Mother Tongue Instruction for Lower Primary School Level in Zimbabwe – A Half Hearted Commitment to the Development of her Indigenous Languages

Abstract

The paper interrogates the government’s commitment to the development of indigenous languages in the primary school system as mirrored in the languages in education policy. The amended education act of 2006 dictates that in Zimbabwe’s primary schools, early learning must be done via mother tongue instruction and later on English is to be introduced, both as a second language(L2) and as a school subject taught on equal time basis with other indigenous languages. By the nature of lower primary education, mother tongue instruction is viewed as a necessity as it bridges the gap between the child’s home environment and the new school environment as well as reducing culture shock associated with the rapid introduction of a new language. It has generally been agreed that children tend to understand better if they are taught in their mother tongue (L1) In this article, we argue that this proclamation in the education act seems to be a half hearted commitment to the growth and development of Zimbabwe’s indigenous languages in so much as several other systems like teacher training and deployment practices are not in tandem and in synch with this requirement. The non availability of literature in a host of other indigenous languages mainly regarded as minor does not help the case either. In essence, this article is both a critique of the Zimbabwean policy of languages in the education sector as enshrined in the education act as well as a proposal for remedial future action to try and redress the predicament that indigenous languages have to contend with as far as early primary school education is concerned. We argue that the non committal attitude by the government to invest in indigenous languages is symptomatic of a culture that has been manifest since the early days of independence which gains expression in the absence of a comprehensive national language policy which articulates clearly the need for the uplifting and consequent development of Zimbabwe’s indigenous languages.

Keywords: Mother Tongue Instruction, Indigenous Languages, Primary School, Zimbabwe