Why isn't Swahili compulsory in schools?
Apr 28, 2009
UGANDANS who witnessed the political turmoil of the 1970s and early 80s have bad memories of the Kiswahili language. It reminds them of soldiers breaking into homes at night, kidnappings and torture at roadblocks. As a result, many refer to Swahili as the
By Arthur Baguma
and Hope Abimanya
UGANDANS who witnessed the political turmoil of the 1970s and early 80s have bad memories of the Kiswahili language. It reminds them of soldiers breaking into homes at night, kidnappings and torture at roadblocks. As a result, many refer to Swahili as the language of rogues and thieves.
But with the East African integration taking shape, scholars and language experts depict Swahili as more crucial than ever before, since it is widely spoken in the neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania. Indeed, in 2007 over 100 MPs enrolled for Swahili lessons at Parliament.
Yet, Uganda’s enthusiasm to teach the language in the mainstream schools seems minimal, if at all. In 2007, the Government endorsed the language as a compulsory subject from Primary Four to secondary level, the latter starting with the first batch of Universal Secondary schools.
But recently, 10 subjects, including Swahili, were dropped from the list of compulsory subjects. This was during the education ministry’s effort to condense the O’level curriculum to 18 subjects, down from 42. The subjects have been clustered into core and elective ones. The electives subjects are: general science, health science, political education, type-writing, short-hand, office practice, power and energy, electricity and electronics and Swahili.
The ministry retained English, mathematics, geography, history, chemistry, biology, physics, physical education, music and religious education. Others are business education, home economics, Literature in English, technical education, fine art, computer studies, agriculture, foreign and local languages. The move, according to the education minister, Namirembe Bitamazire, was intended to enhance focus. But this has drawn mixed feelings, especially regarding the fate of Swahili.
“Why do they keep changing posts?†asks a senior education officer, who prefers anonymity.
Proponents of Swahili argue that if the language is made compulsory, Ugandans will benefit in the common market or trade and other activities in the region. Swahili is viewed as the most appropriate mode of communication for the population of over 100 million people in East Africa, where it is widely spoken.
The 1992 Government White Paper on the education policy review recommended that Swahili be integrated in Uganda’s education system, starting from Primary Five.
John Nsookwa, a Swahili lecturer at the School of Education, Makerere University argues that the question of an official and national language has been debated for a long time.
“The potential of Swahili to promote the desired national unity, patriotism and pan-africanism is far greater than that of any other Ugandan language.â€
In a country with over 56 local languages, Swahili would inevitably be a unifying factor.
Perepetwa Arinaitwe, a Swahili lecturer at Bishop Stuart University in Mbarara, says any move to ignore the language will affect the few existing Swahili teachers as well. “I will have no job,†she says. Edvan Bwambale, one of the Swahili students at Bishop Stuart University, says dropping the language will render his education irrelevant.
“A Swahili graduate can do several other jobs in the common market,†Bwambale says.
Prof. Livingstone Walusimbi, a lecturer at the Institute of Languages Makerere University, says Swahili is the country’s second official language after English.
Aggrey Kibenge, the education ministry spokesperson, however, alleys the fears.
He says when the curriculum reforms were being discussed, it was noted that it would not be possible to start teaching Swahili without pre-requisite resources — teachers and teaching materials. As a result, says Kibenge, the National Curriculum Development Centre proposed that Swahili implementation be in phases.
“We could not make it compulsory without adequate resources,†Kibenge, who is also the EAC desk officer, explains.
Some officials at the education ministry confided that there were only two teachers’ colleges out of 40 institutions, which can produce Swahili teachers. These are Gaba Primary Teachers’ College (PTC) and Kabale PTC.
According to the 2007 statistics at the education ministry, Kyambogo University and other PTCs can produce about 100 Swahili teachers a year, yet Uganda has over 7.5 million children in 11,000 government-aided primary schools and 954,000 students in 911 secondary schools.
Way forward
In the meantime, students are encouraged to take the subject as an elective.
“Some schools are teaching Swahili on their own initiative and we encourage them to continue,†says Kibenge.
Connie Kateeba, the director of the National Curriculum Development Centre, says: “Our plan is to have it as a compulsory subject in future and this will be done in the curriculum review in the next financial year.â€
She says in preparation for this phasing, the teacher education department at the education ministry has stepped up enrollment of Swahili teachers in training colleges.
In Rwanda and Burundi, the newcomers in the EAC, most people feel it will be a particularly radical departure for the francophone countries as they integrate with the English/Swahili speaking countries.
and Hope Abimanya
UGANDANS who witnessed the political turmoil of the 1970s and early 80s have bad memories of the Kiswahili language. It reminds them of soldiers breaking into homes at night, kidnappings and torture at roadblocks. As a result, many refer to Swahili as the language of rogues and thieves.
But with the East African integration taking shape, scholars and language experts depict Swahili as more crucial than ever before, since it is widely spoken in the neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania. Indeed, in 2007 over 100 MPs enrolled for Swahili lessons at Parliament.
Yet, Uganda’s enthusiasm to teach the language in the mainstream schools seems minimal, if at all. In 2007, the Government endorsed the language as a compulsory subject from Primary Four to secondary level, the latter starting with the first batch of Universal Secondary schools.
But recently, 10 subjects, including Swahili, were dropped from the list of compulsory subjects. This was during the education ministry’s effort to condense the O’level curriculum to 18 subjects, down from 42. The subjects have been clustered into core and elective ones. The electives subjects are: general science, health science, political education, type-writing, short-hand, office practice, power and energy, electricity and electronics and Swahili.
The ministry retained English, mathematics, geography, history, chemistry, biology, physics, physical education, music and religious education. Others are business education, home economics, Literature in English, technical education, fine art, computer studies, agriculture, foreign and local languages. The move, according to the education minister, Namirembe Bitamazire, was intended to enhance focus. But this has drawn mixed feelings, especially regarding the fate of Swahili.
“Why do they keep changing posts?†asks a senior education officer, who prefers anonymity.
Proponents of Swahili argue that if the language is made compulsory, Ugandans will benefit in the common market or trade and other activities in the region. Swahili is viewed as the most appropriate mode of communication for the population of over 100 million people in East Africa, where it is widely spoken.
The 1992 Government White Paper on the education policy review recommended that Swahili be integrated in Uganda’s education system, starting from Primary Five.
John Nsookwa, a Swahili lecturer at the School of Education, Makerere University argues that the question of an official and national language has been debated for a long time.
“The potential of Swahili to promote the desired national unity, patriotism and pan-africanism is far greater than that of any other Ugandan language.â€
In a country with over 56 local languages, Swahili would inevitably be a unifying factor.
Perepetwa Arinaitwe, a Swahili lecturer at Bishop Stuart University in Mbarara, says any move to ignore the language will affect the few existing Swahili teachers as well. “I will have no job,†she says. Edvan Bwambale, one of the Swahili students at Bishop Stuart University, says dropping the language will render his education irrelevant.
“A Swahili graduate can do several other jobs in the common market,†Bwambale says.
Prof. Livingstone Walusimbi, a lecturer at the Institute of Languages Makerere University, says Swahili is the country’s second official language after English.
Aggrey Kibenge, the education ministry spokesperson, however, alleys the fears.
He says when the curriculum reforms were being discussed, it was noted that it would not be possible to start teaching Swahili without pre-requisite resources — teachers and teaching materials. As a result, says Kibenge, the National Curriculum Development Centre proposed that Swahili implementation be in phases.
“We could not make it compulsory without adequate resources,†Kibenge, who is also the EAC desk officer, explains.
Some officials at the education ministry confided that there were only two teachers’ colleges out of 40 institutions, which can produce Swahili teachers. These are Gaba Primary Teachers’ College (PTC) and Kabale PTC.
According to the 2007 statistics at the education ministry, Kyambogo University and other PTCs can produce about 100 Swahili teachers a year, yet Uganda has over 7.5 million children in 11,000 government-aided primary schools and 954,000 students in 911 secondary schools.
Way forward
In the meantime, students are encouraged to take the subject as an elective.
“Some schools are teaching Swahili on their own initiative and we encourage them to continue,†says Kibenge.
Connie Kateeba, the director of the National Curriculum Development Centre, says: “Our plan is to have it as a compulsory subject in future and this will be done in the curriculum review in the next financial year.â€
She says in preparation for this phasing, the teacher education department at the education ministry has stepped up enrollment of Swahili teachers in training colleges.
In Rwanda and Burundi, the newcomers in the EAC, most people feel it will be a particularly radical departure for the francophone countries as they integrate with the English/Swahili speaking countries.