Govt disappoints Reteng over languages.

GOTHATAONE MOENG
Staff Writer | Thursday September 15, 2011 00:00

The chairperson, Dr Ndana Ndana, said this in an interview with Mmegi in response to a recent decision by the Ministry of Local Government to enrol children living in Remote Area Dweller settlements in a pre-primary programme to teach them Setswana and English. This move is meant to combat the high failure rate among students living in these areas, credited to them only encountering Setswana and English-languages of instruction at schools.

Ndana has labelled this move by government as 'a step-backward' and leaving no future for indigenous languages.

'What about indigenous languages?  Where are they going to end up? They are going to be rendered redundant,' Ndana said.

He said this move will ensure that children stop speaking their mother-tongue at an even younger age.

Reteng has over the years urged government to show commitment towards preserving indigenous languages other than Setswana, by ensuring that children whose mother-tongue is not Setswana are taught in their mother-language. The argument from government has always been a lack of human resources.

To this, Ndana said the solution would be consultation with the various tribes, especially since there are already languages that are at advanced stages in terms of developing and publishing materials. 'When they say resources they mean people. Let's do an inventory, is there a Mosarwa, for example, who has studied teaching.

Then those people can be used to teach in their indigenous languages,' he said.

In an interview with Mmegi earlier this year, Ndana said the government has failed to show commitment and practical measures to preserves indigenous languages other than Setswana by failing to develop a languages policy.  Dineo Phuti, an official at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, said at the time that although there is no languages policy, government has not neglected issues of languages development. 'The ministry fulfils its mandate on cultural developments by implementing The National Policy on Culture 2001, which emphasises the great need to develop diverse cultures and languages of Botswana,' she said at the time.   At the inaugural Pitso ya Ngwao in July 2010, there was also talk of developing a languages policy, but thus far no developments have been announced.