Zim Eye
By Walter Sebele
21 November 2012
Education, Arts, Sports and Culture Minister, Senator David Coltart has called for Zimbabwean writers and educationists to invest in indigenous languages as it is key to the development of a nation.
In an interview, the Education Minister said for Zimbabwe to be an education powerhouse, there was need for the local writers to consider producing works that promote the indigenous languages.
Last year, the Ministry of Education introduced the teaching of Tonga in Binga and pupils sat for their first ever examinations in the language in Grade 7 and efforts have been made to introduce more languages.
“There is so much milestone that still needs to be done for Zimbabwean education to reclaim its top post in Africa and the challenge now lies with the Zimbabwean writers and educationalists to produce works in all languages in Zimbabwe so that we can work to have them printed and distributed to schools.
In as much as we would want to spread our program of indigenous languages nationwide, we will be doomed for failure if we do not join hands with the local writers and educationists as they are the ones to be on the forefront of producing the much needed materials for our program to be a success†said Coltart.
He also highlighted how indigenous languages helped children to further grasp other languages and key concepts at schools.
“It is a child’s right to explore his or her own mother language in a manner that he/she understands better; it awards him with the opportunity to relate to his own people fluently and appreciate his language with no difficulty as well as relating to his own culture.
As such the teaching mother languages in Binga and other areas proved that the most important building block in every child’s education is his/her ability to read, write and speak his/her mother tongue. Once those skills have been mastered it is much easier for a child to learn another language, such as the world’s business language English, and Mathematics,†said Coltart.
Minister Coltart also revealed that the Education Transition Fund had set its budget at US$ 9 million a move that would help in their quest to have more native languages produced and distributed.
“I am pleased to announce that the Education Transition Fund (phase 2) has a new budget which amounts to US$ 9 million for the production of language readers and it is for that reason we have now committed ourselves to teaching and examining all indigenous languages spoken in Zimbabwe,†he said.