MUFURUKI: In a globalised world, looking inward isthe wrong way to turnIwish to contribute my two cents to the debate that has been triggered by therecent decision of our Government to make far reaching changes in the educationpolicy in our country. This change has led to the replacement of English as amedium of instruction in primary and secondary schools with our very own Kiswahili.Indigenouslanguage.
As someone who was educated in a developed foreign country that uses its ownindigenous language as a medium of instruction from kindergarten to university youwould expect I would be supportive of this big change.And,to be fair, I have always believed that being able to acquire and to impartknowledge in local languages is a mark of progress and cultural maturity, notbackwardness or weakness.
After all, most developednations from North America through Europe, Asia and Latin America to Arabia usetheir own languages as the medium of instruction at all stages ofschooling. Sowhy am I upset by the change? It is because I don't believe the changes weremade in good faith nor was enough preparation made to ensure all systems are inplace and ready-and we are not going to put current and futuregenerations of Tanzanians at a disadvantage from which they will not beable to recover easily.
Secondly, the argumentsmade by the proponents of the new policy in justifying this change are devoidof logic and paint a picture of a people who have very little or nounderstanding of the fact that we live today in a globalised world whereTanzanians do not have the luxury of being able to create their own realitythat can be kept safe from the effects of competitive forces that are adominant feature of today's life. Ialso suspect that the change may be nothing more than a knee jerk reaction ofpolicy makers to the steadily falling pass rates at both primary and secondaryschool levels over the past 20 years and is, therefore, a wrong solution to the problem.
Justas you cannot cure a gangrene wound by applying aspirin to it, you cannot turnaround Tanzania's failing education system by replacing English with Kiswahilias a medium of instruction, much as I would love to see that in another lifewhere all other problems have been attended to.I agree with BiyiBandele, a London-based African blogger who had the following to say aboutTanzania's new education policy:"Until everysingle mathematical theorem and every single theory in astrophysics andcosmology, and in medicine, and in chemistry, and in every single sphere ofknowledge is written or available in translation in Kiswahili and Igbo andevery other African language, I personally will always reject and abhor thateasy [and easily comforting, xenophobic language] that dresses itself in theultimately empty, and cheap, and hokey, and cheaply sentimental rhetoric of noblenationalism. I've been to Tanzania, and I've been to Zanzibar. And I've been tomany countries in East Africa.
What Tanzania needs now, what East Africa needsnow, and what Africa needs now isn't another instance of brainless, reflexive,macho posturing [which this is]. What we need, what we really need, is to havetens of thousands-millions-of our best minds, schooled not only in Swahili,Hausa, Xhosa, and Yoruba, and every major African language but also in English,German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and in Urdu, Hindi, Arabic, Farsi, Chineseand Japanese, and in every single language on this little planet called earth,where knowledge-not just cheap, populist, propaganda-is disseminated."There is alsothe issue of fairness and honesty, or lack of it. I am very curious to see ifthose responsible for this policy change are going to move their children fromthe private English Medium schools to the Kiswahili-only public schools wherethe rest of the country's children go. I very much doubt they will.
This policy may sound great and even patriotic but it will spell disaster for the developmentof the Tanzanian human resource on whose strength the very future of thiscountry dependsIt is not toolate to pause and reflect on the implications of what has just been done.Rwanda changed the medium of instruction in schools from French to English,which was a good decision because in everything that matters (books, systems,teachers), English is very well resourced even in Rwanda and the change did notcause any major disruptions at all.
RwandaexampleI can say with confidence that if Rwanda had instead changed the medium ofinstruction from French to Rwandese, it would not be the much-admired fastestgrowing African economy it is today. Thechange from French to English was a step up, not a step down as will be thecase with Tanzania's policy choices.Let's pause and think andultimately make decisions that will allow Tanzanians to grow.Ali A.Mufuruki is a prominent businessman and chairman of the CEO Roundtable ofTanzania
SOURCE: http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/oped/MAFURUKI--In-a-globalised-world--looking-inward-is-the-wrong-way/-/1840568/2642246/-/item/1/-/9swcsb/-/index.html
As someone who was educated in a developed foreign country that uses its ownindigenous language as a medium of instruction from kindergarten to university youwould expect I would be supportive of this big change.And,to be fair, I have always believed that being able to acquire and to impartknowledge in local languages is a mark of progress and cultural maturity, notbackwardness or weakness.
After all, most developednations from North America through Europe, Asia and Latin America to Arabia usetheir own languages as the medium of instruction at all stages ofschooling. Sowhy am I upset by the change? It is because I don't believe the changes weremade in good faith nor was enough preparation made to ensure all systems are inplace and ready-and we are not going to put current and futuregenerations of Tanzanians at a disadvantage from which they will not beable to recover easily.
Secondly, the argumentsmade by the proponents of the new policy in justifying this change are devoidof logic and paint a picture of a people who have very little or nounderstanding of the fact that we live today in a globalised world whereTanzanians do not have the luxury of being able to create their own realitythat can be kept safe from the effects of competitive forces that are adominant feature of today's life. Ialso suspect that the change may be nothing more than a knee jerk reaction ofpolicy makers to the steadily falling pass rates at both primary and secondaryschool levels over the past 20 years and is, therefore, a wrong solution to the problem.
Justas you cannot cure a gangrene wound by applying aspirin to it, you cannot turnaround Tanzania's failing education system by replacing English with Kiswahilias a medium of instruction, much as I would love to see that in another lifewhere all other problems have been attended to.I agree with BiyiBandele, a London-based African blogger who had the following to say aboutTanzania's new education policy:"Until everysingle mathematical theorem and every single theory in astrophysics andcosmology, and in medicine, and in chemistry, and in every single sphere ofknowledge is written or available in translation in Kiswahili and Igbo andevery other African language, I personally will always reject and abhor thateasy [and easily comforting, xenophobic language] that dresses itself in theultimately empty, and cheap, and hokey, and cheaply sentimental rhetoric of noblenationalism. I've been to Tanzania, and I've been to Zanzibar. And I've been tomany countries in East Africa.
What Tanzania needs now, what East Africa needsnow, and what Africa needs now isn't another instance of brainless, reflexive,macho posturing [which this is]. What we need, what we really need, is to havetens of thousands-millions-of our best minds, schooled not only in Swahili,Hausa, Xhosa, and Yoruba, and every major African language but also in English,German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and in Urdu, Hindi, Arabic, Farsi, Chineseand Japanese, and in every single language on this little planet called earth,where knowledge-not just cheap, populist, propaganda-is disseminated."There is alsothe issue of fairness and honesty, or lack of it. I am very curious to see ifthose responsible for this policy change are going to move their children fromthe private English Medium schools to the Kiswahili-only public schools wherethe rest of the country's children go. I very much doubt they will.
This policy may sound great and even patriotic but it will spell disaster for the developmentof the Tanzanian human resource on whose strength the very future of thiscountry dependsIt is not toolate to pause and reflect on the implications of what has just been done.Rwanda changed the medium of instruction in schools from French to English,which was a good decision because in everything that matters (books, systems,teachers), English is very well resourced even in Rwanda and the change did notcause any major disruptions at all.
RwandaexampleI can say with confidence that if Rwanda had instead changed the medium ofinstruction from French to Rwandese, it would not be the much-admired fastestgrowing African economy it is today. Thechange from French to English was a step up, not a step down as will be thecase with Tanzania's policy choices.Let's pause and think andultimately make decisions that will allow Tanzanians to grow.Ali A.Mufuruki is a prominent businessman and chairman of the CEO Roundtable ofTanzania
SOURCE: http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/oped/MAFURUKI--In-a-globalised-world--looking-inward-is-the-wrong-way/-/1840568/2642246/-/item/1/-/9swcsb/-/index.html
