Education ministry promotes use of indigenous languages
Muvhuso Chibi
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has embarked on a program to review the use of indegenous languages at primary and secondary teaching levels respectively.
The move is in response to concerns from stakeholders that in some areas, pupils go as far as correcting teachers during indigenous languages lessons because these won’t be proficient in the local language of that area.
Secretary for Education, Ms Tumisang Thabela said pupils, especially those in Early Childhood Development (ECD) classes must be taught by teachers who are proficient in local languages spoken in their respective areas.
She was speaking during the ongoing media workshop at ZIPAM in Darwendale.
Ms Thabela said her ministry had since appealed to the Public Service Commission for permission to recruit teachers who are proficient in local languages at the district level.
Normally teachers are recruited at national level.
She said in some instances, teachers claimed to be proficient in a paricular language to gain employement.
This would be discovered at the implementation stage at the district level.
She also emphasized on the importance of the Continuous Assessment Learning Activities (CALA) and pleaded with the media to assist in unpacking the issue and also promoting dialogue.
“We are not changing the curriculum, we already have the general framework in place. We are, however reviewing it to ensure the curriculum continues to be relevant in the wake of new realities that have emerged since 2015”, said Ms Thabela.
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