[lg policy] Namibia: Africa: Should Stop Teaching in English?

[Harold Schiffman]

Africa: Should Stop Teaching in English?
24 February 2012



At Independence, Namibia chose English as its main natitional language
although it had no history of English as a colonial language and few
citizens who spoke it as their first language. The decision has been
well supported and there is an expectation among Namibians that
learning English as early as possible is important because it will
open many doors to the future.

The government implemented the decision through a language policy for
schools that sets down that learners should be taught in their home
language from grades 1-3 and in English from grade 4 onwards. However,
despite high levels of spending on education, failure rates as a whole
remain alrmingly high. For example, only four in ten (39%) learners
starting school in 2009 are expected to reach grade 12.

The Urban Trust of Namibia - funded by OSISA - undertook research to
ascertain what impact teaching in English had on Namibian students and
whether it was contributing to the poor results.

The literature review suggested that the longer a child learns in his
or her home language the more successful she or he will be at school.
Meanwhile, the field research showed that a high proporton of learners
are confused by the second language (English) in which they are
taught. They want to succeed at school generally and in English in
particular but do not understand their subjects well enough because of
the problems of language.

The research also highlighted that teachers, parents and
educationalists do not fully understand the problems learners face
with the English language and often attribute poor learner performance
to a lack of interest and commitment.

Educationalists are divided as to the correctness of the language
policy, with those in the regions seeing the language policy as
failing learners, while parents are keen to see their children succeed
in English but are divided as to how best this can be achieved.

The research concluded that a major review of Namibia's language
policy is needed to help address the continuing failure of so many
learners. While there are challenges with mother tongue learning,
policy makers should encourage its wider use to achieve better
educational results for Namibia's children.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201202241157.html

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