The dilemmas of bilingual education in rural Ghana: A case study of the Nkwanta North District

Abstract

This paper relates to the broader purview of educational language policy in an African setting. It makes a contribution to the policy research and dialogue component of a National Literacy Acceleration Programme (NALAP), which is currently the school language policy strategy in Ghana. Through the use of structured questionnaires and a statistical analysis, the study assesses how the NALAP is being implemented in a scarcely referenced rural Nkwanta North District. A conclusion is reached that the NALAP is reduced to a mere ideological notion rather than an effectively run language policy in the Nkwanta North. The study also contends that any hope of the NALAP succeeding with its educational agenda in the Nkwanta North requires critical reforms in the local implementation framework, with some support from relevant central bodies.