lower grades has impressed Government has most learners have responded
positively. Here, Education Deputy Minister David Mabumba monitoring
the use of icibemba at Ray of Joy Primary School in Nchelenge
A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) has attributed the lack of development in most parts of the country to the limited use of local languages in the nation.
Northern Province Leadership Foundation Platform chairman, Netron Chishimba, stated that his NGO has discovered that some problems in the country were as a result of the reluctance by decision-makers not to engage individuals who do not speak English Language.
Mr Chishimba said the country has a number of people that have wisdom and natural intelligence, adding that their abilities were not fully exploited by the nation because they were unable to use English in most instances.
He gave examples of China and Tanzania as some countries that were making serious strides in development because of their strong use of the local language.
Mr Chishimba appealed to authorities to embrace all citizens if the country is to benefit from their talents.
He also appealed to members of the public to participate actively in the governance of the nation.He said governance should not be left to the party in government alone, saying all stakeholders, including political parties, the civil society movements and private citizens must also contribute in national developmental issues.
Mr Chshimba said people should not criticise and capitalise on the mistakes committed by the party in government but offer alternatives and correct the mistakes.
Not true and Very Stu.pid. Use of Local language has serious disadvantages as citizens are so limited in their thinking. Thanks to Kaunda we never adopted this local language nonsense, hence Zambians doing well at home and abroad. Rethink your concepts as this will be disastrous. Zambians are way ahead of Tanzanians so don’t compare.
@the prince-no you have the problem.It is obvious to realise the truths in this articles.You can not develop using another peoples language.Language is culture and identity.And identity and self awareness leads to great innovation.A country that cant innovate, cannot grow. the evidence is overwhelming here.Lets use our languages in all education and work institutions.i can assure you, we will grow and create more employment.Ask yourselves this,in what language do you think in when you are at work,university,school or at home with family?now try and compare your creativeness at these different places.studies show that language is the medium in which thought is conducted.therefore a handicap in language=handicap in thought.less then 10% of zambians can express themselvs fully in english.
This Mr Chisimba and is shallow mind is the reason why Zambia is underdeveloped. There is no research done in Zambia to point to that conclusion. One would be on firm ground to suggest that Mr Chishimba is simply trying to draw the attention of the PF leadership (who have adopted this local language nonsense) so that he can be offered a job or indeed kickstart his political ambitions.
It is more credible to say, that Zambia is underdeveloped because our political leadership have minds stuck in the colonial era where it is about keeping power through dirty tricks instead of keeping power through delivery of development.
@ Zagaze, you are confusing the two. Zambia is very rich in local languages. These languages are well respected by Zambians and convey great social and ethnic links among the Zambians. Nevertheless, a lingual Franca of a nation needs not to be spoken only widely but literature and an official culture must be organised in the Lingual Franca.
The lingual Franca is not chosen easily it influences itself on a people and links them to a wider socio economic community. English is the only language which qualifies for this. One can argue that we will need to start early to promote and develop a local lingual Franca. Indeed, but it is by keeping the English language that we can develop another language to develop into a Lingual Franca.
Hon. Minister, drop the David from your name and replace the white man’s suit with a bemba attire. Zambian languages have always been taught in schools. Where did Hon. Chishimba go to school for him to be so surprised to see children learning a local language?
Tanzania’s development is not a simple issue of speaking Swahili throughout the country. Check the policies and consistencies as well as the social foundations laid by Nyerere, i.e. village regrouping to minimise the cost of social service provision etc.
@Fititi-you are right to say we can use english as a lingua franca from which possibly a pidgin form of it would evolve and serve as a substitute in the generations to come.But as of now,we have adopted english as the official language in schools,work places etc.why cant each province say eastern province have languages like tumbuka,chewa,ngoni etc be used as the main language of instruction with an option to the students to major in english and one other language from a different province say western province.this way the students are well vested in a language familiar to them and they have english as a lingua franca for the world and say tonga,lozi for the zambian scenario.we should not put english on top.zambian parents today prefer to speak to their kids in english.this is a problem
Zagaze you are a hypocrite. You know that you wouldn’t have been where you with pidgin English. Stop bullshitting.
Is Swahili (spoken and used to the disadvantage of Tanzanians) a local language. Why is Kenya, which uses English, more developed than backward swahili driven Tanzania. And why does Museveni’s Uganda (English is official language) despite the disaster of Idi Amin still top the East African league table for universities?
Dont mislead the inhabitants of this place called Zambia. For how would i understand the lingala speaking and monkey eating mushota and skull kudos but for English. A known pf Past paper had advocated for bemba as official language.
Abash tribal hegemony of the north.
A simple case of adding oranges and apples: how on earth can anyone conclude china developed because they used local chinese language? aish awe mwe, no wonder!!!
Netron,
You could have started by changing your name into a vernacular one to be believed. At least that you can do without an impact on development.
I will name my child a traditional name and teach them to speak my language or the mothers language at all costs. I will never teach them physics to pass their exam in vernacular.
You are considering a narrow case here. If an agricultural officer is assigned to an area to develop an agricultural programme, they must surely carry their notes in English and must be able to speak the local language. The team must be able to deliver their programmes to a peasant farmer in the local language of communication.
One case where an officer was unable to speak the local language is not sufficient to draw your conclusion of this study you…
….undertaken. Do not speak with this authority if you have not undertaken a serious study, because as a person in authority and or leadership you will be be misleading everyone you are speaking to in this manner. Take a broader study of this and you will notice and find out Zambia has made incomparable strides in development because of the use of a common lingual Franca across ethnic groups. By the the United Kingdom has several languages spoken, but all people speak English to communicate across the nation or Kingdom and Commonwealth. The other common languages are Gaelic, Welsh, Irish and others.
You cannot expect to develop using for example Chewa or Tonga because these languages are primitive. They never developed the way Chinese or English did with lots of books and the study of the language itself. In Lozi, there is no concept of mass, energy, power or velocity. How do you explain an electric field or magnetic field in Bemba?
Imwe mwaibukisha ilya Paste yakubika pali processor muli computer? Tuleumfwa kwati natusuba pa matako aini… Thing is I bypassed “shinding” coz I thot nalasamba nombaline…and nw am given somthin 2 do for the nxt 1hr. The problm doc is its lyk some of the paste is smeared on my boxer shots..obviously my boxer got stuck in it while I was seated. My question is, is this normal? I hav neva encountered such in my life. I pick u doc because u stand out as best among other medical practitionaz. Obviously looking at your numerous similar encouters with my situation and your keen intrest in waste products. I understand yuv taken excretion as your major field of expertise.
Please Advise..
NCK from USK (united states of kapiri)
This minister is a waste of space paid huge amounts of to propel Wynters false ideology which is not evidence based anywhere on earth.
china has developed due to hard work and not the language
HEY!!! HEY!! PEOPLE..HOLD ON,, THAT’S WHY YOU LOOSE SILVER PLATE MARKS IN EXAM QUESTIONS…THE ISSUE HERE IS LEARNING LOCAL LANGUAGES AT LOWER PRIMARY LEVEL AND OF COURSE USING LOCAL LANGUAGES AS A MEDIA OF COMMAND OR INSTRUCTION TO LEARNERS AT LOWER LEVEL. AFTER ALL, SOME OF OUR TEACHERS CAN NOT EXPRESS OR RATHER ARTICULATE THEMSELVES WELL IN ENGLISH AS THEY TEACH, THERE BY MISLEADING PUPILS…ENGLISH SHALL NOT BE FAZED AWAY AT UPPER AND SECONDARY LEVELS MAFIKA…..!!!!
Laughable indeed!
If the use of local languages develops a society, then rural Zambia should be highly developed. People in villages communicate to each other in local languages. many times when government officials go to the rural areas they speak in local languages. People have been recorded on TV and radio expressing their views in local languages. There is no language barrier in Zambia and this statement lacks credibility. The name of the NGO suggests that the founder members are leaders or so they wish. I think this is just a platform for recognition.
True, all countries that use their local languager developed, USA, China, japan, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, France etc. only Africans lack faith in there own stuff, and the result of that is no development.
You guys, some of you my brothers you come from the parents who were not educated even your selves you started learning when you were very young. And for you to get educated it is because your parents were present at the same time you were lucky . just pray to God who gave you education. But you should think twice , if all people were educated can you be comfortable ? Me I say you can’t fill that comfortable .those people who are not educated are the people you use most cases. Let me give you an example we have done research in most part of Zambian towns the most people who are progressive in most cases are those people who have not educated most shops in these towns the towners are the people who are not educated and even the houses some of you paying rents are the owners even in…