FYI, this editorial from the Kampala daily, The Monitor, was seen on AllAfrica.com at http://allafrica.com/stories/200607070396.html . It takes a skeptical view of the new educational policy in Uganda to teach in children's first languages for the first 3 years of school. In particular it claims that this new policy will be negative for national unity. This is a traditional argument for monolingual education (in the official language) in Africa, and one that goes back to a particular concept (born in 18th or 19th century Europe I believe-?) of what makes a "nation" and language's role in it.
Personally I think it is a fallacy to say that children learning for 3 years in their first languages in a multilingual society will lead to disunity of the society. On the other hand, the observations concerning families moving to different regions of the country, and what happens to their children, is a point worth considering. As for the issue of primary school teachers having to teach in their first language, or another indigenous language they speak fluently, how is this is a problem? The alternative of everyone learning (or not) in a second/third language (English in Uganda) from day-one of primary school has had serious problems, of course, which is why Uganda (like other countries) adopted the new policy. However the new approach to language of primary instruction also does pose some practical challenges, which this editorial rightly points out. But those are part of the reality of a multilingual society, not something that can be resolved by a monolingual education policy. How the country, and its donor friends concerned with helping expand education for all, deal creatively with those challenges now in order to make a success of the new policy seems to be the real issue (from this outsider's perspective). I'd be interested in other people's perspectives... Don Osborn Uganda: Language Policy Will Promote Sectarianism The Monitor (Kampala) http://www.monitor.co.ug/ EDITORIAL July 7, 2006 Posted to the web July 7, 2006 Kampala It is now official. Schools will be teaching in vernacular during the first three years of primary education. This is an official policy and little can be done about it. Educationists who pushed it did their studies and concluded that it is the best way to teach the children of Uganda. There are however a number of issues which need to be born in mind as the new policy gets implemented in the next few months. Any efforts to create a nation called Uganda are going to become harder because the new policy in a way tends to lock people into their ethnic communities, rather than opening them up. To begin with, most children will only be able to attend school effectively in their tribal districts. If an Acholi with a six-year old child is posted or transferred to work in Mbarara, he may have to decline the offer or resist the transfer because his child may not be able to start school. If he goes, the child who does not know a word of Runyankore will pick nothing in Primary One. He will obviously come last in all tests except may be English which shall only be a subject and not a medium of instruction. If the family is then transferred to Teso, the child may go to P2 and understand nothing the whole year, having missed understanding the first year and again score zeros. A transfer to Masaka will make the child go through P3 without picking a thing. The first time this child will understand the teaching in arithmetic, science and everything else will be at age nine as he starts P4, disoriented, frustrated and his esteem shattered. In short, people with young families will prefer working only in their tribal districts, further entrenching tribal thinking. The new policy also condemns primary school teachers to working only in their tribal districts. For how will a young Munyankore teacher who has just graduated from a Teacher Training College work with kids in Moyo? She would be the object of amusement for the kids; she would be absolutely ineffective. So everyone in the teaching profession at that level will remain a closed tribal teacher, teaching tribally oriented children and look at the rest of Ugandans as aliens. Universal Primary Education would not be able to contribute to national unity. So much for national integration. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Great things are happening at Yahoo! Groups. See the new email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/TISQkA/hOaOAA/yQLSAA/TpIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanLanguages/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
