Teachers and parents’ perception towards the use of local languages from grade one to grade four in six selected urban and rural schools of Kabwe District, Zambia

Abstract

Teaching learners in local languages enables learners to learn from known to unknown and learners understand given instructions faster while perception influences education and its values. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate teachers’ perception towards the use of local languages from Grades one to four in six selected primary schools of Kabwe district in the Central province of Zambia. Six head teachers, 24 teachers, 18 PTA Executive members, and 36 parents from six primary schools in Kabwe district, plus 3 district education officers were purposively sampled for the study. Data was collected using questionnaires and in-depth interviews to allow the researcher a platform to ask open-response questions and to explore the teachers’ perceptions towards the use of local languages. The data was analyzed thematically by carefully identifying and expanding significant themes that emerged from the respondents’ perceptions of the use of local languages. The study revealed that teenage pregnancy has a negative or detrimental effect on school attendance, academic performance, emotional behavior, and relationships between pregnant teenagers, their peers, and educators. The Study revealed that more administrators and teachers preferred their pupils to be taught in local languages from Grade 1 up to the University levels while a few were in favor of using English as a medium of instruction and only very few felt that it was more appropriate to use both languages during a child’s early stages of learning. Given these findings, the study recommended steps that should be taken to develop local language policies that do not enhance a child’s academic success and cognitive development but are also respective of ethno cultural characteristics and supportive of national unity.