18 Jul 2019

Acting Head of French Department at University of Botswana, Dr Kagiso Sello has encouraged students to learn different foreign languages as a way of increasing their international mobility and employability. 

Mr Sello said this during the ‘Le Quartorze Juillet’, an event where Kidz Academy International School celebrated the French language, 

He explained that foreign languages equip pupils with a wealth of transferable skills and knowledge, making them competitive and attractive to future employers. 

He further shared that foreign languages also offer a unique combination of intercultural studies which help pupils to develop a broad understanding of the nature of contemporary relations.

He explained to pupils that through learning intercultural studies, they could obtain high level communicative skills that are indispensable for communication in international professional settings. 

“The world’s economy, has increasingly become international. The Internationalisation of economies is growing in tandem with the rise of the international mobility of students either in search of employment or in pursuit of further studies,” he said. 

Further, Mr Sello said globalised learning environment was necessary as it helped students to grow academically, adding that there was therefore a need to globalise the employment market. 

He then implored the local students to compete for the same employ with international students. 

He reiterated that the world’s economic market was becoming more cross-cultural, which meant that it needed a workforce that could meet the needs of the multicultural clients. 

“A skill which characterises the current graduate recruitment trend is the proficiency in at least one international foreign language.

This can produce a blend in academic achievement with a well-balanced cross cultural skills that employers want,” he said. He further informed the audience that a number of companies wanted to operate worldwide, explaining that employers were now evaluating graduates’ employability on their foreign language proficiencies. 

He therefore pointed out that, it had become incontestable that foreign language skills opened more doors for job opportunities in a number of industries.

“This event marks the beginning of the French Revolution, and that it will always remain engraved in memories as a courageous act for liberty,” he said. 

For his part, Kidz Academy International School Head of department in languages, Mr Itireleng Chitakamula applauded French teachers in school for organising and making the event a great success. 

Mr Chitakamula said language was central to humankind. “It is through language that we are all here today communicating and understanding each other,” he said. He informed parents and pupils that the school plans to introduce Chinese language studies. 

“Soon we will be introducing Chinese language, we want to put ourselves at an international position, so that our students can compete and travel to anywhere in the world,” he said. 

Mr Chitakamula commended that it was an important initiative as Kidz Academy prided itself in becoming a multi-lingual school. 

He said it was vital for students to learn foreign languages for them to become internationally competitive. Furthermore said he wished Kidz Academy could introduce exchange programs so that pupils could learn, share ideas and skills with learners  from other cultures. 

“It is my wish that in the long run we can have an exchange programme with other students from France so that you can learn French first hand,” he said.  

“Intercultural and socio-cultural activities are fundamental to effective learning of the French language hence the decision to organise such a celebration in order to open a spectrum for participation, acknowledgement and growth,” he said. Ends