adminTanaka Mahanya
ZIMPAPERS’ latest offering, Kwayedza Dzidza, which solely publishes Shona educational content for school-going children, was launched at the International Mother Language Day commemorations in Harare yesterday.
International Mother Language Day was on February 21.
UNESCO director, Lidia Arthur Brito, said education was a human right, and no one should be excluded.
“Providing education in only one language that is not necessarily shared by all learners, may impact negatively on learning performance, and the development of socio-emotional and foundational literacy skills.
“In many countries around the world, including here in Southern Africa, it is common practice to use more than one language in daily life, which means education takes place in multilingual contexts.
“Yet, many countries adopt monolingual systems of education and see the use of several languages within an area as a challenge.
“It also undermines promoting cultural diversity in learning environments, reduces space for cultural expression and the building of social relations, and significantly weakens the linguistic heritage of humanity.”
She said multilingual education, based on the mother tongue, is a necessity in a fast-evolving global context.
“I congratulate Zimbabwe for including sign language as one of the 16 languages recognised by the constitution of the country
“I am confident that we will explore and debate the potential of multilingualism to transform education from a lifelong learning perspective and in different contexts,” she said.
In a speech read on her behalf, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education permanent secretary, Thumisang Thabela, said the education sector is aware of the significance of mother languages.
“The Zimbabwean education sector is cognizant of the importance of children’s mother tongue in the teaching and learning process as it strengthens the access to equitable, inclusive and sustainable quality education.
“Our curriculum development considers the cultures, languages and religious practices of communities in Zimbabwe and ensures that the curriculum strengthens community involvement and innovations to eradicate poverty.
“We are making efforts to ensure that by the end of 2025 we would have finished producing our syllabi for all the indigenous languages.
“If our language is suppressed, then our identity is compromised, and this is what we do not want,” she said.
Kwayedza editor, Patrick Shamba, said many students face challenges in learning indigenous languages.
“According to statistics we are getting, children are struggling when it comes to local languages, so Kwayedza Dzidza and uMthunywa Funda are here to bridge the gap.
“We would like to thank the Government for supporting this initiative from day one.
“We are calling on other stakeholders in the education sector to support the initiative which will go a long way in educating school-going children.
“Other organisations can partner with us and together we can support the disadvantaged rural schools,” he said
Online Reporter