Conference in the 1880s, formal education in Ghana changed from missionary-orientedschooling as an agent for proselytizing to a British model dubbed 'Westminster education'. This system was elitist in its form and structure and promoted British ideologies. A major objective of British colonial education in the twentieth century was to train local people to fill clerical positions in the colony. The 'fortunate few' indigenous children who enrolled in school received instruction in English. Some of the local people received furthertraining abroad and returned to occupy the lower administrativeand clerical positions in the colony. These local 'scholars' carved out a place for themselves as the emergent group of local 'elites' in the society. They also facilitated the use of the English language as a tool for identity formation, dominance and power, and as a benchmark for determining literacy and academic success in the Ghanaian society (see Folson, 1995; Okrah, 2002). The Phelps-Stokes Commission earlier foresaw that such problems were likely to emerge and so in 1920 it recommended the use of
the local language as the medium of instruction in schools (Foster, 1965, pp. 159, 160). Some intellectuals opposed this advice with the explanation that given the

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linguistic heterogeneity of Ghana, Africanizingthe medium of instruction and lingua francawould lead to disunity among the ethnic groups (see McWilliam & KwamenaPoh, 1975; Folson, 1995). During the last period of British rule (after World War II), the colonial policy shifted from its English focus to the vernacular.The British language policy in the Gold Coast stressed the importance of conducting the early years of schooling in the local vernacularto enable children to enjoy their early learning experiences within a familiar linguistic framework.Foster (1965) points out that the implementation of vernacular policy at this time was premised on the ideology that it was a sound 'educational' position resting upon the supposed needs of children. The transitional Gold Coast government then introduced the 'Accelerated Development Plan', an educational reform initiative that altered the policies of the colonial educational system, including the vernacularlanguage policy. The English languagepolicy of the transitiongovernmentreceived a furtherboost by the Education Act of 1961. The new postcolonial government distanced itself from vernacular languagepolicy with the explanationthat it did not want to choose one ethnic language over the others (Foster, 1965; Hawes, 1979). The new postcolonial governmentunder the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah believed in the promotion of literacy among the citizenry. The government, however, equated literacy with the mastery of English language. This philosophy goes back to the 1950s when Nkrumah perceived that the mastery of English by the populace would facilitate the nations' development initiatives, and help it to compete internationally (Pellow & Chazan, 1986; Shillington, 1992). Most of the postcolonial governmentsthat came afterPresidentNkrumahpromoted vernacularlanguagepolicy. The ideology that propelledthe vernacularlanguagepolicy of these governmentsrepresentedan attemptto reformthe educationalsector to reflect the Ghanaianheritageand culture (Mfum-Mensah, 1998). In 1973, the Acheampong government formed the Dzobo Committee and gave it the mandate to review the Ghanaian educational system and make recommendations for reforms. The 1974 recommendations of the Dzobo Committee became the bedrock of the 1987 educational reforms,which emphasizedvernacularlanguagepolicy as an initiativefor promoting Ghanaian cultural identity formation (see Ministry of Education, 1974, 1999a, b). The vernacular language policy used in the educational system in the Rawlings' twenty-yearrule also stated that:
In the firstyearsof primary education,the Ghanaianlanguageprevalentin the local area is to be used as the medium of instruction,whilst Englishis studied as a subject.From four onwards,Englishreplacesthe Ghanaian Primary languageas mediumof instruction, andthe Ghanaian becomesanothersubjecton the timetable.(Ministry Educaof language tion, 1999a) In 2003, the Ghanaian government shifted from the existing vernacular language policy to a new initiative that highlighted the use of English language at all levels of schooling. Such a decision was not to come without debate, aggravation, and criticism from some scholars. However, the government explained the language policy change.

Language policiesin Ghana 77 These explanations included: to enable pupils to gain a high level of proficiency in English because all examinations are conducted in English; to bridge the gap between the academic performance of pupils in private and public schools; to avoid delays in introducing English to children; and to enable pupils to participate in and benefit from the global economy using a global language. The education ministryalso explained that the movements of pupils across linguistic areas, mixtures of linguistic groups in urban classrooms, inadequate numbers of native teachers in some languages, the lack of learningand teaching materialsin some languages, and the high cost of producing books in all languages make the vernacular language policy unfavourable (see Anyidoho, 2003). The choice of English over vernacularlanguages has thus received much support in Ghanaian society despite increased global attention to the use of local languages. From colonial times, English language can thus be seen to have played a leading role in structuring elitism, power, dominance and a new identity for literate locals. In addition, English functions as a tool for culturaland social reproduction,determining who gets access to what type of education, movements from one sector to another in the education system, and access to political and economic power. Context of the communities BawkuWest districtis located in the arid savannahgrasslandof northernGhana. The district is one of the most densely populated areas and has the highest illiteracyrates in Ghana. Education statistics reveal that most children living in the district do not attend school (Cleveland, 1986; Ministry of Education, 1999a, b). The district is ethnically homogeneous with approximately 99.9% of residents belonging to the Kusasi ethnic group. The majority of people residing in the district live in remote, isolated pastoral farming communities, with the rest of the residents clustered in the district's capital. Economically, the district is one of the poorest in the country and the people residingin this areaare mostly farmers(InternationalFund for Agricultural Development, 1997). Access to amenities such as healthcare,banks, communication centres, and secondary education is mostly limited to the district capital. These communities have a high respect for the traditionalpolitical system. Community members pay respect to their chiefs because they possess authorityin their communities. The chiefs play the roles of judges, arbitrators, advocatesin their communities. In additionto the traditional and structure, communities elect assembly members who represent them at the political district assembly. TheShepherd SchoolProgramme The Shepherd School Programme (SSP) began implementation in 1996 through the
collaborative efforts of ActionAid, the sponsoring international non-governmental organization (NGO), and seven communities in Northern Ghana. Stakeholders view SSP as an educational programme that is flexible, cost-effective and takes into

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account the sociocultural responsibilities of children from these communities. The similaritiesbetween SSP and the public schools lie in the areas of deliveringthe standard national curriculum (but in a differentway), and daily school rituals (including the assembling of children before classes, recess, and games). Their differences lie in school schedules, teaching personnel, pedagogical approaches, emphasis on local language at the early stages in schooling, and the local management of schools. The goal of the Shepherd Schools is to provide linkages with the formal schools, and to serve as a point of contact for children's entry into the formal school system. Therefore, both ActionAid and the district education personnel view SSP as feeder schools to the formal school system in communities where they are operating. The curriculum being used in SSP is of two different categories; (a) the lower primary (classes one, two, and thee) curriculum;(b) the upper primary(classes 4, 5 and 6) curriculum. The lower primary curriculum follows that used in the formal school system but with slight modification and translated into Kusaal, the local language. This curriculum includes three subjects, which are, Toende-Kusaal (the local language), maths and English. The curriculummaterialsconsist of: (a) facilitators' manual with weekly lesson instructions for maths, Kusaal, writing and oral English for SSP primary 1-3; (b) writing copybook for SSP primaryone; (c) maths copybook for primaryone; (d) maths workbooks for SSP primary one and two; (e) Primarythree science book; (f) English for SSP primary3; (g) Toende-Kusaal storybook. The content of this curriculumintroduces childrento basic reading,writingand numeracy skills during SSP primary 1 and 2. At SSP primary3, learnerslearn other aspects of basic health issues, sanitation and environmentalprotection. The curriculum is not entirelydifferentfrom the one used by the Ghana Education Service (GES); however, some of the contents have been written to reflect the milieu of these learners. The curriculum of the formal school facilitates the integration of children to formal schools. The objectivefor implementingKusaalas a medium of instructionis the belief that it will make children's learning easier. The curriculum for the upper primary gradesis the same as the one used by the formalschools. Englishis used as the language of instructionfrom primaryfour upwards.The subjectsthat students study at this level include English language, mathematics, social studies, science and Kusaal. Community involvement, which is an objective and embodiment of SSP, provides the local communities with the opportunity to decide the school schedules, and the recruitmentof teaching personnel. These communities, through their parent teachers association (PTA) and school management committees (SMC), are responsible for managing SSP, an approachwhich ActionAid believes is a positive strategyto encourage community empowerment and community ownership of SSP. Methodology Between May and December of 2001, the author travelled to Ghana to engage in
fieldwork on SSP in two communities, which he refers to in this article as Dabolo and Zuala. He collected the data for the study from extensive interviews with 42 stakeholders, informal conversations with stakeholders and other community members,

Language policiesin Ghana 79 observationsof stakeholders'meetings, and analysisof the availableminutes of meetings. The 42 participantsinclude schoolchildren, school facilitators,school administrators, ActionAid workers, PTA and SMC members, local chiefs, other community members, parents, Community Development Initiative (CODI), a local non-governmental organization,members, district education officers (including the coordinator for girl-child education in the district), and a municipal assembly representative. Thirty-fourpercent of the participantswere females. The selection of participantswas done by; (a) purposefully selecting the two school administrators,ActionAid project manager and the coordinator of SSP, PTA and SMC chairpersons, the two local chiefs, district education officers, and the assemblymember. These participantswere purposely selected because of the positions they occupy and their connection to specific informationneeded for the study; (b) schoolchildren, parents, other community members, CODI workers, facilitatorsand other PTA and SMC members were randomly selected to participatein the programme. The author conducted extensive interviews,which lasted for about 80 minutes each with all 42 participants. These provided a means of methodological triangualtion. Interviews with most parents and other community members who spoke Twi (the language spoken by the Akan ethnic people of southern Ghana), ActionAid and CODI workers, school administrators, facilitators, and the assembly member (because they were conducted in English language) were recorded using audiotape. The author recorded the interviews with some community members, the two chiefs, and all the students using videotape and field notes. This approach offset the background noise encountered due to the environment and the concurrent interpretation of the interviews.Informalconversationswith community members also served as an important data gathering strategyin this study. This process helped in clarifyingand illuminating the data gathered. The author also recorded informal conversations in field notes for analysis. He observed the PTA and SMC meetings in these two communities to investigate further the management process of the two local bodies. The data gathered were then processed in the following way: (a) Once the data for each day were gathered, the researchertranscribed the taped interviews verbatim, and read the field notes to find out if there were gaps that needed clarification.He coded all the taped interviews and field notes. (b) After the data for each day were read, the researchercrosscheckedthe details with participants to ensure that the information provided represented what they meant. (c) Preliminaryanalyses of the data carried out at the research site. (d) The researcheralso subjected the data to furtherrounds of analyses. (e) Coded data were then re-examined, sorted, categorized, evaluated, compared and synthesized. (f) Diagrams, charts and matrices were used to organize several components of a
single variable. (g) Finally the researcher sorted out, categorized and identified the emergent patterns and themes.

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The following discussion emergesfromthe responsesfrom the school administrators and community members. They include the ActionAid officers, the school administrators, the school facilitators, community members, PTA and SMC members, and parents. Interpretiveanalysiswas applied to all the transcribeddata, field notes from observations and informal conversations, and minutes of meetings. Selected quotations were then used to illuminatefurtherthe emergentthemes discussed in the article. Since some of the people who participatedin the study were not native English speakers, some of the verbatim interviewswere translatedwith the help of interpreters. Findings
Attitudes toward the use of vernacular

It became apparent in the study that the attitudes of community members, parents, school authority and schoolchildren towards the vernacular use as a medium of instruction in SSP are largely negative. The negative attitudes exhibited by these stakeholderstowards vernacularuse, stem from their deep-seated perceptions about the place of both vernacular and English language in the Ghanaian society. Most participants expressed the view that the use of vernacular is a subtle strategy to perpetuate the communities' marginalizationfrom the mainstream society. These communities view the English language as a powerful tool for attaining dominance, power and prestige in Ghanaian society.
Vernacular use and social inequalities

The community members, parents, schoolchildrenand school authoritiesarguedthat those who have proficiency in English language have comparative educational and social advantagesin the society. They noted furtherthat the use of the vernacularonly perpetuates the existing inequalities in the society and in the educational system. Asana's response below captures such a perception:
Wheneveryou go to the bank or any other office in the regionalcapital,and you meet people, the first languagethat they use to communicateto you is English.They expect who comes to such a place to know and speakEnglish...aswell, from the time everybody ActionAidimplementedSSP and other developmentprojectsin our community,people who visit our communityto assistin these developmentprojectsare all educatedpeople who aredrivingcars.Such people areso well educatedbecausethey speakEnglish.(interview with Asana,schoolgirl,27 September2001)

The above view does not come as a surprise. Because the top management at the ActionAid head office come from southern Ghana and do not speak the Kusaal language, whenever they visit the northern communities to assess development
projects, they have to use interpreters to communicate with community members. In the interviews, many community members pointed out that the time had come for their children to receive education in the English language, because without English language it was feared that these children would remain at the periphery of

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the mainstream Ghanaian society. The following response from one parent reveals such a perception.
in Presentlyanybodywho is not proficient Englishcan be uselessin our Ghanaiansociety. For most of us who cannotread, write or speakEnglish,whateverwe say ends nowhere. If you have anythingto complainabout, who will listen to you when you cannot speak English?That is the reasonwhy I alwaysencouragemy childrento take the opportunity that they now have, to learnEnglishto be ableto fit into the urbancommunityand secure with Ms Mamuna,parent, 18 July2001) a government job. (interview

The school authoritiesargued that the use of English as a medium of instruction at the upper primary level would affect the students' performance, especially when English language determines how a student fares in the national examinations. They explained that, even though in principle the use of the vernacularis the policy in place in the education system, in practice, most public and private schools, especially those in the urban areas, use English language as a medium of instruction at all levels. On this point Mr Ayampala, the school administratorof Daboloremarkedthat:
our four. Currently school uses Englishonly when the schoolchildren progressto primary Primaryone to three use Kusaalas medium of instructionwhile we teach English as a subject. However...andit is only my opinion...they can take it or not, but since we are SSP studentsto bridge-upin formalschools, they need to be taughtin English preparing as they do to their colleagueswho attend schools in the urbancommunities.The Kusaal in languagethatwe areusing does not for help schoolchildren SSP to learnanybetter.My reasonfor sayingthis is that Englishlanguageis the medium of instructionat all levelsin the formalschools.Therefore,I arguethat it is more thanlikelyfor childrenin the formal schools to gain competencyin Englishaheadof studentsenrolledin SSP. (interview with Mr Ayampala, 11 school administrator, October2001)

Most parents, community members, and school administratorsalso arguedthat the use of Kusaalis a 'policy fiat' from ActionAid that has as its purpose the perpetuation of 'second class' learning activity in the communities. The parents felt that using
Kusaal instead of English is a policy strategy to prevent children attending SSP from getting the proficiency in English language that fosters easy communications with outsiders and prepares students for academic and professional life. Most of the community members and parents indicated that their inability to communicate with the 'outside world,' because of their lack of skills in English, has been the bane of their development and their resulting social, economic and political marginalization. English-'the education'

The community members, parents and schoolchildren in particular,viewed English as 'the education'. The schoolchildren pointed out that English is the national language. It is the medium of communication at almost all government functions, in the newspapers and on most television and radio broadcasts. The schoolchildren also
pointed out that because all textbooks for schools have been written in English, students who are proficient in English do well in other subjects compared to those who lack English language proficiency.

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'Whatever profession that one wants to engage in the future, one would need to be knowledgeable in English if he or she wants to go beyond the community'. 'English can help one to travel within and outside the country', 'English can help people to fit in when they go to the cities or urban towns'. (interview with Pambi, schoolboy, 20 September 2001)

The schoolchildren also pointed out that because they want to get exposure to the 'world' beyond their community, they have to be literate in English language. The schoolchildren'sperceptions and reflected in the responses of Asana and Fuseini, two of the participatingschoolchildren:
I can give many examples of how English is so important and why we children in this community need to be proficient in English language. First, a number of people who visit our communities do not speak our language and so we cannot communicate with them because we also are not skilled in the English language. It is so sad when you want to communicate with somebody and you cannot because you do not understand each other. As we are speaking now, I had to use this interpreter to tell you all this but I wish I could talk to you directly on a one on one level. Secondly, when we take the subjects that we are studying in school you can see that all these subjects revolve around English. English determines success in all the other subjects. Therefore, if you cannot read English you cannot do well in any subject. (interview with Asana, schoolgirl, 25 September 2001) We realize that if you are not literate in English, you are actually useless in the Ghanaian society. All those who are not literate in English language in fact do not exist in the society. They do not know what is going on, have no say in anything, and cannot secure any good job. I am saying this because community members here do not speak in English and so the government and the district assembly do not care about this community. For a long time, they did not even care whether we children here receive education or not. It was only when ActionAid came to this area that they opened the Shepherd School for us. We have realized that in order to communicate with the outside world, and for them to listen to you, you must be literate in English language because our Kusaal language ends at Bolgatanga. (interview with Fuseini, schoolboy, 27 June 2001)

During the interviews and informal interactions with community members, they vehemently pointed out that 'we allowed our children to enrol in the school so that they can learn English', so they (both parents and community members) do not understand why ActionAid continues to lay emphasis on the Kusaal as a medium of instruction. In the study, all the schoolchildren indicated that one of the factors that motivated them to enrol in the programme is the acquisition of skills in English language. The schoolchildren indicated that through their proficiency in English language they would be able to secure government jobs and relocate to the urban centres. The majorityof the schoolchildren indicated that because they saw little or no prospect in their farming and pastoral vocation, they needed an education that could provide an opportunityfor them to relocate to urban communities. Such an education according to the schoolchildren is the ability to read and write English.
Discussion The negative attitudes toward the vernacular demonstrated by members of these isolated pastoral communities are also corroborated in another recent study in six

Languagepoliciesin Ghana 83 culturally diverse villages in Ghana where parents initially support early English Medium for all levels of schooling (Andoh-Kumi, 2000). Three factors explained these communities' negative attitudes towards the vernacular.The first is how these communities see themselves in relationto the mainstreamsociety. Since the introduction of formal schooling in Ghana, those in rural northern Ghanaian communities have been at a disadvantage when we consider the distribution of educational resources. Second, there is much urban and rural disparity in the use of English language in the school system in Ghanaian society. The majority of children who attend school in urban communities in Ghana receive instruction in English language. Because children in urban schools have access to better education, including quality teachers, and in particular,receive early instruction in English language, they move from one level in the educational system to the other more easily than their peers in the rural areas. Other factors come into play, when it comes to urban and rural disparity and educational mobility in Ghana, but again this is not part of the discussion here. The third factor, which also relates to the preceding one, is the view held in Ghanaian society that equates one's level of proficiency in the English language with level of intelligence. This has shaped the mental psyche of even those in academia to the extent that to date, even the statewide examining board (West African Examinations Council) measures students' level of academic success and their potential for the post-secondary level of education by their success in English language. Perspectives that assume that English language is 'the education' have shaped the psyche of Ghanaian policy-makers. Moreover, despite well-grounded arguments in the literature about the cognitive advantages of using the vernacular, most people continue to lay emphasis on English language instruction (Andoh-Kumi, 2000). Kachru (1995, cited by Tam, 1998) points out that this attitude stems from the fact that, historically,the English language has functioned as a 'tool of power, domination and elitist identity, and for communication across continents' (p. 70). Before the introduction of western-type education in Ghana, ascriptive criteria of sex, age and lineage origin determined one's status in the society (Foster, 1965). Colonial education, however, emerged as a new social order and an important tool for attainingstatus. The few indigenous people who went through colonial education dominated the political scene as the new 'colonial masters' when the nation attained independence. Back in the 1960s some educators (see Folson, 1995) cautioned that despite the likely communication improvement between the different ethnic groups through the use of English language as the medium of instruction, the approachcould also polarize the society into the urban elite and the ruralpopulation. Folson (1995) arguesthat even today the differentlevels of comprehension of English due to different degrees of exposure to its usage generate inequalities in the Ghanaian society. Recent language policy reflects debates that recognize both sides of the language policy dilemma. The argument put forward by those Ghanaian scholars in favour of the
vernacular language is that instruction in vernacular is an important way of preserving Ghanaian cultural traditions and transmitting them to the younger generations (see Okrah, 2002; Anyidoho, 2003). Apart from these few 'fugitive voices' that have opted

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0. Mfum-Mensah

for the vernacularas the medium of instruction, most Ghanaian scholars emphasize the need to raise the standardof English language in the school system to addressthe deteriorationof Ghanaian education. Conclusion Whenever the issue of language of instruction comes to the fore, the attitude of most Ghanaiansis a preferencefor Englishlanguageas the medium of instructionat all levels of schooling. Most Ghanaian parents who have attained higher levels of formal education preferto communicate with their children in English, with the explanation that the children mustbe competent in English language in order to compete in our globalized community. Similarly,most parents living in the urban communities also enrol their children in private schools where there is emphasis on English language instructionfromthe preschool level. The preferencefor EnglishLanguagein Ghanaian society stems from how its usage has come to be associatedwith literacy,and academic intelligence, and how schooling in general and literacy in English in particularhave emerged as a new social order in the Ghanaian society. Acknowledgement The author would like to express his gratitude to the International Research and Development Centre (IDRC) Canada, for providingthe doctoral awardfor the study. He also extends his gratitude to ActionAid Ghana for not only allowing him to research on their Shepherd School Program but also providing logistical support during the fieldwork. Finally, without the interpretiveskills of Messrs. Simon Avoka and William Azaaba some aspects of the fieldworkwould not have been possible. Notes on contributor Obed Mfum-Mensah recently completed his PhD in ComparativeInternationaland Development Education from Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. During his doctoral studies, Obed worked as a research assistant for the 'community school project' under the supervision of Professor Joseph P. Farrell. His teaching and researchinterests are in the areas of international development education, education in sub-Saharan Africa, education of marginalizedgroups and foundations of education.

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