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I appreciate the Education ministry for finally launching local languages as part of syllabus for Grade I to III in lower primary school during an occasion at Maseno University, Kisumu County, on Monday graced by Kenyan literature legend Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o.
This is, so far, the greatest achievement in a bid to ensure that the great African cultures are not easily eroded since Africans will be proud of their languages.
By publishing books in indigenous languages, East African Educational Publishers (EAEP) has played a critical role in imparting African cultures to our youth, who grew up not knowing the norms, beliefs and traditions of our communities.
In a sign of neo-colonialism, our institutions have been teaching and promoting Western languages at the expense of African tongues.
Learning local languages comes with various advantages both to the learners and communities.
For example, many a child, especially those who grow up in towns, cannot communicate with their grandparents who don’t speak English or Kiswahili, denying the old people the joy of doting on their grandchildren.
Secondly, such children are sidelined by their mates in games because of the language barrier.
Local languages can improve the performance of pupils in school because being able to translate the official and national languages into indigenous ones will widen their scope.
Our children will be happier learning African languages as that will increase self-esteem. Furthermore, it will encourage many children to school at an early age.
The books launched by Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o on Monday will be of immense importance to the new system of education.
Through the iconic author, the potential of literature in Kenya and Africa, has been strengthened. Together with other new curriculum books that were approved by the Ministry of Education, Prof Thiong’o’s dwell on culture and help us to preserve our traditions.
The books have been translated into other local languages and will promote education in all the corners of our country.
It is high time we brainstormed on some of our precious cultures and started to seriously preserve them.
African languages are slowly fading away without our awareness as a result of modernisation. We should not just sit and watch as they are chocked by the so-called analogue-digital thing.
Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o said at the book launch at Maseno University on Monday: “If you know all the languages and don’t know your mother tongue, that is enslavement; and if you know your native language and also other languages, that is empowerment. For there is power in knowing one’s own language.”
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