Views of parents on mother-tongue medium of instruction in early years of school: Evidence from Adentan municipality in the greater Accra of Ghana

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to assess the views of parents/guardians on mother-tongue as medium of instruction (MoI) in Kindergarten classes 1 and 2 (KG 1 & KG 2) in some selected schools in the Adentan Municipality of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Language of instruction plays a key role in the effectiveness of the teaching and learning process at all levels of education. Parents/guradians are one of the major stakeholders in education. However, they are not included in the decision making process that determines which language to adopt as medium of instruction (MoI) in the reception classes. The paper used the descriptive survey method. A purposive sample of parents of KG1 & KG 2 pupils from five selected schools in the Adentan Municipality of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana was interviewed. The results revealed that majority of the parents/guardians are not well informed about the Language in Education policy in Ghana. The results further showed that more than half of the parents/guardians sampled for the study would prefer an English, and not MoI for their children/wards. The paper thus recommends that the rationale of the Language in Education policy be carefully explained to parents before their children/wards start school.

Keywords: Mother-Tongue, Medium of Instruction