Mother tongue critical – Coltart

The Zimbabwe Mail

7th July 2014

Former Education Minister David Coltart on Sunday said there is need to adopt an affirmative policy to ensure that teachers deployed in Matabeleland are conversant in the languages of the region.

Wading into the debate on Shona speaking teachers in Matabeleland, the former minister said the mother tongue plays a critical role in a child’s education.

“The most important building block in any child’s education is the ability to speak, read and write in their mother tongue. The best people to teach the child are those who know the language,” he said.

“We need an affirmative policy to ensure that we train our teachers to teach in those minority languages, including Ndebele, Tonga, Khalanga, Nambia, Venda and others, because if we don’t do so, the children in those regions will remain prejudiced.”

On Friday in Tsholotsho, the minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Lazarus Dokora, exonerated himself from blame over the thorny issue of teachers in Matabeleland who cannot speak Ndebele or other local languages in the areas they work in.

The issue of teachers in Matabeleland who cannot speak the local languages was one of the subjects of debate at the recent Matabeleland regional development indaba convened by senior minister in the President’s Office Simon Khaya Moyo at Elangeni Training Centre in Bulawayo.

Politicians in the region have spoken out on the issue with some suggesting the building of more teachers’ colleges in Matabeleland as the solution to the problem.

There has also been a suggestion that a crash programme be held to train the affected teachers in the local languages.

Commenting on the recent remarks made by the National Association of Secondary Schools (Nash) attacking Dokora for not consulting them before implementing some reforms in the education sector, Coltart said the minister had erred by not engaging the educators.

However, the former education minister differed with the headmasters on their sentiments that Dokora’s reforms had reversed the gains of the education sector since independence.

“It is too early to say the gains made in the sector have been reversed, but there is need for a lot of consultations. The education sector needs the aid of the teacher to succeed,” he said.

“We have been reading the reports in the media where Nash said decisions were being made without any consultations, it is worrying.”

Coltart said the education sector remains haunted by poor budget allocation and remuneration for teachers.