Ghana’s education system, particularly in urban centres, is increasingly producing globally aware children who lack a strong connection to their cultural identity, PR and Partnerships Lead Amma Boakye-Danquah has warned.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Wednesday (27 May), Boakye-Danquah said the structure of modern urban life — marked by private schooling, language choices at home and shifting social dynamics — is gradually eroding cultural transmission among children.
“We have a specific problem in Accra… half of the children are going to private schools,” she said. “They are slowly but surely being separated from their culture.”
She explained that while Ghana’s public school curriculum encourages the use of local languages and cultural grounding, many private schools operate almost entirely in English, limiting children’s exposure to indigenous identity.
Urbanisation and the ‘cost of progress’
Boakye-Danquah linked the trend to rapid urbanisation and changing family structures, where inter-ethnic households often default to English as a common language.
“The issue of urbanisation is one where you have multiple cultures in one place… together in the house, you speak English. Then when the child goes to school, they speak English,” she said.
She warned that this dynamic is creating a perception that cultural identity is something sacrificed in exchange for upward mobility.
“It sounds like the cost of progress… the cost of going forward is your culture,” she added.
Schools must share responsibility
While acknowledging that cultural education traditionally begins at home, Boakye-Danquah argued that the reality of modern life has shifted much of that responsibility to institutions.
Children now spend long hours in school and extracurricular activities, leaving limited time for cultural learning within the household.
“We have created a society… where we export a lot of teaching,” she said. “If children are spending most of their time outside the home, then those spaces must also carry culture.”
She called for private schools, clubs and learning centres — including robotics and technology hubs — to deliberately integrate Ghanaian cultural elements into their programmes.
Language decline and identity gaps
Boakye-Danquah highlighted the declining use of local languages among urban children as a key symptom of cultural disconnect.
She noted that even discussions around modern concepts such as artificial intelligence or mental health are increasingly difficult to express in indigenous languages, reflecting a broader stagnation.
“We are not investing in our languages… they’re not growing with us,” she said.
She also pointed to a longstanding culture of “language shaming” in schools, where children speaking local languages were discouraged or punished — a practice she said has had lasting consequences.
Culture as development and mental health issue
Beyond identity, Boakye-Danquah framed cultural preservation as critical to national development and even youth wellbeing.
She argued that a loss of cultural grounding can contribute to feelings of dislocation among young people navigating a globalised world.
“Some of the mental health issues we are seeing… are about children feeling lost,” she said. “They see other parts of the world and ask, ‘what do we have here?’”
She added that rebuilding cultural pride could strengthen confidence, social cohesion and long-term economic potential.
Growing institutional support
Boakye-Danquah welcomed increasing collaboration with state institutions, including the Ghana Tourism Authority, National Commission on Culture and the National Folklore Board, describing it as recognition that culture is a national development priority.
“It’s not just an educational issue — it’s economic, it’s social, it’s about national identity,” she said.
Reclaiming identity in a global world
Boakye-Danquah stressed that cultural awareness does not conflict with global competitiveness but rather strengthens it.
“To connect globally, you need to understand who you are,” she said.
She urged parents, schools and policymakers to adopt a more intentional approach to preserving Ghanaian identity, warning that failure to act could lead to a generational loss of culture.
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