BCP steadfast on mother-tongue teaching
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Thursday July 24, 2014 10:39
Using his personal experiences as an example, Saleshando asserted the importance to using a language a child is familiar with, in teaching.
“Although Crescent English Medium school has better facilities than Rachele Primary School, the move there marked a very difficult period in my schooling days. I could barely understand a word of English and the teachers hardly knew any Setswana word. I hardly learnt anything and school became a total torture and embarrassment.
“When my family relocated to Gaborone and I was enrolled at Lesedi Primary School for Standard Two, school became an enjoyable experience for me again,” he said.
Saleshando noted that on their recent tour of the Ngami constituency where Sesarwa and Seherero are dominant languages they discovered that there is a communication barrier between students and teachers, adding that none of the teachers at the school is conversant in the two mentioned languages.
He added that on an annual basis the majority of students enrolled for Standard One are unable to proceed to Standard Two.
“They either repeat or drop out. The school does not have a Parents Teachers Association because most of the parents do not speak Setswana.
“Since 2008, the school has only had one student obtaining Grade A. There is no need to leave out any community from the education sector on account of the language they speak.”
Saleshando said the United Nations Convection clearly states that no child should be denied the right to use his or her language and is supported by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) committee report of 1953 that says the best medium for teaching a child is their mother-tongue.
He said several Southern African Development Community (SADC) region countries and beyond have language policies that advocate for the use of mother-tongue from early primary education.