Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu has clarified government’s stance on the definition of sex, clearly stating that it must only refer to a person’s biological sex and the sex of a person at birth.
The Minister declared that the must be no confusion in the definition of sex in Ghana’s educational system.
The Minister made the clarification during a teacher’s training workshop on Ghanaian Youth Handbook and the implementation of the Guidance and Counseling (G&C) framework at Ghana Senior High School in Tamale on Thursday, January 15, 2026.
“There should be no ambiguity whatsoever regarding the definition of a man as in a man and the woman as in a woman as a biological sex and sex means biological sex. Reference to man, woman, sex means reference to the biological sex and the sex of a person at birth, settled,” the Minister noted.
His clarification follows public discussion around the definition of gender identity discovered in some educational materials. The definition promotes pro LGBTQ identity.
He said all educational materials used in the country must reflect this position clearly.
“So, in every educational literature in Ghana, must reflect sex. So there should be no ambiguity whatsoever in the definition of a man, a woman, and sex. For our purposes, the sex of a person at birth holds,” he said.
The Minister explained that Ghana’s cultural values and social norms reflects a person’s sex at birth and that is what must be upheld.
“That depicts and reflects Ghanaian values and our norms. And that is how we want to bring up all Ghanaian learners in an environment that they appreciate,” he said, adding that “the morality of our society rests in the extent to which they uphold these values.”
Mr Iddrisu said the Ministry of Education has correct the inconsistencies in existing learning materials.
“So I thought that I should use your forum to respond to this. And we have accordingly corrected it,” he stated. “So reference to a man, woman, and sex is reference to a biological sex.”
He further directed that all future publications by the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service must align with this definition.
“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 the natural definition of a man and a woman. Nothing more,” he said.
“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 asked.
Mr Iddrisu said he had directed the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NACCA) to take responsibility for the issue and resolve it.
“I’ve asked NACCA, the institution responsible, to take full responsibility for the controversy and to remedy it with urgency,” he said.
According to him, NACCA has determined that parts of the manual did not reflect Ghanaian values.
“I’m told that NACCA has determined that the definition of gender identity contained in the manual is not reflective of Ghanaian values and culture and our norms,” he said.
He stressed that printed copies of the affected material have been recalled.
“Directed that a recall of all the 736 physically printed copies of the year two physical education and health elective teacher manual for senior high schools,” he said, adding that a revised version has been released online.
