<div dir="ltr"><div style="" id="stcpDiv"><div class=""><div id="breadcrumb" class="">
<div class=""><a href="http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?wid=1">Mmegi</a></div>
<div class=""><a href="http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?wid=1&sid=1">News
</a></div>
<div class="">Teach Basarwa children in their language – UB don
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div class="">
<span class="">Teach Basarwa children in their language – UB don
</span><br><br>
<span class="">For as long as
the language-in-education policy recognises only English and Setswana
and disregards all other indigenous languages, Basarwa and other
non-Setswana speaking groupings will lag behind.
</span>
<table class="">
<tbody><tr>
<td class=""><img src="http://www.mmegi.bw/2013_website/content/mmegi/thumbnail_phpBCC.tmp.jpg" height="46" width="46"></td>
<td class="">By</td>
<td class=""><a href="http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?aid=54922">Tefo Pheage</a> </td>
<td class="">Fri 08 Apr 2016, 16:08 pm (GMT +2) </td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class=""><div class=""> <div class="">ERROR</div><div class="" style="padding-left:7px">
<font color="#FF0000"> <font size="2"><b>Your email has not been sent...
Please try again.</b></font></font></div></div></div>
<div class="">
<div class="">
<span style="vertical-align:bottom;width:80px;height:20px"></span>
</div>
<div class=""> <img src="http://www.mmegi.bw/2013_website/widgets/socialmedia/images/icon_comments.gif" class="" border="0"><div class=""> <a href="http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?aid=59167#comments"><span class=""><span class="">1</span></span> Comments</a></div></div>
<a class="" href="http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?aid=59167&dir=2016/april/08&thankyou_box_code=img#TB_inline?height=0&width=350&inlineId=myOnPageContent" title="Email a friend" style="text-decoration:none">
<img src="http://www.mmegi.bw/2013_website/widgets/socialmedia/images/icon_email.jpg" class="" style="margin-top: 3px;" height="26" border="0"><div class="">Email</div>
</a>
<span class=""><img src="http://www.mmegi.bw/2013_website/widgets/socialmedia/images/icon_share.gif" class="" style="margin-top: 3px;" height="25" border="0"><div class="">Share</div></span>
</div>
<div class="">
<div id="slideshow-wrapper">
<div id="image-slider">
<div id="picture-holder">
<ul id="slideshow"><li style="height:;"><img src="http://www.mmegi.bw/2016/april/08/medium_phpZQPFWz.jpg" height="291.752542373" width="438"><div style="width:400px;float:left;margin-right:6px;margin-left:3px;color:white;text-align:left"><b> :</b> Basarwa youth have difficulty in comprehending Setswana and English PIC: MORERI SEJAKGOMO </div><div style="float:left;width:24px;height:24px;margin-top:2px;margin-bottom:2px"><ul class="" style="list-style:outside none none;padding:0px"><li style="list-style:outside none none"><a href="http://www.mmegi.bw/2016/april/08/phpZQPFWz.jpg" rel="prettyPhoto" title="Basarwa youth have difficulty in comprehending Setswana and English PIC: MORERI SEJAKGOMO"><img src="http://www.mmegi.bw/2013_website//widgets/gallery/article_gallery/gallery_lifemedia/img/picture2.png" title="Expand this Image" border="0/"></a></li></ul></div></li></ul>
</div>
</div>
<div class=""><img src="http://www.mmegi.bw/2013_website//widgets/gallery/article_gallery/gallery_lifemedia/img/divider_grey.gif"></div>
</div>
<div class=""><img src="http://www.mmegi.bw/2013_website//widgets/gallery/article_gallery/gallery_lifemedia/img/below.gif"></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div class="" style="text-align:left">
<p>This, according to Maitseo Bolaane, the director
of UB for San Research Centre, who is arguing for recognition and use
of all other indigenous languages.</p>
<p>The UB San Research Centre is a multidisciplinary research centre
which welcomes participation from researchers with demonstrated interest
in San research within the institution, SADC region and
internationally.</p>
<p>The professor said there is a lot that still needs to be done as regards Basarwa education.</p>
<p>“The Botswana government still has some work to do as regards Basarwa
(San) education. There are problems that have been identified by
researchers and are still prevalent, they say. As long as we have a
language-in-education policy that recognises only two languages:
Setswana and English and leaves out the indigenous languages, we still
have a long way to go. Basarwa children are still learning in unfamiliar
languages - languages that some learners hear for the first time at
school,” Bolaane told Mmegi.</p>
<p>He said this is a disadvantage as the learners grapple with
understanding the structure of the two languages and the content.
“Important to note is that the linguistic characters used in Setswana
and English are used differently in San languages. In brief, the
morphological sound and syntax of San languages is distinct from that of
Setswana and English.”</p>
<p>One other problem is that the Basarwa are taught by teachers who do
not understand their languages and culture. Therefore there is no
reflection of their cultural background in the school curriculum. In
most cases, they learn foreign concepts that they cannot relate their
lives with. “Some non-San bring their negative attitudes, perceptions
and perspectives when they relate with San learners.</p>
<p>All these issues drive the San learners away from school because they
are not familiar with them. It is not that the San are not intelligent,
they have the potential like other young people in the country. The
only problem is that they experience some communication barrier once
they enter the school gates.”</p>
<p>While some Basarwa children drop out of school early they become
helpless and have to go back to their remote areas where there is little
or no development and access to information is a challenge. They remain
victims of an unresponsive education system in the rural areas.</p>
<p>“Although the government is making efforts the high school dropout is
also attributed to the fact that Botswana has not yet achieved all the
international educational goals,” he noted.</p>
<p>Bolaane advised that the government needs to reflect on Basarwa
education and consider reviewing its educational policy and put relevant
measures in place to ensure implementation. More research on the
indigenous languages, training teachers in indigenous languages,
printing relevant materials on indigenous languages among others should
be </p>
<div style="float:right;text-align:justify;margin-left:10px;margin-bottom:7px;width:300px" align="right">
<div id="div-gpt-ad-1367901892346-12" style="width:300px;height:250px">
</div>
</div>
<p class="">embarked upon. “Again the government needs to respect
who the San are and consult them on their educational problems, but
there is enough research to back up the San voices.”</p>
<p>To date, he said, the government has not yet fully complied with its
international treaty obligations and norms for ensuring provision of
education using the mother tongue. This has been noted as critical for
early childhood and breakthrough in the education of Basarwa; probably
explaining the high drop rates and failure of the Basarwa children in
the nation school system.</p>
<p>The government, he adviced, should be more proactive by taking the
Naro Language Project (NLP) as a model for the other San communities.
“Through the NLP the Naro language has not only been developed, but also
used in literacy, youth education, community development and tourist
industry. This has in turn brought a lot of confidence and self–esteem
among the Naro people. Such an approach is urgently needed in the other
San communities. Bolaane proposed that all this should start with change
of the language policy and positive political will.</p>
<p>Bolaane is also of the view that a lot has been done in the area of
socio-economic rights as evidenced by the developments for various
Basarwa communities in settlements and villages. “However the impact of
development would have promoted self-determination and use of indigenous
knowledge for own preservation and perpetuation of cultural identity
and heritage of the Basarwa as a distinct population in the nation state
of Botswana.” This would have promoted self-dependence and enhanced
dignity by the Basarwa communities as opposed to over reliance on
government support for day-to-day livelihoods.</p>
<p>“If the Government could have embarked on people centered development
programmes as opposed to assimilative developmental interventions which
are short termed and results in spiral of dependency, the greater and
meaningful development would have accrued to the Basarwa communities
across Botswana, more especially those in the settlements.”</p>
<p>Bolaane said the land rights issue is contestable and by and large
remains unsettled more especially for communities who previously resided
in the rich habitat areas for natural resources such as those in
national parks and game reserves. He said Basarwa civic and political
rights in these areas have continued to rank lowest as compared to other
Basarwa living in more settled national communities. Those who have
settled in national communities have fully assimilated and lost all
their language and cultural heritage as a distinct people. Just as with
language, Bolaane believes a lot needs to be done in this area and
development partners could assist the government to push the frontier of
development to where Basarwa want to see themselves in the future.</p></div></div></div></div> - See more at: <a href="http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?aid=59167&dir=2016/april/08&thankyou_box_code=img#sthash.f2W8AdpD.dpuf">http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?aid=59167&dir=2016/april/08&thankyou_box_code=img#sthash.f2W8AdpD.dpuf</a></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
</div>