Former Deputy Minister of Education and Assin South MP, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, has called for the Minister of Education to appear before Parliament to explain how what he describes as a controversial definition of gender identity found its way into a Senior High School Physical Education and Health (PH&E) teachers’ manual.

Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen, Rev. Fordjour accused the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) of betraying public trust by allowing the material to be printed and circulated.

“You cannot trust NaCCA again. They breached the trust Ghanaians had in them by allowing this to come out. They printed the books themselves when their mandate is to review before printing. This is a deliberate, systematic attempt, and it is dangerous,” he said.

He stressed that the matter goes beyond partisan politics and touches on the credibility and moral direction of Ghana’s education system, warning that the content would not have been corrected if it had not been publicly exposed. He also suggested that other definitions in the same manual raise similar concerns.

Calls for recall and review


Rev. Fordjour demanded an immediate recall of all hard copies of the manual, the deletion of digital versions, and a clear directive to schools and regional education directors to stop using the material. He also called on NaCCA to convene a stakeholder meeting to agree on definitions that align with Ghanaian culture and moral values before any reprinting.
“The Minister of Education needs to come to Parliament to answer on this matter and give assurances that this will not happen again,” he added.

NaCCA admits error


In a press release dated January 13, 2026, NaCCA acknowledged that the definition of “gender identity” contained in the Year Two PH&E (Elective) Teacher Manual does not reflect Ghanaian culture, norms, and values, even though it stressed that the national curriculum itself does not include such content.

The disputed manual defined gender identity as a person’s deeply felt internal experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth, and may include being male, female, or a blend of both.

The controversy has since sparked intense public debate over curriculum oversight and the role of education authorities in shaping values taught in Ghanaian schools.