A glance at local language school policy

By SITEMBILE SIWAWA and KELVIN KACHINGWE

THE new policy change may have started on Monday with the opening of schools, but it still continues to elicit different takes among the publics.

Local language for instruction from grade one to four and English as the official medium of instruction from grade five upwards! That is one of the most talked about policy currently.

 "Ooh! Poor me, just wondering which language my innocent girl will use in grade three. She has been rebased to pre-independence and colonial times, yet she is learning for the future.

"Which culture are we preserving? If I can remember my special paper II 'to preserve culture of language is to teach in native language from pre-school to grade four' and 'to preserve culture of dressing is to dress imibinde from reception to grade four," Irvine Mwitwa, a Luanshya resident who went to Mukuba High School and Copperbelt University, wrote on his facebook page. In response, CholaKasondeKaira said: "Mr Mwitwa, I can imagine a teacher in front teaching. Musanshecimoelyonafitatu, mwalakwatafinga (one plus three equals to what)?

Can she understand a thing? A pupil with English pre-education will just be wondering what the teacher is saying."

The Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education in its Education Curriculum Framework 2013 says education offered at grade one is meant to provide for the first competence level necessary for the learner to assimilate the learning in grade two.

"As such, the teaching and learning at grade one will start with imparting pre-learning skills in all learning areas.

At grade two, the emphasis is to develop and consolidate the levels of literacy and basic mathematical skills achieved earlier," the policy document, which has been prepared and published by the Curriculum Development Centre, reads in part.

The key competences for learners at primary school level will be literacy skills in English and a Zambian language or sign language, numeracy, information and communication technology and life skills.

"Language of instruction from grade one to four in all the learning areas will be in a familiar language while English will be an official language of instruction from grade five upwards.

"There is a change in the approach to the teaching of literacy in the early grades as there is clear evidence from studies conducted by the ministry and the monitoring reports by education standards officers that there is little learning taking place in public and community schools.

The inability by learners to learn content subjects is because many of them are not able to read and write," the policy document states.

At primary school level, the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education wants learners to have an opportunity to discover their abilities, interests and talents, implying that of all primary school learners shall be exposed to all the two career pathways; academic and technical.

The lower primary school will offer five learning areas, while the upper primary will offer seven learning areas with creative and technology studies comprising key content for technology studies, home economics and expressive arts from grade one to four.

These are some of the prominent curriculum changes at primary school level that the larger sections of society are not discussing and may actually not be aware of.

Their interest is the use of Zambian local languages as a means of instruction. A survey conducted in Lusaka on Monday when schools opened revealed that all public schools were teaching in Nyanja, which has been designated for the region.

A grade one pupil at Lotus Basic School, Samuel Zulu, said it is easier for him to get instructions in Chewa because it is a language he uses with his mother and peers at home.

And Mrs Ingrid Ng'andwe, a grade one teacher at the same school, who is also Zambia Education Curriculum Framework Committee member, said: "The children have responded greatly to this development due to the foundation given to them in grade one at this school.

For us, we already had a programme to introduce children to local languages early." Mrs Ng'andwe added: "It is a good move by Government to give the pupils an opportunity to be connected to their roots, but the only challenge we are facing is lack of learning materials."

Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education permanent secretary ChishimbaNkosha said Government has decided to pick familiar languages as opposed to mother tongues because it is easier to learn in the former due to the environment one may be in.

The definition of familiar Zambian language by the Curriculum Development Centre is that of a local language that is commonly used by children in a particular locality.

This can either be a zone or a community language. "Like in Lusaka, they will be learning in Nyanja [Chewa] which is a familiar language and almost every child knows how to speak it," he said.

Mr Nkosha says the policy will only affect public schools as there is no piece of legislation to compel private schools into doing so, although Minister of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education John Phiri is on record as having said private, missionary, quasi-government and Government schools will be required to follow the new curriculum.

The Zambia National Union of Teachers, Basic Education Union of Zambia (BETUZ) and Professional Teachers Union of Zambia have welcomed Government's move to introduce teaching in local languages from pre-school to grade four. BETUZ director - public and international relations Hilary Chipango says the revision of the curriculum is something the union has been looking forward to.

"The use of local languages in schools has worked well in other countries like South Africa, Botswana and Namibia, and I do not see any reason why it should not work well here," Mr Chipango says.

In February last year, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) urged the use of books and textbooks in local languages to support education in mother tongues, which promotes linguistic and cultural diversity and serves as the foundation for all social, economic and cultural life.

"Books are a force for peace and development that must be placed in the hands of all," UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova said in her message for International Mother Language Day which was held under the theme "Mother tongues and books - including digital books and textbooks."

In exploring the link between languages and books, Ms Bokova said the death of books and textbooks in local languages "hampers development and social inclusion and represents a violation of the right to freedom of expression" and "encouraging teaching in the mother tongue aids the fight against literacy."

The Paris-based UN specialised agency estimates that if nothing is done, half of the 6,000 plus languages spoken today will disappear by the end of this century.

Well, with the new initiative by the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education, a few familiar Zambian languages will be saved from extinction! Still, a lot of questions remain unanswered.

How is the distribution of local languages? Have teachers been trained in local languages? Are teaching materials already available in designated local languages? What happens when a pupil moves to a different region?

"At the moment, we're looking at the seven main local languages, and it's not the mother tongue but familiar languages in a particular area because most Zambians are multi-lingua," Mr Nkosha says.

"As for the teachers, they will have to use the general principles of teaching African languages. We are also hoping by March, teaching materials would have reached all areas; the problem is the procurement processes which are a little long.

"And as for transition and transfers, it's not so much of a problem because in most rural areas, pupils are taught in local languages although in terms of transfer of a pupil to a different region, we will have to deal with that administratively so that the pupil is not disadvantaged." That is the prayer for most parents; pupils not to be disadvanted!