Some schools in the nation have failed to comply with a ministerial instruction saying that schools should use Kinyarwanda as a medium of instruction up to main three, journalists have learned.
According to the Education Sector Strategic Plan established by the Ministry of Education in 2013, Kinyarwanda should be used as a medium of instruction and English and French as topics in all reduced primary schools, both government and private.
However, the Rwanda Academy of Language and Culture (RALC) has expressed concern that there are schools that do not use Kinyarwanda as a medium of education from nursery to primary three, which presents a danger to their education and the role of mother tongue.
Various school teachers and parents who spoke to reporters said that teaching kids in foreign languages – English and French – is better than Kinyarwanda, arguing that school kids can learn Kinyarwanda while at home
RALC disclosed that the problem is particularly common in private schools, which, motivated more by financial concerns, use foreign languages to attract more Rwandan parents to enroll in their pre-primary and primary school age kids there.
During a latest meeting with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, ICT, Culture, and Youth, the Academy produced the revelation designed to know how culture-related policies are being enforced.
“We realised that especially in private schools, in a bid to get money, they are imparting English and French into children, which might even make them risk suffering from early mental stunting, instead of helping them. And, they are prohibiting them from speaking Kinyarwanda,” said Prof. Cyprien Niyomugabo, Chairman of RALC.
During a latest meeting with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, ICT, Culture, and Youth, the Academy produced the revelation designed to know how culture-related policies are being enforced.
However, there is a concern that even some families do not encourage their kids to talk or learn Kinyarwanda at home, with the attitude that talking foreign languages is superior
Veneranda Musengimana, a head teacher at the Fruits of Hope Academy in Gasabo District, said the college used English only as a medium of instruction and taught Kinyarwanda as a topic for an hour a day, adding that their learners are great at Kinyarwanda.
Musengimana compared kids with blank paper, suggesting that they could master everything they were taught .
“We are in a world where communication matters a lot. If we teach them [in] Kinyarwanda as our mother tongue, they will complete their education with a poor command of other languages. Yet, they are not limited to the country (local market),” she said.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the fundamental abilities of reading, writing and numeracy are obtained through the mastery of the first language or mother tongue.
Adelaide Dusabeyezu, head teacher at APACOPE primary school in Nyarugenge District, informed reporters that it becomes simpler for him or her to understand other languages when a kid learns French soon.
For Teddy Gacinya, head teacher at City Infant School in Gasabo District, the college utilizes French from nursery to primary 3, adding that learning Kinyarwanda is not as hard as studying foreign languages for Rwandans.
“We chose French as a medium of instruction because it was parents’ wish, and it’s too difficult, which made them put the effort into it and teach Kinyarwanda and English only as subjects,” she said.
Damien Nkurunziza, head teacher at Kigali City School in Kicukiro District, stated that it was educators who finished their studies and had expertise and ability in English who decided to create that college.
“We chose to use English so that we shape children who know that language and that when they enter the job market in any sector, they are able to support government programmes,” he said.
Jean Bosco Niyomungeri, a parent whose 2-year-old boyfriend studied at a nursery school in Kamonyi District teaching French, said he was happy when his boyfriend spoke the language.
He pointed out that knowing the mother tongue is not a bad idea, but he insisted on concentrating on using French and English and only learning Kinyarwanda as a lesson.
“Parents feel proud of their kids who speak French and English at an early age and the system strengthens the children’s courage to go to schools. However, parents are needed to help them learn Kinyarwanda in families while outside school,” Niyomungeri observed.
MP Damien Nyabyenda, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, ICT, Culture and Youth, said that both nursery schools and primary schools must learn all the lessons in Kinyarwanda and use other upper primary languages as instructed.
“That instruction should be complied with. There should be sensitisation starting from families so that Rwandans understand that foreign languages are important, but that for one to better master them, they should first know their mother tongue,” he said.