16 Mar 2020

 Availability of a language policy by November will help facilitate the introduction of mother tongue in schools in the 2021/22 financial year.

This was said by Ministry of Basic Education permanent secretary, Ms Bridget John during a seminar on the introduction of local languages in the school curricula in Gaborone recently.

She said mother tongue in teaching and learning would be at lower grades up to Standard Four. 

“It is an education principle that when you teach children you must start with what they know, and what they know best is their own language,” Ms John said.

 She said learners would also be given an opportunity to study other local and international languages that could enable them to become global citizens. 

The present language policy, she explained, required the use of Setswana for the first four years of education which created problems for non-Setswana speaking learners. 

She said the country had over the past five years registered consistently low academic performance especially in the Ghanzi and Kgalagadi regions where Setswana was not the home language. 

Negligence of mother tongue, she said, had been recognized as one of the major causes of high dropout rates and low achievement levels in schools. 

Giving historical background to Botswana’s education policy, Ms John said the 1977 Education for Kagisano was aimed at making education available to a wider section of the population and breaking away from the pre-independence system that restricted access to a privileged few. 

It resulted in the establishment of community junior secondary schools as well as the mass training of teachers, she said. 

Another major reform was the Revised National Policy on Education of 1994 which focused on access, equity and relevance. 

Ms John said among the policy’s recommendations was the introduction of mother tongue at primary school level to enhance effective and impactful learning. 

The model emphasised the use of first language in the first four years of learning to help learners master concepts, she explained. 

She  therefore called on stakeholders to come up with a comprehensive language policy to guide the incorporation  of other languages in the school curricula. 

For her part, University of Botswana acting vice chancellor, Professor Oatlhokwa Nkomazana said the introduction and recognition of local languages in teaching and learning was a welcome development. 

“It is indeed a historical event in that, over 30 years or more, scholars in and outside Botswana have advocated and cried hard for the introduction of all, if not most languages of Botswana in the educational system,” Prof Nkomazana said. 

She said the move would not only bring true democracy, equality and inclusivity but also allow learners to develop cognitive, conceptual and effective qualities. 

 It would also give pride, self-esteem and a sense of belonging to all Batswana, she said. 

Botswana, she noted, would be joining other SADC member states such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Zambia in promoting local languages in their respective countries. 

The one-day seminar was aimed at appreciating the extensive research undertaken by ministry stakeholders, educators and language experts and the development of a comprehensive implementation strategy.ends