Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Use of local languages as a media medium of instruction to be implemented next year for pre-Grade 4

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Zambian school children

The Ministry of Education, Science ,Vocational Training and Early Education has said that the reviewed education curriculum which will be implemented in 2014 will see the use of familiar local languages as languages of instruction as well as languages for teaching initial literacy from Pre-School to Grade 4.

Permanent Secretary Dr. Patrick Nkanza in a statement issued to the media today said that his ministry is currently reviewing the education curriculum from early education to tertiary education.

Dr Nkanza said that the purposes of the review include among other things re-defining the language policy in order to enhance the teaching and learning process.

He said that English language will be introduced as a subject at Grade 2 but continue to be used as a language of instruction from Grade 5 to tertiary level.

Dr Nkanza added that the ministry has developed a National Literacy Strategy which is meant to enhance the teaching of initial literacy in Zambian languages by teachers in primary schools.

He further added that the strategy has been followed by development of instructional material for teaching initial literacy in all the seven official Zambian languages.

[pullquote]He said that  English language will be introduced as a subject at Grade 2 but continue to be used as a language of instruction from Grade 5 to tertiary level.[/pullquote]

He stated that in line with the new curriculum, the ministry has revised the existing syllabi from Grade 1 to 12 and developed new syllabi in the areas of information technology,computer studies,sign language ,Braille and pre-school education.

Dr Nkanza further stated that the language of instruction Policy has been reviewed in all the necessary documents, specifically in the Education policy and the Education Curriculum Framework.

The Permanent Secretary said that the new syllabi will be piloted from January to April,2013 in selected districts and schools in all the provinces, adding that schools involved in the pilot have already been oriented in the new curriculum.

Dr Nkanza added that the Minister of education will officially launch the new curriculum in June 2013.

157 COMMENTS

  1. Big mistake! You can’t use those languages internationally so what’s the point? People use their own languages at home etc… In my opinion it should’nt be taught at school, seeinmg as we have 72 dialects which ones do they intend to teach?

    • Only literacy experts and educationists would understand what the ministry is talking about. In Europe and many other African countries, this approach has helped children a lot. There is nothing that is so easy as learning in your tongue. Besides from grade 5, they revert to English, at that time, children would already be literate and that will make it easy for them to bridge into English. As the statement says, in case, you have not ready it, it will be taught in 7 official languages which you should know if you are really Zambian.

    • San Jose you are wrong. During my days I was taught in my mother tongue (Tumbuka) in Grades 1 and 2 and started learning English in Grade 3. We used to have Tumbuka books Kwawa, Yenda, Chimbira, etc. Now that Tumbuka is not among the 7 major languages means the children will be taught in Nyanja. I should tell you that almost all children in remote areas of Lundazi and Chama cannot understand or speak Nyanja. So what is the government going to do about this? The same is the case with children from other provinces who can not understand or speak the so called 7 major languages. This is going to bring confusion. Since the introduction of the 7 major languages, people from other ethinic groups in many parts of Zambia have felt greatly marginalised.

    • hahaha this is a joke. man this ministers will take their kids to private schools so they dont give it a rat’s asss. PF will decide whats good for your child’s education so everyone should just shut and go along with it.

      kind regards
      Wynter

  2. Lovely ! This method has been implemented in some African and European countries and it has worked out fine.I don`t see any harm in this.

    • its a good but we are worried about our children,because some of us for six years we have been tranfered six times in different provinces.and if in schools were using local languages to teach,such children who move from one place to another can really lag behind because of the languade barrier.

    • MAN T as a public servant i really uderstand ur concern,..its really unnecesary!i really dont see anything gud coming from this..in zim they had shona in schools from creche till grade 4 and how has that worked out ..tanzania had swahilli worst thing ever…nkasako languages like swahilli and arabic are even spoken widely…wats wrong with having the local languages as part of the curriculum ..or let alone why cant parents teach their kids their languages .

    • Man T…Well when you talk about shifting that`s another case.I have heard of parents refusing to accept nice job offers because they have the interest of their children at heart.They fear what the transfer of the children to new environment can do.A lot of papers have been written and published about the benefits of teaching children in the early stages of their lives in the mother tongue.Research shows that it is easier for those children to grasp different concepts and problems.Again research shows that it is easier for children who speak more than one language to learn new languages.There are a lot of benefits here gentlemen ,this is not a new concept.

    • The benefits of this are widespread.Does it not surprise you that most of the countries with more learned people and Nobel laureates come from countries with an education system based on this model ? Students who are able to comprehend more than one language have been found to fare better than the one language speaking one.I salute the government for this.

  3. so quick bane. easy. ask Japan what japanese has done to them. they are an island with self egos that take them no where. no wonder you never find japanese any how in other countries other than their home.

    • That’s more of a cultural thing. Saying that the Japanese aren’t in any countries other than Japan or that other countries do not speak Japanese is a misrepresentation of fact.

    • Please stop cheating people when you put across an argument. Only some 20 years after losing a World War Japan developed one of the greatest economies in the World . That kind of progress is driven by great national pride. That drive is centred around being proud of their language. When you get education you will realise that Africa’s perpetual underdevelopment is fuelled by a lack of self-pride. Africans want to identify with things outside Africa all the time. Thats why they cant make progress because they hang on to ideas that have worked outside of their home.

  4. such a set up is easy if we have one national language other than english. e.g. in tanzania, kenya, uganda, its easy to speak with one another in swahili and its used as a mode of learning up to university. but in our case 74 tongues. We really need the Holy Spirit to help us remember even 7 of the 74

  5. The problem these guys think Zambia is Lusaka. We use Local languages from Grade 1 till 7. English only becomes an issue when you go to secondary school where Bemba speakers are taken note by the class moniter for sweeping the classroom at the end of the day. So nothing new with this unless you are saying you are going to force Private schools to teach in Bemba.

    • obviously you have missed the point – this is just a case in point where you have trouble comprehending simple english and I assume that you received your education primarily in English or was it?

  6. As teachers, we know what we are talking about, so if you don’t know anything about literacy. Just keep quiet. In case you don’t know, there is what is called Breakthrough to Literacy which has worked in many countries around the world. Go ahead, its long overdue.

    • It’s alarming to hear the acceptance of the viewpoint the purportedly supports this government. The blatant lack of foresight is dangerous. The fanaticism on display highlights how aloof these elected officials are and how gullible some Zambians are. Without foresight into this foray lack of tangible data to support this lays bear just how much of a leadership problem the country has. We seemingly respectable people who may or may not have been educated at university but predominantly come up in support of ill placed notions and misguided assumptions . Some unfortunately share this narrow minded push towards blunting of the much needed reform education needs. It’s retrogressive and will put the nation at a disadvantage. But many ignore this and it shall come to pass.

  7. Am dumb founded! dont need to finish the article, so schocked right now at how serious they are. God help the children of Zambia.

    • Zemuntu, you are a clear example of what being gullible is!! Your children, if you have or will have any, will never forgive you for messing up with their lives. We moved on from this system in the 80s and we know how nonsensical it was and you want to bring it back? Even if you want to emphasise how retarded pf is but this really caps it all!

    • Anyone who doesnt agree with you is second class citizen? Make youself feel better! the fact remains that this country has gone to the dogs, cant wait for the next GRZ to make changes the’ll see fit, meanwhile remember you know nothing about me and i have the right to air my opnion, so lay off!

  8. keep it up ba PF. If u dont understand what is envolved in this arrangement better keep quite. It is not just about speaking local languages or English..understand important statements such as …local language will be used as language of instruction…..do u know the impact this will have on your child? do u know why when we where in school, children who are brought up mu ma yard were not doing better than shanty children?

  9. PLEASE LUSAKA TIMES
    Correct this mistake. IT IS ‘MEDIUM’ not ‘Media.’
    This is an International website, MUTISEBANYA!

    • Media is correct, it’s the plural of medium. In this sense it means the news was released to various forms of the media such print, electronic and broadcast.

    • Ichingeleshi mdala..That’s one of the reasons they should introduce local languages as MEDIUM of communication. There are lots of languages but one communication gentlemen,hence medium.

    • Actually the initial positing was correct. It should be ‘media’ for plural as we are referring to local languages and not ‘medium’ for the singular!

    • replace medium with its synonym MODE, and decide for yourselves which one is correct:

      use of local languages as modes of instruction to be implemented for…..
      use of local languages as mode of instruction to be implemented for…

      Its pretty clear to me that the The Saint is correct

    • The saint is correct. The indefinite article “a” (as in “a media”) used in the original header implies that media is used in a singular sense. The original header would be correct if either you delete the “a” or replace media with medium.

    • Interesting discussion. If I may chip in:
      Syntactically, both the following would be correct: Use of local languages as a medium of instruction to be implemented next year for pre-Grade 4
      or
      Use of local languages as media of instruction to be implemented next year for pre-Grade 4
      Semantically:
      Use of local languages as a medium of instruction to be implemented next year for pre-Grade 4. This would be wrong because it would imply more than one local language would be used as a medium of instruction.
      Use of local languages as media of instruction to be implemented next year for pre-Grade 4 This would be correct because it explains that various local languages would separately be mediums of instruction. Mediums of instruction is the modern form of the archaic ‘media of…

    • guys i have also noticed the use of the word “Syllabi” which is singular and the plural is “Syllabus”.

      the ministry has revised the existing syllabi from Grade 1 to 12 and developed new syllabi in the areas of information technology,computer studies,sign language ,Braille and pre-school education.

      in this case is syllabi correct? or maybe syllabus

    • Technically Sillabi is plural,but you can also say sillabuses which is not commonly used. Sillabus is singular. But I just repeated what you just said anyway. I guess I could have served my energy by just confirming you are right. So,your are right in every sence my friend,your sentences i.e.

    • Haha. Very amusing side bar. Missed this. Glad to see the eventual headline is correct. It was immaterial whether languages is plural. The subject matter is the use of something as ‘a’ something. This can only be singular and the Saint correctly said so. Looks like LT has many itching to help edit though and that’s a good thing. We lurve u 🙂

  10. It will be interesting to see how it works. start with teachers who are schooled and trained in different provinces and not everyone is proficeient in all the languages. Secondly which languages will be taught as every trbe in each province want to be viewed as superior to the other. anyway lets see how it unfolds.

    • Exactly. No more transfer of teachers. I dont expect a Lozi teacher to be transferred to Kasama to teach Grade 1s in Bemba. The mixing of tribes in Zambia as has been the case since independence where one can be transferred to work in any part of the country will be a thing of the past and will kill the spirit of One Zambia One Nation thereby exacerbating tribalism.

  11. I didn’t know Zambia abandoned teaching in local languages altogether. When I went to school, teaching was in local language from grade 1 with English slowly getting more & more used in upper primary & then only English in Secondary school level when we mixed with others from different parts of the country.

  12. Dr. Patrick Nkanza with your fake Glaswegian accent, and yet you want to impose Luvale on the people of Zambia? Be real.
    You studied in Glasgow where you even fell in love with English spoken by Scottish people with a Glaswegian accent which you have struggled to maintained to this day. What is this nonsense you want our children to go backwards and be taught in Luvale a non-international language with no future?
    Your father was an educationist and a polititian and I am sure that he would have differred with you. Kabimba has no background. Not even in his Sala if he ever speaks in the High Court of Zambia. Don’t listen to a dull person.

  13. Our children learn English from birth! Phonetic are taught from pre-school. From the grade 7 results its clear that we don’t have a problem with language, if it ain’t broken don’t fix it!!

  14. Why are they deliberately overlooking the fact that the 7 official languages are also second languages to most of our pupils! Teaching Chichewa to Tumbuka and Soli children is worse than teaching them English because it is also a second language but an irrelevant one for that matter. Ever asked yourself why some languages were imposed on more than one province regardless of dialectical, sociolinguistical and psycholinguistical disparities while a single province like Northwestern have three dialects of the same Luba languages recognized as official languages? It was and still is political! Let the sleeping dogs lie. Why should we promote 7

    • i agree with you. The guys behind this do not seem to have anything to do and am sure they have are short sighted… what happens to Foreigners who are here? and what about Zambians in other Countries if those Countries adopted such measures?.. this is a global world and people to need to reliase that when changing policies. Isnt there anything else to do apart from going back wards? My personal view is that these arrangements should be left to familes and communities to decide and not GRZ to discide. Those who want to learn local languages should go back to their villages and do so rather than in class rooms. I could be wrong but this is what i think.

  15. The education overhaul should go beyond languages…..The current education structure& system is among the many ills that have beset Zambia’s underdevelopment ( 48yrs after independence, I can’t recall apart from food ,a Concept, design and “made in Zambia” from hydro power stations , to cars and other technologies yet we have universities, why not???) . There’s need to realign education to industries, economy, infrastructure and community development-( solutions of transforming all these slums/compounds into modern housing, garbage into sustainable recycling to roads and economy are founded in education). Development must be underpinned on research &policy implementation sustainable beyond this current government (it must be state owned NOT govt owned,coz govts come and go) .

    • A nations wealth is in the intelligence and civilization of its citizenry and their empowerment with a MORE ROBUST& RELEVANT education can not be over emphasized….Zambians need an education system overhaul that is responsive to the 21st century for Zambia’s development ,side by side with languages.

  16. Why are they deliberately overlooking the fact that the 7 official languages are also second languages to most of our pupils! Teaching Chichewa to Tumbuka and Soli children is worse than teaching them English because it is also a second language but an irrelevant one for that matter. Ever asked yourself why some languages were imposed on more than one province regardless of dialectical, sociolinguistical and psycholinguistical disparities while a single province like Northwestern have three dialects of the same Luba languages recognized as official languages? It was and still is political! Let the sleeping dogs lie. Why should we promote 7 tribes out of 72? While the native speakers of the 7 languages may be advantaged, those to whom these languages are second language will be…

  17. I suspect we are not being told the whole truth about this ‘elimination’ of the English language and the speed at which it is being rushed is worrying. Nothing tangible is being said about what the national (official) will be. It seems the authorities have a vernacular language which they want to impose on the country and this will be the biggest mistake ever. Why waste time with this trash when there are more pressing issues making the life of an ordinary Zambian so unbearable?

    • u are right dear.What people should understand is that the eradication of Zambia Primary Course,reduction of 2 yrs college based training,inconsistency in curriculum review,re-entry policy,abolishment of progressive end of year examinations at each grade,adherence to donor requirement etc,has destroyed the Zambian Education system.Legislative bodies seem not to care whatever the outcome as their children are Zambians by nativity but Europeans educationally.Sad for a poor Zambian like you and me.Ever Collins Mahando.

  18. oh gosh!!will this insanity ever end..kwena why not have local languages as part of the primary school curriculum as a subject ..why shud it be forced on to people..anyway as long as it will only be a policy in public schools..this is like zimbabwe where shona was used from creche till grade 4!!recycling failed policies ..nensoni na kalya!!a country of patchwork and mimicry..pity the nation!!now sum of us have to work extra hard to keep our kids away from govt schools

  19. nonsense..not my son..he will have to learn through out in English or my mother tongue not these thief languages..please hell no..what a low thinkin way PS..

  20. I am so disappointed that people are support such a backward policy. languages are easily learnt while young. this delayed introduction of english will just retard progress. Look at the children that start pre school and compare with us who hard to wait for grade one. Its a shame to be associated with this backward country and its useless leaders who cheated us. I feel so cheated and I will do everything in my power to ensure that this govt is voted out

  21. Best approach would be to make one of the 7 main local languages as a compulsory subject from grade 1 through to 7 – like it was in the good old days. I learnt Bemba and sat for it during my primary school leaving exams. Emphasis should be on families encouraging their kids to speak in their mother tongue at home. East Europeans and even our Nigerian friends are noted for this – you would be amazed at how their children can adapt easily in either an English environment or Polish/Nigerian environment. As parents we ought to be ashamed that our kids cant even constract a simple sentence in a local language.

  22. That is fine. My child won’t be in Zambia anyway. I’m not worried. Zambia is for sure going backwards and it is doing so very FAST. Unfortunately, the children of the rich will not be afftected because they go to private schools which are not affected by the local syllabus because most of them follow the UK syllabus. Again it is the very poor who will be affected, perpertuating their poverty….and they will still come to vote PF in 2016. Viva poerty!!!

  23. So what will be the official language in Lusaka? Or will they allow different schools to teach in different languages? This is how stupid this whole saga is. I’m really happy that my children are not affected. I don’t know if those people who voted for PF really understand the long-term consequences of this s.h.i.t.t.y policy, but I don’t really care tobe honest – they voted for PF.

  24. That is it!

    These chaps are destroying the foundation of education for our children and grandchildren.

    You want to teach them kwati ni shibukeni. One plus one equals two, will now be chomidzi or chimozi ikapo chimodzi/chimozi yankho ndi ziwiri. Minus becomes “chotsa”, Multiply becomes “chulukitsa”, while divide becomes “gawanitsa”.

    As has been observed, after learning this in Eastern Province for one term, a child on transfer with parents has to start over again when they move to Western Provice, etc.

    Ba “yes sir” hurriedly allowed this, and now it is coming to us as though it is from the professionals in education. It is a sheer waste of opportunities for children.

    You will soon notice how bad the English spoken by this future generation of Zambians will be… like…

  25. I think what we are likely to see is a likely re-distribution of the population as people send their children to schools that teach a local language they prefer. Will all those thousands of Bembas in Barotseland allow their children to be taught Lozi? Or other tribes living in other provinces? What happens to North-western province? Yaba! Monkeys are in power. In many respects, what other races say about black people is true.

  26. Does it mean teachers will start teaching the subject English in Chibemba? A lot of things are changing and too much of anything is bad.As others have said,if its not broken dont fix it !

  27. This is not new and the Ministry of Education will implement findings and recommendations after piloting in selected schools during my late president, Mwanawasa’s government. This is not new to make pipo excited but doing the education system those of us passed through. This not PF idea but wanting to implement what others researched on and recommended.

    • @Volcanologist – —- why have you repeated the same sentence so many times until you made up a paragraph in the end???!! Is it because you are trying to mimick volcanoes which repeatedly erupt!!!!

  28. I SEE NYANJA DOMINATING FOLOWED BY BEMBA,TONGA,LOZI,LUVALE/KAONDE.OTHERS WIL COMPLETELY BE SWALOWED UP AND RISK EXTINCTION.

    • Rasta if you look at it without such a deliberate policy to develop them all Zambian indigenous languages are heading for extinction because people are advancing towards ignoring them for English

    • Isn’t that the case already? This move will only make it worse – extinction, as you have already pointed out.

      The whole “One Zambia One Nation” ethos is being dealt a blow by Winter’s wintry mind.

  29. And yes this is a step in the right direction for our country. All countries of the world that have developed or shown tremendous development are those that are using their own local languages or have endeavored to develop and promote the use of their own languages and are hence able to get everybody to participate in national development without any language barrier. Look at Japan and China as immediate examples. The cars you drive and electronics you use are developed and produced in Japanese and Chinese and their manuals only translated into English afterwards for the outside market. Let us stop this languages divide or linguicism where some of our people are denied opportunities because of lack of knowledge of the English language. Next it should be local languages in parliament!

    • Good examples Wakumelo. The topic should shift to ‘how can we implement the teaching of Zambian languages’. That way we make progress.

    • Stick to your Zinjathropus mindset. My family and I will ignore your nonsense in Zambia and move on with the rest of the world. The same Chinese you are talking about are the ones filling up Universities in the UK with their children to come and learn english because they are realising that the whole world is converging on English language as the international language of business. remain in the past and keep self-leasing yourself, daydreaming about FREEDOM FROM COLONIALISM, a mantra that ended 50 years ago.

    • Why even call yourself a Dr bwana when your thinking and analysis are tha of a grade 4? Chitapi has given you a good example of what’s happening to the chinese! Japan and China have only one language each so you should not even compare their situations to ours!!

  30. what is wrong with this government kansi? you cant just wake and decide to change things like this naimwe. what has gone wrong with us using english?…… guys naimwe ikakoni nzelu. schools need desks, books, teacher etc not changing languages. am very mad at you all pushing for this nonsense… ok i want my children to be taught in soli and my neighbor wants his kids taught in kachokwe and on and on, lets reject this move people.

    • To even suggest that this is is a ‘breakthrough’ in elevating the education system is false advertising. It will improve the cultural heritage that is language but what good is that if it creates a handicapped delays the educational advancements we need. It’s bad enough that our science, math, tech are lackluster ;fix that first and present tangible improvements on a national level and then you can go ahead with these whimsical and infantile ‘breakthroughs’ that you’re fanatical about. Unfortunately guys like you don’t look at things factually and lack foresight so that’s a blow to the prospects of making strides in these areas, thanks a lot smart arse.

  31. Actually Zambians are very poor at English. The blogging above can confirm that. I wonder why they want to hang on to the language. To hitchhike on the tag of speaking a language spoken by ‘civilised’ Europeans?

    • Yes, I Zambians have a limited grasp of the English language and yet we need it in order to communicate with our trade partners. You insinuate that we want to hitchhike on the ‘civilized’ tag of the Western world. That’s a crass and narrow minded view sir.the argument is not about protecting indigenous languages, we ought to do it in a smart way and not ramrod some out of touch politicians ego trip masquerading as progress. Make it optional to take up a language course and a prerequisite for some reason fields of study or levels of education. Just arguing that English is a colonialist language and therefore we ought to abandon it is foolish and just sets us up for an even wider intellectual gap.

    • Responding to ur blog on Umwina Zed: Ba Kanichi firstly, you were going to communicate far much better in your language than you have done in the at times confused structure above. The argument includes protection of local languages. You imply without English the intellectual gap between who by the way? And Zambia will widen. That is what I would call narrowminded myself. Intellectual progress isn’t tied to English. And When Zambians trade with Russia China Japan Brazil English isn’t a factor.

    • Kanichi The French have hoodwinked all their fomer colonies into believing that French is the needed language to communicate with trade partners so have the British so have the Portuguese. I haven’t said English should be eliminated. It shouldn’t be central to any Zambian child’s academic progress. My school leaving examinations demanded that I pass English before a full certificate could be given me despite the fact that I had distinctions in Physics, Chemistry Maths. Thats imperialistic.
      You can call it crass but its the truth. Africans have a huge inferiority complex and thats what needs to be tackled for the required revolution. However to progress: What you say: we ought to do it in a smart way is what we should be focussing on to help whoever wants to implement this noble idea.

  32. just teach your children at home my child shall speak english only that DR is not thinking staight teaching venacular ala even when i was at primary it was a taboo to speak venacular backward policy its winters thinking because abaiche mamu chila ku kamba chizungu

  33. those of us that learnt how to speak english at a tender age were more intelligent that those that spoke venacular only

    • You could be right because having mastered the language of instruction you were faster in grasping the other subjects which were taught in English. So you could be seen as being more intelligent. However, that depends on what intelligence means. People who dont speak English can be much more intelligent than those who do

    • the eye, You must be very dull! Your statement has no backing… I grew up in a compound and I didn’t know English until Grade 8 somewhere there after passing Grade 7. The people I met in Grade 8 only knew English. I starting challenging them and became the best in all the subjects. If you want send me your email, I will send you my scanned Certificates. From Grade 7 to University.

  34. BA LUSAKA TIMES NA IMWE!!! YOUR ORIGINAL HEADLINE WAS OKAY, THEN YOU EDITED IT TO A WRONG ONE. lANGUAGES EQUALS PLURAL. THEREFORE, MEDIA, NOT A MEDIUM. THE GUY WHO CORRECTED YOU WAS WRONG. YOU CAN NOT SAY “LANGUAGES AS A MEDIUM”. IT IS “LANGUAGES AS MEDIA”…

  35. This nonsense. Tanzania they online have Swahili used in their entire curriculum. Zambia has 72 useless languages. There will be confusion. Kids will fail to ready the equipment manual. Bush shiitt

    • @JuJU —- Hmmmmmm???? Are you chanting in some juju language or you are ATTEMPTING to speak English! You see, this is what will happen to your children from 2014! Fo youer children, even worse. Mdala, I think you could do with going back and re-start from grade 5 mwe! Chizungu cheve chakupitani.

  36. By the time PF is finished with Zambians, half the population will be thugs that can not articulate matters. Meanwhile, the same people will be sending their children abroad to learn English and other stuff. The real losers will be the common man whose children wil not recieve a proper education due to these political moves that are not supported by any research. You just need to look at Tanzania where teeangers can not articulate themselves.

  37. As a former teacher I know that children are able to learn many languages at a go. Here in UK any Zambian function we normally use Bemba as a medium of expression. And when we visit our African friends they normally speak their native languages. Alas visit a Zambian home children only speak in English ,chinga baisume nolulimi.

    • Why use Bemba at functions in the UK? Are all the Zambians in the UK Bemba? People are failing to see that in most countries where local languages have been used as media of instructions, there are not as many as the languages there are in Zambia. Namwanga is very different from Bemba. Ila is different from Tonga. Please be realistic

  38. This will make Zambians non competitive on the international stage. The way you speak influences those who interview you for a job. Zambians currently speak english without any heavy accent. We will not get away in the modern world saying “I wanty samoo fles fis and food for blakefast.”

  39. my daughter learnt english from when she was a baby and it was easy to grasp the teaching whihc is in english and by the time she was grade 5 she could use a computer where ever you go whether you are a professor of bemba it is useless you have to communicate in english baba. Mozambique has 2 chartered accountants because of lack of english and it is not taught in portugise. this is rubbish wether you like or not

  40. Nothing new for this used to be the case before the “Jelita and Mulenga” early primary education curriculum. I hope the Ministry has seriously looked at the pros and cons of what they will be implementing. Otherwise the PF government will take the Zambian education system back to the pre-independence era. This will be very unfortunate.

  41. Thats good move . Let children learn in their mother languages as they mentally develop. But let at a smaller scale english be taught alongside.

    Peace and Prosperity to Mother Zambia.

  42. THE POINT IS TO TEACH A CHILD IN A LANGUAGE SO THAT HE COULD UNDERSTAND. MOST HOUSEHOLDS IN URBAN AREAS USE ENGLISH. THEY CANT SPEAK VERNACULAR SO WHY TEACH THEM IN NYANJA WHEN IT HAS BECOME SECOND LANGUAGE

  43. Ba Kanichi firstly, you were going to communicate far much better in your language than you have done in the at times confused structure above. The argument includes protection of local languages. You imply without English the intellectual gap between who by the way? And Zambia will widen. That is what I would call narrowminded myself. Intellectual progress isn’t tied to English. And When Zambians trade with Russia China Japan Brazil English isn’t a factor.

  44. Hahaha,confusion reigns supreme in zed.We either introduce Tumbuka as a national language (i wud love that) or adopt swahili for neutral purposes.A language like Bemba would not work because zambians won’t like Bemba hegemony.

    • Tumbuka for National Language! That I support. Palije suzgo. However you have misunderstood the venture its not about a new national language. Mwapulika ada?

    • @ Tumbuka Pride – I would be against imposing any language on people especially Tumbuka! However, a language does impose itself atleast socially and I have seem it through my education in Isoka, university in Lusaka and Copperbelt etc.

    • @ Mutale and Tumbuka Pride- Language is not the only thing that imposes itself or brings tribal hegemony. The so called “soft power’ can bring tribal influence on others in many ways.It can come via cultural influence like zulus,financial & political influence like the Jews in USA or the Kikuyu in kenya, or even influence in sporting excellence.

  45. You fools, japan has only one language so what language will we use in zambia? i only hope that Cycle mata is not thinking about making everyone bemba

  46. What you are trying to implement is unacceptable. Why are so greedy?? let the also learn English……..icibemba icibemba where are they going and when are they going to learn English?? Poor thinking yayayayaya look at this poor government??

    “Can you give three substantial reasons as to why you want to eliminate English.”
    I beg don’t destroy education system in Zambia. If you can’t do it don’t touch it.

  47. Nosensical. Nothing better to say. Just because during their days such things used to make sense, it doesn’t mean it’ll have any relevance in this day and age. In fact, it’ll just deepen the already contentious issues of tribalism in this country.

  48. Yes, countries like Tanzania tried it but because they did not have technology books in their own their Swahili, it cost them. I went to college with one who really struggled to express himself. I can’t see benefits if we won’t have technology books in local languages. How would our future top neurologist make a conference call with Japanese or American top neurologists?

  49. Any zambian language as national language is a big NO bcoz it promotes division, tribalism and looking down on “lesser tribes” whose language is not seen as important.Adopt zulu,xhosa,Igbo or swahili but NOT a zambian language.

  50. Don’t force people to learn in local languages , we are too poor for that
    Is kabimba going to pay for teachers to teach local languages, besides
    Local languages are too limited, we don’t have names for modern stuff
    Hence you will find Zambians missing some English in their local languages
    This will be good for this old PF generation , not my young generation who want to be modern

  51. Hahaha,wacha nicheke sana kwa wazambia wenzangu.Baada ya matusi mengi sababu nimetumia kiswahili mara nyingi katika LT nataraji wazambia wameona mwangaza sasa.Afadhali mimi naweza kutumia swahili bila shida ya kuonekana mtumwa au ukabila wa jamii nyingine.Thats the beauty of swahili,a unifying neutral language.

  52. Do you know the best way to hold on to power ? If you have the answer please post it, cause I smell a dead rat in our Country Zambia…lol

    • Yes John, promote tribalism in the nation. Pretend that Muchinga Province is for the Bemba, the eliminate all other languages. Know what, for my child to learn Bemba is already learning second or is it third language? Phiri go to hell with your pf rubbish

  53. In the 80’s I spoke with a Tanzanian Lawyer who expressed deep regret for the use of Swahili as a medium of instruction in Tanzanian schools. In her opinion this disadvantaged Tanzanians. Next year is just 11 months away. How well planned is this proposal? Do we have teachers trained to deliver? do we have the books and the necessary tools and aids to make this happen? Have we had a study and do we have empirical evidence to demonstrate that the use of English as a medium of instruction is disadvantageous to Zambia. Have we thought of encouraging parents to speak to their children in their local language first before teaching them a language akin to English as a solution rather than this ill-conceived politically motivated suggestion from a politician who may not be there after 2016?

  54. And where will they get the qualified teachers who had their education in local languages to deliver lessons in local languages?? huh?

  55. Whatever the consequences, That can be! on the other hand, we’ve still maintained & popularized TRIBAL (FIRST NAMES). I dig that!
    I studied pa olofare, mwa Kaunda, attended night school but not long, I dropped out! I picked up ICISUNGU ( English) pa street and because of that, Am employed. ZIKOMO

  56. I really have problems understanding this because as a Zambian I was brought thinking in English and I rarely think in Bemba, maybe this is bad. We spoke Bemba in school to each other as class mates and school mates and sometimes in English but everything we were taught in class was in English except the Bemba lessons which were just stories that were read to us and I really didn’t care because I am not Bemba. I see friends from countries who were educated in a similar manner that is about to be introduced in Zambia struggle to understand english over here and talking to them is not easy because their grammar is hard to figure out and a lot of them have to attend english lessons before they can do anything. Anyway, I could be wrong, I am sure the experts know what they are doing.

  57. The other day I met this white guy at work who asked me where I was from, I told that I am Zambian and then he went, “Oh, you speak Swahili over there.” I said to him, “No, we have english as our national language.” He seemed disappointed from the look on his face as if we get paid to use the queen’s language. A few days later my college collegue from China was telling me she could is finding exams hard because of the language barrier. She is intelligent but can’t express herself because she went to school in China then came to college here. We just need to be careful that we empower kids in Zambia in way that they will help them wherever they will go. One thing people say about us Zambians wherever we go is that speak proper english, the kind you don’t even find on the streets of…

  58. When my cousins were transferd from Chelstone Basic to Botswana, they started passing No.1. It was because the Tswanas taught primary school pupils in the local language (Tswana) & switched to English at grade 8. Go to Botswana & consult before making such hash decisions which will throw our children into 18th century. First translate all the physics chemistry, biology, geography, entomology, statistics, shigley, timshenko, benard shaw, etc. into tonga, bemba, nyanja, soli, lenje, nyika, mambwe, mbunda, leya, toka, etc

  59. I am loving this PF government. Seriously, they have a direction in what they are doing. You would never hear of such in the *revious government. The problem with igonrant individuals is that they think knowing engRish means being educated and civilised but that’s a colonial mentality of inflicting inferiority complex.

  60. I think Zambians need to understand the fact that the use of these lanuages shall be at Early Grades(Pre-school to Grade 4) ONLY as media of imparting reading and writing skills, effectively teaching other elementary subjects. We have teachers who speak the languages and in cases where the dialect is not one of the 7, teachers can, and with ease, adapt the content. Tell me the dialects which don’t use; ta te ti to tu; ma me mi mo mu; sa se si so su; nga nge ngi ngo ngu; ya ye yi yo yu etc! In other words have you heard about phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency and comprehension? Tomato na mango first then in English use vocabulary in this to learn the new a b c d e f …. sounds so as to avoid confusing ”one” 4 things in Tonga and 1 in English. Big…

  61. i think its a good idea but it requires a critical analysis because the teachers at present do not have full interpretation skills especially translating in local languages and if a person was to be posted in a remote area with a language he does not speak it will mean that the teaching will not be standard.

  62. I think it is a good idea to use english language as a medium of instruction to children from the higher class,because for them english is the fist language,even though some children from this class they don’t know any local language.But to children from the lower class that is a problem.

  63. minister am support, go ahead with the new national school curriculum. why shud we English as our English after al we were nt born wth English, Zambians weak up lets support our local languages.

  64. Well pf. Again, hasn’t thought this through, 1) This will lead to some local languages being regarded as inferior, only Bemba, Tonga, Ngoni and Lozi will be elevated while others will be probably not be taught. In Lusaka this is soli and lenje land and even the name Lusaka came from the soli chief Lusaaka. However, kids will be taught in Chichewa or Nyanja, which is unfair to the soli’s. 2) The cost of teaching the teachers to teach these languages and the cost for the educational materials such as books etc. will be high and the country is broke due to p.f ‘s mismanagement. 3) What happens to a kid who’s in the copper-belt and is taught in Bemba, starts his grade 1 and 2 there and the parents relocate to Livingstone and where the kids are taught in Tonga and the kids wants to join…

    • Meme, these guys are busy moving forward the policy of tribalism which we parted with during Kaunda error. Have they taken time off to find out how much English is spoken in Zambian homes? At this stage, Zambia is almost getting closer to the introduction of Zambian English. In shops, bus stations name it, people are communicating in English. Why introduce the 7 stinking langues any way?

      Who wants to be a Chewa or Bemba? Now Meme who do we blame? HH is missing all the opportunities given to him by God. Let him go o to Mbala, Nakonde, Mpulungu, Isoka and Mafinga, Meme, these groups deserve a language of their own, however, in pf all of them are Bemba in making. Twawazina wanyele kutali wawo awantu mwe.

  65. What are the importance of teaching in local language,?please kindly help me .I have an assignment to write about the importance of teaching in local language.

    • Let us find enough time to discuss the importance of teaching in local languages. One of the reasons is preservation of culture and national identity but there is more just follow me

  66. Before coming up with anything it is important to carry out a research and if possible consult linguists or any language experts or else we will end up adding lemon in milk. It is really reasonable to teach in local language in that children understand faster in their local languages than the foreign language called English. However, you have to consider other angles with regard to languages away from they being linguistic entities.
    As it was recorded in Zambezi district, I will not be said to be dogmatic to say that teaching in local languages in some areas that I may term as primitive or uncivilised places will not be productive due to tribalism. it is really an interesting story to narrate but time does not allow me.

    • Sorry to say this, but it is my thought that this doe not sense because in some ways it is reducing the professionalism of teachers. I guess it will cost the government oz Zambia to fond the suitable teachers for a particular locality because ot the language barrier.
      Government could have taken time to consult before the implementation.

  67. Personally, I believe that it is not very easy for teachers nor pupils, especially those on constant transfers. Nevertheless, we are dealing with two groups of people: conservative and progressive. The first group includes all those clinging to English as a medium of instruction, also referred to as elitists. They think that learning in local languages is backward and that their children will miss white collar jobs they cherish so much. Moreover they barely speak any local language; they are uprooted. The second group comprises those who understand that smooth learning goes from the familiar to the unknown, from simple to complex and they value their culture in its complexity. I urge those in the first group to read agenda 2063, aspiration 5 of the African Union for them to understand…

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