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<h1 id="gmail-heading">Students at teachers' colleges to learn 3 local languages</h1>
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<i class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-clock-o"></i> 17 Feb 2018 at 07:49hrs | <span id="gmail-p_v">1910</span> Views
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STUDENTS at teachers' colleges are now
required to learn at least three indigenous languages to ensure that
they can be deployed anywhere in the country, a Cabinet Minister said
yesterday.<br><br>The new policy takes effect when the next intake of
students starts and principals at teachers' colleges have already been
told about the changes. The country's Constitution adopted in 2013
recognises 16 official languages.<br><br>Addressing academics during a
tour of Solusi University, Higher and Tertiary Education Minister,
Professor Amon Murwira, said this was a new policy introduced by his
Ministry.<br><br>"All our students when they are learning must learn at
least three languages so that as a Zimbabwean you can go and communicate
with elders anywhere in the country.<br><br>We are saying besides your
mother tongue that you were born with, you must learn three others in
the Constitution. You can see it in South Africa, it's not part of the
education system but if you are in Gauteng Province, you can speak any
language," said Prof Murwira.<br><br>"Why should I have myself talking
in English and being translated to somewhere down in Bulilima, it's not
quite right so we want to take practical steps.<br><br><div class="gmail-btm10 gmail-ads">
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</div>"The future is now so we are going to do it because it's
constitutional and so we must make sure everybody in teachers' colleges
does it.<br><br>"I don't know how practical it is in universities but
it's so practical for teachers' colleges that they already start doing
that because we've had problems where teachers are teaching Grade One
and they are speaking in English. It's not right. Surely we can solve
this, it's very easy actually."<br><br>In Matabeleland provinces, some
educationists and analysts have said the language issue was partly to
blame for the poor pass rate in the region.<br><br>The issue of
non-Ndebele speaking teachers has been brought up at a number of fora
and Government has since decided to address it.<br><br>Prof Murwira said
the policy shift in terms of languages was meant to ensure diversity
and inclusivity regardless of ethnic background.<br><br>"So we want to
start a culture of inclusivity. From Zambezi to Limpopo from Hwange to
Mutare it's ours, so we must be comfortable in every centimetre of the
country and it comes from the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education.
If we don't do this, nobody will do it. This is the vision we are
having for languages and its constitutional, it's just will power which
was not there so will power is there full time," he said.<br><br>Prof Murwira encouraged academics to work hard for the good of the country.</div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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