Strengthen local language education to accelerate national development
As a nation, we need to open our eyes more to understand the necessity of not only learning local languages, but mastering them and applying them in development decisions.
Viola Karungi.
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OPINION
By Viola Karungi
Uganda’s education system is doing well by having local languages in the curriculum.
As a nation, we need to open our eyes more to understand the necessity of not only learning local languages but also mastering them and applying them in development decisions.
We need to encourage students to carry on these languages into ‘A’ level and university rather than drop them after ‘O’ level as most students tend to do.
For such continuity to happen, parents need to encourage their children to study languages, just like more schools and universities need to create opportunities for language education.
The way Ugandans have an interest in foreign languages like Spanish, Chinese or French is the same way we should push for interest in Ugandan languages like Ateso, Luo, Lusoga, Luganda, Runyakitara, etc.
Language is not just a means of communication or expression. Instead, it is an organic way of thinking, comprehending issues, and formulating ideas.
For instance, currently, China is being strategic by ensuring that several Ugandans learn Chinese. In the long run, China will have easier partnerships with Ugandans on China-Uganda development issues.
Considering the current trend where many young people in Uganda cannot fluently express themselves in local languages, it is possible that in the near future, Uganda’s leaders and development cadres will be people who cannot communicate in our God-given languages. Yet, those languages are vital when conceiving, organising and implementing development ideas.
We need to worry about the possibility that Uganda’s future leadership may have limited capacity in the practical use of local languages. This will mean that Uganda will lack organic leadership, and the lack of organic leadership will undermine national development efforts. Uganda will then appear like a lost nation, a nation without roots. A people without an identity are people without a soul.
Organic development requires that government programs and policies be communicated in local languages. Such communication enables easier understanding and appreciation of those programs, and encourages inclusive citizen participation, especially at the grassroots, where implementation of programs normally happens.
National development is boosted by community development efforts. In this case, local languages are key because they facilitate local businesses and enable development solutions that are culturally sensitive. Knowledge of local languages enables us not only to benefit from government development programs but also to actively participate in them.
Moreover, prioritising local languages is a way of respecting and honouring our cultures. The more we communicate in local languages, the more we preserve our heritage, cultures and identities; the more we build our sense of self and national identity. Being careless about language preservation will easily lead to a crisis in cultural identity in the near future. But what is development without a sense of culture? And what is culture without a sense of indigenous linguistic pride? Superficial development and superficial culture! Uganda is unique for its language diversity, and this heritage should not just be preserved but actively utilised.
If Uganda has more people who are proficient in local languages, the country will boast of a reliable human resource that can conceive and communicate essential development information accurately in all parts of the country. This is the kind of human resource that can easily participate in global conversations about development and argue competently about Uganda’s local needs.
Currently, there is an aspiration that Africa needs African solutions to its problems as opposed to foreign solutions. Enforcing local language education is one way of achieving this aspiration. Therefore, local language education in Uganda should be treated as an essential aspect of our education system to accelerate national development.
The author lectures at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Makerere University. vkarungi@yahoo.com