The following article from the Ugandan paper, New Vision, was seen on lgpolicy-list...
Dons criticize new language curriculum Wednesday, 8th October, 2008 http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/653710 By Conan Businge LANGUAGE lecturers at Makerere University have criticised the education ministry's proposed new curriculum for secondary schools, saying it would worsen the quality of education in the country. Dons from Makerere's Institute of Languages said the curriculum is likely to undermine some language departments in universities if implemented. They argued in a letter to the education ministry that secondary schools would stop producing students ready to study language at the university level. The letter was signed by the acting director of Makerere's institute, Oswald Ndoleriire, and copied to the President, Prime Minister, and other relevant ministries and organisations. The lecturers were reacting to a new curriculum proposed by the Ministry of Education. The curriculum was halted late last month after causing a public outcry. The education ministry proposal would allocate six periods per week of instruction for English and two-to-three periods per week for Kiswahili and Luganda. The professors said giving less time to local languages would undermine students' ability to learn how to write in their local languages. "The writing of the local language curriculum and training language teachers will lose meaning," the dons' letter said. "We wonder where and how the ministry will redeploy these teachers," the dons said. They also said this would make teachers of these languages redundant. They argued that the goal of simplifying communication through languages that people know best would be eroded. "The policy would have a debilitating effect on the book industry, print and electronic media," they said. "Research in our immensely rich indigenous knowledge that requires significant knowledge of local languages would also be at stake." The letter also suggested: "The field of translation and interpretation would be grossly crippled, and will endanger the growing language industry." The dons also argued that the Constitution recognized Kiswahili as the second official language of Uganda and therefore should be made part of the core curriculum in primary and secondary schools. They predicted that dropping foreign languages would deny people access to international jobs. The ministry proposed a minimum class size of 40 students for Arts and 20 for Sciences at A' level. The teaching load would be 24 periods per week. The lecturers said this was unrealistic. They offered to participate in consultations on the curriculum if invited. **************************** Disclaimer ****************************** Copyright: In accordance with Title 17, United States Code Section 107, this material is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material posted to this list for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Content: The sender does not vouch for the veracity nor the accuracy of the contents of this message, which are the sole responsibility of the copyright owner. Also, the sender does not necessarily agree or disagree with any opinions that are expressed in this message. ********************************************************************** ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanLanguages/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanLanguages/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> 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/
