Indigenous Languages Genocide and Its Consequences on Ghana's Education

Abstract

The work has examined the consequences created in the Ghanaian educational system as a result of the neglect of the role our indigenous languages play in the training of the individual. It has been established that graduate unemployment in Ghana is due to tertiary institutions not being able to shift their focus from the pre and post-colonial programmes and training. The curriculum of our educational system seems not to create freedom for the individual to be creative because the indigenous language that is the soul of the learner is taken away. Stakeholders in education appear to be examination-conscious so all that the curriculum puts emphasis on is how to make learners achieve excellent results. Learners are therefore given straight-jacketed education and training which make graduates not creative and innovative enough to initiate anything on their own when they are not absorbed by the formal sector. There is the need for tertiary institutions to link their learners to industry for them to acquire the needed employable skills for industry and themselves to set up their own businesses. All the findings can be possible when self-confidence, self-esteem and creativity are made part of the individual; all of which emanate from the person's mother tongue. Tertiary institutions have a role to play in instilling creativity in our learners and finding roles for our indigenous languages.