Education: Kinyarwanda usage needs to be at the forefront

Editor, I feel like in Rwanda, as we aspire to be a developed country where everyone is expected to be educated, we should think hard about the kind of education people will be equipped with. Look at Ethiopia. They are good at promoting their local dialects over foreign languages. Needless to say, a Google search will reveal numerous facts and proofs how Ethiopia is the right track. As far as I think, based on the research I personally made, one of the similarities between developed countries, say USA, China, Brazil, India, and many others in the East, is that their education systems are in their native languages. It makes little sense at first, but we need to think about it. The time it takes our child to understand English or French that will help him/her understand other concepts in those European languages, do you ever try to imagine what the kid who speaks English and French is doing? I recently stumbled upon a Facebook page that sparked this thought in my mind, but I find that learning in the native language (Kinyarwanda) is the cornerstone of whatever development we seek to make. Desire Reaction to the story, “MDGs: What has Rwanda done to achieve universal primary education?” (The New Times, June 21)

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Education: Kinyarwanda usage needs to be at the forefront