JB Danquah in new curriculum has no political angle – Dr. Prince Armah

• Posted on April 16, 2019April 16, 2019
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment unit (NaCCA) under the Ministry of Education has downplayed allegations that parts of the new curriculum for basic schools were skewed towards touting the achievements of the President’s uncle, Dr. J.B Danquah.

According to the Service, the technical works were developed by prominent historians who executed their duties without any form of political allegiance.

Already President Nana Akufo-Akufo and the NPP government have been accused of trying re-write the history of Ghana after claiming that Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah was not the founder of the country.

As a result, a section of the new curriculum which highlights the works of JB Danquah in 1945 is raising more eyebrows.

But NaCCA insists that claims that  Dr. Kwame Nkrumah had been sidelined in the new curriculum are misleading.

“When we were developing the Curriculum, we worked as technical people. We will make the list of the history developers available very soon so that people can check their background to see where they are coming from. We didn’t select people on the basis of political colorization. They were selected based on their competencies as historians in our country,” the incoming Executive Secretary at NaCCA, Dr. Prince Armah said on The Point of View.

“The curriculum is made up of content standards, indicators and exgeemplars and essential skills. The specific indicator for this is that learners should examine sources of data about the role of Dr. JB Danquah in the Gold Coast Youth Conference. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah did not feature around this time around, 1945.  History is periodical and chronological. Why are we not talking about JJ. Rawlings and J.A Kuffour. So we will get to a time where JB Danquah will conspicuously be missing from the curriculum because we are in independence.”

Per the new curriculum, students are expected to show an understanding of the factors that led to the formation of early protest movements in Ghana before 1945.

They are to examine the sources of evidence about the role of JB Danquah in the Gold Coast Youth Conference and present a narrative of the role of Dr. JB Danquah in the Gold Coast Youth Conference.

The students will also make a field trip to Danquah Circle in Accra or his home where possible or be shown pictures of Danquah Circle in Accra for them to retell the story of JB Danquah and the Gold Coast Youth Conference.

This is to ensure that the learners use the evidence to retell the role of the leaders of these early protest movements, develop critical thinking, creativity and personal development.

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By: Nii Larte Lartey