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At celebration of the 21st International Day of the Mother Tongue: Gov’t announces impending teachin
At celebration of the 21st International Day of the Mother Tongue: Gov’t announces impending teaching of national languages in Cameroon schools.
The domination of English and French in Cameroon’s educational system is posing a threat to the survival of Cameroonian national languages. In a bid to reverse this trend, government is elaborating a national strategy for the integrative teaching of selected national languages, starting from primary schools in Cameroon.
The announcement was made last Friday by basic education minister, Prof. Laurent Serge Etoundi Ngoa, on the occasion of the celebration of the 21st International Day of the Mother Tongue under the theme: “Languages without Borders”.
Etoundi Ngoa who was flanked by Pauline Nalova Lyonga (minister of secondary education); Mounouna Foutsou (minister of youth affairs); and Dr Asheri Kilo (secretary of state for basic education), said the national strategy would consist in the integrative selection of languages according to regions. The dominant language selected at the level of the region will also be taught in the other nine regions of the country, based on a programme being elaborated by the Higher Teacher Training College (ENS) and other education stakeholders.
Minister Etoundi Ngoa said research has shown that children who start mastering their mother tongue at a tender age perform better in school. He said the theme of the day was a sign of hope for the policy of living together in Cameroon.
Quoting from President Paul Biya’s Communal Liberalism, the MINEDUB boss said our linguistic diversity should not be a factor of division or conflict but should contribute to entrenching national unity.
He said some national languages have benefited from the advances in science and technology to impose themselves at the world level.
UNESCO declared 21 February as International Mother Tongue Day in tribute to the Bengali Language Movement and the ethno-linguistic rights of people around the world. On 21 February 1952, students of the University of Dhaka and other political activists defied the law and organised a protest advocating the recognition of the Bengali language as an official language of the then-Dominion of Pakistan. The protest led to the killing of some students but the government granted official status to the Bengali Language in 1956.
Speaking to journalist after the official ceremony in Yaounde, Etoundi Ngoa said it would be unjust to set aside our national languages which transmit our culture in preference to foreign languages which were themselves the mother tongues of the colonisers. He said most countries in the world were now allowing national languages to exist side by side with official languages.
One of the high points of the celebration was the singing of the national anthem in the Bassa Language by some pupils. The minister then led his colleagues and partners to a visit of stands in which books written in some national languages were on display.