Government has started the process of implementing President Lazarus Chakwera’s directive for Malawi to introduce Portuguese and Swahili languages in the country’s curriculum.
Ministry of Education Public Relations Officer, Chikondi Chimala, says Malawi Institute of Education, an institution responsible for curriculum development and review, is part of the process.
According to Chimala, the ministry is consulting various stakeholders in order to implement the idea.
In April this year, Chakwera visited Mozambique and on his return, he said he had discussed with Mozambique the possibility of developing a language curriculum for Malawi Schools that includes the teaching of Portuguese, Swahili and French.
The Malawi leader argued that promotion of the languages would allow Malawians to communicate easily with citizens of other countries when doing business within the region.
“It would ease the ability of Malawians to make full use of trade, employment and travel opportunities in the region and beyond,” Chakwera said.
In Malawi’s public schools, students learn Chichewa and English languages from Standard One in Primary School up to Form Four in secondary schools.
Follow us on Twitter:
With an already failing education system, students are failing the most basic subjects like English, Chichewa ( mother language) and math. We intend to open up a whole new world to the dying system. When will we learn? When will we embrace our own home languages?
“Foreign trade,” they say, but we can barely trade within our own country using our native language. Yet those same regions within come here and trade in their language, don’t bother learning, and it still works for them. Consider our neighbouring countries, where children learn in their native tongues and thrive. Do you think we should first work on ourselves before learning other people’s languages? Charity starts at home.
Anyway, my opinion, I guess.
Xoxo
The best start by recognizing all local languages from all three region in schools that’s the starting point