The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) for years has been the leading light on the introduction of mother tongue, calling on the government to make education more inclusive. They argued that an arrangement could be done through introducing mother tongue as the medium of instruction in primary school of communities where Setswana is a second language.
The issue was also President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s major campaign promise, stating that under his leadership government will embrace the use of mother tongue as the medium of instruction in local public primary schools. Consequently, MoBE has moved to introduce mother tongue in schools. For instance, MoBE’s Permanent Secretary Bridget John disclosed the new position on mother tongue while officiating at the seminar on the introduction of local languages in the school curricula that was held at the University of Botswana, Library Auditorium yesterday. John stated that the importance of embracing mother tongue as a medium of instruction in primary schools is an aspect of education that has been widely accepted by progressive nations and it has been proven that the intervention greatly improves learning in schools.
