Uganda: Letter to the editor: Teaching in vernacular should be discouraged

[Harold Schiffman]

Teaching in vernacular should be discouraged
Sunday, 17th February, 2008

By Mary Amuge

I write in response to the article by Anselm Wandega titled: "Language
policy hinders unity" that was published in The New Vision, January
28. Wandega analysed the language policy in a compelling manner.
Anyone who engages in business or employment that enables them to
interact with other communities in Africa will agree that this is not
the time when the local languages should take precedence over national
or international languages. Earlier this year, I felt alienated from
fellow East Africans at a conference in Nairobi when participants
spoke in Swahili yet I could not talk beyond a mere greeting!

I have consulted about the current language of instruction approved
for the lower primary pupils by the Ministry of Education and found
that it is only urban (Kampala) schools that have choices to make
between English and Luganda or any other local language preferred by
the school management. Other districts must choose from Luo, Ateso,
Akarimojong, Runyakitara, Luganda, and Lugbara or any other language
approved by respective District Language Board. However, the language
must have a written orthography.

This implies that if Uganda has 81 districts, 81 languages or more
could end up on different pupils' curricula because some communities
in the same district speak different dialects.

A language board in Kasese district may choose Lukonzho for their
schools even though it is in the greater Toro region. Are we really
promoting equal opportunities, especially now that we have the Equal
Opportunities Commission in place?

Another dilemma arises in the case of intercultural marriages. If a
female primary school teacher from Isingiro district marries a man
from Amolatar district and relocates there, she would find it
difficult to adapt to her new work station if the only option she has
is to teach in Langi.

It would also be difficult for her to assist her Langi speaking
children with their homework since she may not be conversant with the
language in which her children are taught.

The timing of the policy was wrong. For most languages, there is no
written material for teachers and pupils apart from what the
curriculum development centre is trying to draft hurriedly with a lot
of grammatical and orthographical errors.

The curriculum centre risks making assumptions. Take a case of the
Bugisu region where all materials are in "Lumasaba" a common accent
among the southern Bagisu.

An elder in Budadiri will view this as cultural invasion. This
happened when the Bible was translated in Lumasaba and several people
opposed this, questioning whether this was the appropriate language
for each section of the community Bugisu region. The Ministry of
Education has never made local languages part of the teacher-training
curriculum (I need to be corrected if I am wrong).

How do they expect the teachers to teach what they have never been
adequately oriented to? What they got at the launching of the current
curriculum was a few weeks of discussions and they were commissioned
to implement the language policy. Are we not killing education in the
country?

Language is a sign of identity and a national language is a form of
national identity.

When we communicate in English at an international conference, one can
tell a Nigerian from a Ugandan, an Ethiopian from a Tanzanian, a South
African from a Ghanaian on the basis of their articulation and accent.
That already gives us identity and we should aim at fostering this
uniqueness.

The education ministry should state the principles they based on to
come with the current language policy for Primary One pupils.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/459/611989

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