Media Network on Child Rights Executive Director, Henry Kabwe says the introduction of local language as a teaching language in primary schools has the potential to bring about tribalism if necessary measures are not put in place.
Mr. Kabwe told Q fm in an interview that the system will hinder some teachers from working in certain areas where they are not conversant with the local language.
Mr. Kabwe says the ministry of education should put mechanisms in place to ensure that the new policy is done in a way that will not negatively affect either teachers or pupils.
He however, notes that the system is good for vulnerable children who are not able to express themselves in English, stating that some children go to school and get focused on learning how to use English as opposed to acquiring knowledge.
Mr. Kabwe says the use of a familiar local language will make it easy for a child to go to school and be confident enough to learn.
He has urged parents to support the ministry of education’s initiative to introduce local languages in primary schools as a teaching language as they are trying to preserve the language and culture of the country.
Private schools should be exempted from this arrangement to afford parents choose what best suits them. It is also a question of how ambitious and prepared one is to give their children the best education. The best education will not come in a school where children will only learn English for 3 years at primary school level. Can someone keep a close eye on Tick Private School owned by Winter Kabimba in Kamwala please.
Very correct you are Sir!
What should be done now is measures to be taken by Linguistic Experts to assimilate all the local languages as one so that the evil of Tribalism is terminated once and for all, with English as another Language. Problem solved once and for all!
This has already created tribalism,, here is a scenerio a teacher trained at mansa teachers training college her/his option language is bemba, then the govt deploys her/him in shangombo and told to teach those pupils is lozi, its possible?? and people in shangombo wont agree to have there kids taught chibemba,,, the same one trained at mongu teachers training college option language lozi,, then the govt deploys him/her in mwasabombwe,, what language would hé/her? use lozi?,,
Lets just all go english… all zambian languages should be optional period, we will learn them at our own time, at the village, in street, in the bars, during tushimi with mbuya..etc
And what language will that be? Don’t you think planning especially material preparation should have been done first?.
@ Luba,
The same way we are known as the Bantu speaking people is the same way that Language can be created, besides, Swahili has not only African Languages but there is some Arabic infused in it. Dont limit your mind, allow yourself to explore even higher!
@Cindy it is you who is ignoring the issue of preparation. Our teachers are not ready and not enough. Some schools are so poorly staffed to the extent of having one teacher to run the whole school. So, if that teacher is not familiar with the language, it will affect every pupil at that particular school.
I have been to many countries, you would agree with me that learning another language is not easy. Let me also mention that, this language thing effects both adults (teachers) and children (pupils). This therefore cannot be properly implemented without careful planning and making certain logistics available.
@ Luba,
Your post has very meaningful insights that would need being looked at carefully before implementing anything of that magnitude. Am not saying “do it today or next year”, it would even take decades to even lay the foundation. Zambia has alot of languages which would mean stringent measures being taken to even decide which ones to pitch in.
I agree with you learning a language is not easy but I know a child can be able to speak another language in three months, for an Adult, mmmmmm… depends how good some one is at learning, but when you want to achieve something great, no mountain is too high.
All in all my opnion is my desperation on anything that can curb Tribalism even if it means crazy gigantic projects! And on a lighter note, King Cobra would call it utter Nonsense!
@ Cindy thank you for your elaboration and acknowledgement. I am glad you have expressed yourself so well. At the beginning I thought you were a PFooool cadre just yapping.
Hapo ni kweli kabisa Cindy.Lugha yetu Kiswahili ni tamu sana ingawa ina maneno kadhaa ya kiarabu.But lets learn it anyway
@Zambia wazamani,
Yani mpaka naongea Kiswahili vizuri ata kiwemba nabaikaka tu!
@ Luba,
Lets keep faith and be Zambian above everything else!
I foresee broblems coming again to zambezi east which, lunguage there lunda or luvale or both ?
people in zambezi how is it going there.
Teach children in their language it will benefit them , in some nations in the world where they kept their languages from schools ,today they have gone back to teach in schools
Which Language? Zambia has 73 languages!
On a lighter note…
There is a tribe in Zambia that always learns the local language of the area they reside in as well as English and their own mother tongues, then they bring their best game to school or die trying. Teach us please… An ode to my Asian brethren who survive in any foreign country they live in because they adapt, learn and dominate their fields. I vote we recognise our Asian 74th tribe and learn their languages instead… Either that or the slang prevalent in every urban area which is universally understood and mother tongue to our 73rd tribe…
TODAY, CHINA IS ON THE MOON & IS NOW CONTEMPLATING TO GO TO MARS TOMORROW.
THIS ACHIEVEMENT & MANY OTHERS HAVE BEEN DONE WHEN THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION IN SCHOOLS IS DONE IN VERNACULAR?
WHAT DO INDEPENDENT RESEARCHERS AT UNESCO IN TEACHING IN LOCAL LANGUAGE HAVE HAD TO SAY?
http://www.cal.org/resources/pubs/homelang_eng.pdf
China has the local language, Mandarin, which is widely used in China and by the Chinese people but Zambia has 73 ethnic groups. The so called 7 official languages are inadequate as media of instruction for if you go to Lundazi District of Eastern Province, the Tumbuka speaking children do not know or understand Chinyanja; how then do schools start teaching Tumbuka children in Chinyanja then do not understand? Why use a medium of instruction that is unfamiliar to a five or six year old child? This is removing one unfamiliar language (English) and replacing it with another unfamiliar language (Chinyanja) in a Tumbuka speaking environment in this context. This curriculum will favour the native speakers of the 7 official local languages and disadvantage the speakers of 66 languages.
I was trained as a Teacher at St. Charles Lwanga in Monze, Southern Province between 2001 and 2002. I could not get hired by MMD so I left for USA in 2005. Now I am a Banker in USA.This is not a new phenomenon of teaching L1 before L2. I had to teach Tonga in schools even though I am Bemba.
Under the ZATEC Teacher Program, Kasama schools did a pilot project in 1998 – 2000 it proved that children who learnt how to read L1 had higher reading index in L2. This is not a new thing it has been there and it was not implemented by MMD.
Yes, this is not a new concept but not all children in Zambia have one of the 7 official local languages as L1. Children whose L1 is one of the 66 other languages will have to learn one of the 7 local languages as L2 and then English L3. The idea would be effective if children were taught in their mother tongue and not teach a Tumbuka child in Chinyanja the child does not know simply because Chinyanja is the official local language of Eastern Province. Why teach a child to read and write another tribes vernacular instead of teaching them to read and write in their own mother tongue?
I was a lecturer during this time. Did I teach you? What is your actual name?
I am in UK- for some reason it assumes I am in US. I was working with VSO so travelled to Zambia from UK and taught from Feb 2000 to dec 2002. I taught some ZATEC classes and yes I heard there was some problem with recruitment
…most misplaced and senseless legislation/policy to be bulldozed on children in this modern Zed….
….trying to segregate children from the rich families to those from the poor….
..I’m a ngoni married to a bemba working in solwezi and they want my child to learn in Kaonde….meanwhile my wife and I don’t speak Kaonde…..
…my brother is married to a tonga and work in Zambezi….
i think the government went wrong about it all,they should have let english continue as the medium of instruction but introduce zambian languages as mandatory subjects up to grade 12 and require that everyone passes them to be given a school certificate.off course the is need to preserve our languages and culture but there could be a better way of doing it.
just like everyone has said,there will be a real problem when it comes to teacher deployment due to language barrier
i think th pf government policy direction is really terrrible
Lets use neutral Swahili if tribal lingo is too much of “tribal colonization”
I have travelled in so many areas and I have learnt other languages. What will stop the Children to learn English later? At the age of 27, as about to Learn Greek, Germany and did well at school in those countries. So this madness of looking down on our languages should stop. Sadly, other want to term it tribalism which is silly mindedness. I am not from Western Province, but I can speak-write in all the languages from Western Province, I am not from South Africa but I speak and write Isizulu and Sesotho; I am not from Spain but I can write and count in Spanish, I am not Germany but I can manage in these languages; I am not Italian, Frenchman but I can write-speak and even do formal academic papers in these languages. What is wrong with us Zambians looking down on our languages?
It is not a case of looking down on our local languages but analysis of the argument that children learn better in their mother tongues. Look, mother tongues of the Zambian children are not restricted to the 7 official local languages. A Tumbuka speaking child in Lundazi does not know how to speak Chinyanja; how then can Chinyanja be used as a medium of instruction for a Reception or Grade One child who does not know Chinyanja? The language will be as strength as English has been. Comparison with languages like Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Sesotho, Swahili is misplaced because in as much as Chibemba and Chinyanja are widely understood in the urban parts of Copperbelt and Lusaka respectively, it would be unjustified to go to Shimukunambi’s Chiefdom (Lambaland) and teach in Bemba.
It has been proven as a feasible undertaking.lt has 2 start fro somewhere nd at a certain time as this 1. 0 the fears will go.lt doesn’t promote tribalism. As long as u are in Zed learn the language of wherever u are.Den all de Ls ‘l b owned 0.
Sorry i meant ,’Then 0 the languages will be owned by 0′.
I think in the long run it will even promote unity.l am Bemba married 2 a beautifull lovely Tonga -Nkoya lady and fluent in Chitonga,quiet gud in both Nkoya nd Luyi(Lozi).l know chichewa,some french nd Portogues,some Mambwe,some Lunda and kikaonde.
Our children know them too tho English is used widely.They are even more Zambian so as to speak.
These lusaka based politicians have failed teach their children local languages in their homes and now they are making it everyone’s problem.
All local languages are our national heritage and so need to be taught and preserved. Thumbs up to this government initiative- politics aside.
‘This thing’ will bring about tribalism. PF is talking about teaching in 7 languages and not 73 languages (74 plus english). What will become of the languages which will not be taught? they die?? To avoid tribalism, all learning MUST be in english period!
Please spare our children. This is not possible in this country of more than 74 languages.This has been possible only to countries with one common language like china. not this malt lingua nation.
LET LOCAL LANGUAGES BE TAUGHT TO VULNERABLE CHILDREN WHO CANNOT SPEAK ENGLISH IN GOVT PRE-SCHOOLS (OLOFEYA).LEAVE THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY SPEAKING ENGLISH ALONE.
Segregation has already started as the Minister mentioned that international schools in Zambia will be excepted from the new curriculum change. Most children of the politicians and the rich (E.g the former president RB’s twins were at International School of Lusaka) are schooled at these cosmopolitan expensive schools and will be advantaged throughout their lives compared to our ordinary children. This idea is misplaced and must be rescinded before our children get confused and uncompetitive. Lets learn form the past and why the curriculum was changed to the one we had before this new one.