Are schools prepared to embrace Swahili as an official language?

“The major challenge is lack of enough materials and students’ mindset towards this language. In the past people said that Swahili was a ‘fake’ language used by gangs and people in the informal sector. To date, some people still have such a mindset.” The government through the Ministry of Education is set to start implementing the law on the use of Swahili as a new official language in Rwanda in addition to Kinyarwanda, French and English. But the question is; how prepared are students and teachers to make this a success? Education Times visited different secondary schools to find out how students, teachers as well as stakeholders about the initiative. Faustin Rutembesa, the headmaster of Groupe Scolaire Cyahafi in Nyarugenge District, says students are prepared and happy to start using Swahili as a new official language in class and outside school. “Students applauded this initiative when we told them about it. We convened an assembly for this discussion and when I told them that Swahili language is becoming an official language soon, they welcomed the initiative,” Rutembesa says. For Jean Claude Nshimiyimana, a student in S3 at Groupe Scolaire Cyahafi, the move presents a big opportunity for students to expand their communication skills beyond English, Kinyarwanda and French. At Groupe Scolaire Camp Kigali, where we found Senior Six students studying Swahili, they welcomed the idea of making the language official. Yvonne Ahishize, a S6 student studying literature, French and Kinyarwanda, says studying Swahili will provide them the language skills to get employment anywhere in the East African region. “I think with the package of the four official languages, it will add great value to the wider population to go around the region for business opportunities,” she says. Ahishize is hopeful that with support from schools, Swahili will be taught successfully for the benefit of more Rwandans. Challenges Ahishize, however, says that there are not enough materials like textbooks and calls for provision of such materials. Asia Uwamahoro, also a S6 student at GS Camp Kigali, also highlights the issue of lack of enough Swahili-teaching materials. “We need more textbooks, teachers and more investment in teaching Swahili if we are going to perform well,” she says. Pascal Sebazungu, a Swahili teacher at the same school, says the initiative of making Swahili an official language is good, but notes that it will be more successful if students start to learn it from primary school. “The one major challenge is lack of enough materials and students’ mindset towards this language. In the past people said that Swahili was a ‘fake’ language used by gangs, prostitutes and people in the informal sector. To date, some people still have such a mindset, which has to be changed,” he says. Languages are complementary Didier Nahimana, the in-charge of academics at GS Camp Kigali, says that the initiative will strengthen the current way in which Swahili has been taught for the last three years in schools. He says that it is still complicated for students to debate in Swahili as they do for other languages, but adds that now that it is official, more materials will be availed for its teaching. Janvier Gasana, the director-general of Rwanda Education Board, says implementation of the initiative has already started, explaining that the new curriculum made last year includes Swahili as a subject in both ordinary and advanced levels. “We are preparing the learning and teaching materials and other materials that can help students to learn it well. We are also preparing teachers in various teacher training centres,” he says. Gasana says that like French, English and Kinyarwanda, Swahili will also be among the elective courses in primary school. Elective courses are those taught beyond the compulsory courses. “We are hoping that we shall continue to collaborate with the neighboring countries such as Kenya and Tanzania in terms of exchange of teachers. We can, for example, give them teachers of French and they give us the teachers of Swahili,” he says. Gasana, however, admits that textbooks for Swahili are available, but not enough. “We are working on getting more materials as well as experts in Swahili to train our teachers,” he says. Swahili clubs “We are considering forming Swahili clubs, starting with the Association of Teachers of Swahili in Rwanda and supporting them accordingly. The members will help us to form Swahili clubs in schools so that we can improve the fluency of Swahili,” Gasana says. “Swahili is easy to speak and we hope that it will not be a problem to teach students to learn how to speak it, especially with clubs in place,” he adds. Gasana says that the initiative will even benefit people outside the schools who want to learn Swahili. “Let us start to teach it in formal education for the young generation. Later we shall have a big number of people who can teach the rest of the population.” Regional framework Swahili has been a predominant language in the East African Community and other parts of Africa. Swahili is a language of instruction in primary education in Tanzania, and a subject of study in higher education. In Kenya, Swahili is a compulsory school subject in primary and secondary education. Six out of the seven public universities offer it as a study discipline. Swahili is also getting a place in the education systems of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. The language is widely spoken in DR Congo and parts of South Sudan.