The language of education in Africa: The key issues

Abstract

As a result of their colonial past, African children are still educated predominantly through the medium of a foreign language. The author explores the historical, political and socio‐economic background to this situation, and examines its advantages and disadvantages. Since the foreign languages (mainly English, French and Portuguese) are major international languages, they help in the transfer of science and technology. But they are foreign, and are therefore limited, as media of education, in their capacity to serve many of the personal, local and national objectives of the educational system. The position of the indigenous languages is examined and their potential as media of instruction. The case of Amharic in Ethiopia is examined in detail, and also that of Kiswahili in Kenya and Tanzania. The author discusses the necessary developments that will have to occur to provide full participation of the population in truly democratic institutions. He concludes that the revival of African languages and cultures is inextricably linked with rehabilitation of African political and economic institutions.

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