School children in Arusha, Tanzania. Photo released under Creative Commons by Flickr user Colin J. McMechan.
Tanzania is set to make a historic shift away from English and replace it with Swahilias the language of instruction in the country’s schools.
The new education system launched by President Jakaya Kikwete on February 13, 2015, in line with National Vision 2025 will also extend basic education from seven years to 11 years, provide free education at primary and education levels and abolish national examinations for primary school levers.
This appears to be one of the first times that a country in Africa will teach students at all levels in an African language instead of a foreign language.
Commenting on the language shift, Atetaulwa Ngatara, the assistant director for policy at the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, said English will still be taught as a language, but for students to learn English it's not necessary that all their subjects be taught in it.
An article about the policy shift posted on Facebook by Oliver Stegen, a Swahili speaker of German origin and a linguistic advisor at language development non-profit SIL International, elicited mixed responses. (CHANZO: GLOBALVOICE)
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