Minister of Education Haruna Iddrisu has directed that all educational materials in Ghana should reflect clear and unambiguous definitions of biological sex.
He made the remarks during a teachers’ training workshop on Thursday, January 15, 2025, in Tamale.
The statement comes amid nationwide concern over the 2025 Year 2 Physical Education and Health Elective Teacher Manual for Senior High Schools, which included LGBTQ+ concepts.
The manual, developed in 2024 and printed in 2025, sparked public backlash, prompting the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) to apologize and recall the materials.
The minority in Parliament has demanded a full withdrawal of the manuals and the dismissal of NaCCA’s Director General and Board Chair.
Speaking at the workshop, Iddrisu said, “If I wanted to be politically mischievous, I would just say that this was not produced by my era or tenor as minister, not by President Mahama, and that this curriculum was developed in 2024. But what is important is to answer the question, what is it that is good for Ghana, and good for Ghanaian teachers, and good for Ghanaian learners?”
He confirmed that NaCCA had taken corrective steps, including recalling all 736 hard copies of the manual and updating the online version. “So the online correction has been done, and done appropriately, so nobody should be relying on their hard copies,” he added.
The minister stressed that all references to man, woman, and sex in Ghanaian educational literature must reflect biological sex.
“Reference to man, woman, sex means reference to the biological sex and the sex of a person at birth… So forward, every publication of the Ministry of Education and the GES and to all heads of institutions involved in the educational space must respect this natural definition of sex and natural definition of a man and a woman.”
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
