The Role of Languages of Minority Groups for Literacy and Education in Africa

Abstract

For decades in many African countries, pragmatism and politics have dictated that the choice of language for literacy and primary education should be the colonial languages—French, English or Portuguese. In some settings, certain African languages of wider communication have been selected, including Swahili in Kenya and Tanzania, and Hausa in Nigeria. However, for the vast majority of African languages, educational materials have never been developed. Millions of African children find their first days at school bewildering as they adjust to not only the strange environment of school but also to a teacher who cannot speak their language. In August 1989, a UNESCO seminar was convened in Lagos, Nigeria, focusing on the role of languages of minority groups as languages of instruction. This was followed by a consultation on the related challenge to provide grassroots teacher training for mothertongue education. Representatives came from approximately fifteen countries and five continents, with the majority being from within Africa. The stated purpose of the seminar, according to the prospectus, was: to examine the problems posed by the use of Minority Languages in Communication and to make recommendations for their inclusion in language policy and planning, so as to achieve more realistic educational policies and teaching. The seminar is a prelude to activities, proposed by UNESCO for the 1990-1995 period, for the achievement of more realistic and workable Mother Tongue and national language policies and plans in Africa. Many current national policies and plans have failed, wholly or substantially because they have not taken into account the difficult question of the minority languages, difficult because most African countries are heavily multilingual.