The Bureau of Ghana Languages kicks off International Mother Language Day with Education and Donations.

What happened?

The Bureau of Ghana Languages has commenced activities for 2025’s edition of International Mother Language Day on February 21st. Ahead of the celebration, the Bureau of Ghana Languages has set up educational and charitable events as the nation prepares to celebrate the Ghanaian languages.

Ten days before the event, the Bureau of Ghana Languages hosted Professor Ephraim Avea Nsoh and Professor Adams Bodomo at their yet-to-be-launched state-of-the-art podcast studio in a riveting conversation on how speaking one’s mother tongue impacts children's cognitive development. 

As part of the pre-event, the Bureau of Ghana Languages has donated textbooks in the local languages to schools within Accra. On February 11, 2025, the Bureau of Ghana Languages donated 300 books to AL Waleed Islamic School and 600 books to the Nima Cluster of schools.

In hopes of spreading the message and educating children across the country about the Ghanaian languages, the Bureau of Ghana Languages donated 36,340 books to the Ghana Library Authority to be supplied to all Ghanaian libraries, as none of the libraries have books in the Ghanaian Languages. 

What are People Saying:

Prof. Ephraim Avea Nsoh educates that, parents must be made to understand from the beginning that they have the responsibility to teach the children their languages in their environment. Parents must be willing to push for the use of their languages in teaching their children in schools. 

He also believes the government of Ghana equally has a role to play in the teaching and acceptance of the Ghanaian languages in schools and communities. Through experts, the government of Ghana can develop a language policy that allows for the compulsory use of the mother tongue in schools. Consciously promoting the use of the Ghanaian mother languages in schools and relentless advocacy by leaders in government, especially the Education Ministry to be institutionalized and make it legal. 

To debunk some misconceptions about the use of mother languages in schools, Prof. Adams Bodomo explained that it is a myth to say that learning local languages might affect the child’s ability to learn another language. He insists that children must begin with what they know and then learn new things, stressing that it's easier for the child to learn other languages since they employ the same or similar strategies they used to learn their mother language.

Adding to the advocacy's importance, the Acting Director of the Bureau of Ghana Languages and a language expert, Mr. Enoch Adinortey Adibuer, said that every language under the sun is very significant, and we must value them by speaking them, reading and writing them, and teaching future generations our languages. 

The Talkative:

The donation of local Language books to schools and Libraries in Ghana indicates that the Bureau of Ghana Languages has moved past the advocacy stage to the implementation stage, ensuring that students have the materials needed to make learning their mother tongue easier. 

Hopefully, with enough education over the years and a language policy in Ghana, Ghana will gradually put its mother languages at the center of education, profession, and all the facets of the Ghanaian community. 

Written by:

Tilly Akua Nipaa