This article explores the implementation of Ghana’s local language in education policy; how it has been received and practiced in public basic schools, and the major challenges and implications. Through the study, the author highlights critical issues within local education practices that suggest a mismatch between education language policy and classroom practice. It is suggested that one of the primary reasons for the poor performance in schools lies in the oral orientation to classroom practices at the foundation stage at the expense of literate ways of thinking and reasoning and that an emphasis on literacy in the mother tongue at the foundation stage may help to shift the focus on student academic development where it belongs.
Keywords: English Language, Implementation, Language policy, Literacy, Mother tongue
