Rwanda: Stakeholders Welcome Reinstating French in National Examination.
23 August 2013 , By Jean De La Croix Tabaro & Maasai Kayiranga,
Source: New Times
The Ministry of Education (Mineduc) recently adopted a new policy to
make French an examinable subject by 2016 for O' Level students. The
justification the ministry gives is that schools that used to teach
French had started ignoring it yet it is still relevant in society.
"The schools that have been teaching French are now giving up; some of
them even use the hours for French to teach Sciences, Mathematics or
English language, which are the examinable ones,"said Emmanuel
Rutayisire, the Director General of Rwanda Education Board (REB).
Rutayisire said the relaxation on French teaching started in 2008 a
year after the country had joined the East African Community (EAC) and
adopted English as a language of instruction to replace French which
had been the language of instruction since the colonial era.
"Change was inevitable as regards to the regional integration demands
that Rwanda faced. It should also be remembered that Rwanda is not the
only country that has realised the global influence of English. Even
the French are giving English great consideration, because it is a
language of business, new technology and even a language of research
and entertainment," he added.
Rutayisire was also quick to add though that no one said French should
be shut out and none said it is not important. Rwandans still travel
to different countries including francophone ones. They attend
different schools and conferences without forgetting some research
that still need knowledge of French.
Come 2016, French will return as an examinable subject alongside
English and Kinyarwanda.
However, the number of hours the subject was accorded remains the
same, which is two hours per week. Some people still argue that the
time is very little and ought to be increased.
"Two hours of French per week, really? Do we want a bilingual country?
Is this how they plan to achieve that? I am lucky I finished my
secondary school in 1999 before all this came up," commented a one
Laurent on The New Times website the day the story first appeared.
What others think:
According to Emmanuel Kayumba, a parent from Gicumbi district,
"Teaching French gives students an opportunity to be bilingual. So
this is a step in the right direction."
"Let children be open to use this language, and it will help them if
they seek any service from a Francophone country", said Celestin
Ndagijimana, the Director of GS Gakanka in Nyamagabe district.
Dative Uwimana, the director of GS Masagara in Nyamagabe district says
"it is a shame to see that our children finish O level, without
knowing even 'bonjour', a basic greeting in French, the language we
used to speak!"
At GS Kivugiza in Nyaruguru district, French was given a significant
place in a combination of English French Kinyarwanda (EFK).
Isaac Nizeyimana, the school director points out that "it is always a
conflict between teachers and students. Students used to ignore
studying the language because it was not examinable and yet teachers
still had to teach it."
Nzeyimana said students are now going to understand the reason why
French is included in the school curriculum.
Church speaks out:
The Roman Catholic Church is an important stakeholder in education.
Smaragde Mbonyintege, the Bishop of Kabgayi and president of the
Episcopal Council in Rwanda, says consulting education stakeholders
should always precede any government decision in this sector.
"We should always be consulted before the government brings in a new
policy," he said adding that they were not part of the change that
made French a non-examinable course.
"French is a language spoken by many Rwandans," he said.
He revealed that the church kept French as a language of instruction
in its private schools, like minor seminaries, but complied with the
government policy in the government-subsidised schools.
To remain consistent, they keep a balance so that their students
remain competitive in English as well French when they face national
exams.
"It's up to the country to set up a policy on language of teaching,
but they should always think twice before introducing a language in
their teaching system," said Laurent Nkusi, a professor in
Linguistics. He also added that, "A country should not also confuse
students with many languages."
Come 2016, French will return as an examinable subject alongside
English and Kinyarwanda as languages in Primary school and O level and
Senior 6 National Examinations for students of both combination of
arts and humanity sciences.
The ability to converse in two languages is known as bilingualism.
People who are adept at speaking two languages enjoy certain
advantages over their monolingual counterparts.
A bilingual individual's brain has two active language systems which
work simultaneously without hindering the performance of other. Thus,
ensuring that the brain is always exercising both its linguistically
oriented cognitive functions.
Bilinguals are also able to conjure multiple phrases or words for each
idea and object. While coming up with the words, bilinguals will think
in both languages and thereafter choose the most appropriate options.
Monolinguals on the other hand utilize their limited reservoir of
words.
General reasoning and ability to conceptualize among bilinguals
improves drastically when advanced linguistic skills such as
code-switching, accent neutralization, and syntax appropriation are
acquired. This ability to grasp and improve, makes it easier for
bilinguals to learn newer languages and evolve into multilingual
speakers.
Cognitive flexibility also improves through divergent and convergent
thinking, wherein the speaker builds on a single idea and derives a
suitable conclusion after scrutinizing various arguments. This ability
has been attributed to parallel data processing.
Bilingual speakers develop metalinguistic awareness and can
differentiate between the implied and literal meaning of words and
phrases. Such people can think beyond labels, symbols, and language
structure because their minds are not restrained to think in a single
language.
While conversing with others, a bilingual will automatically switch to
the language which is understood by the listener so as to ease the
flow of communication. Whereas, monolinguals would be forced to
converse in the only language they know.
Being bilingual has a positive effect on intellectual growth as well.
It helps enhance and enrich a person's mental development and
awareness, because the rate of language assimilation, retentivity, and
grasping of phonetics is higher among bilinguals as compared to
monolinguals.
According to the renowned Canadian psychologist Ellen Bialystok,
bilingual children are better at solving verbal and nonverbal problems
that contain misleading and confusing aspects.
Bialystok's research also revealed that bilingual children were better
at detecting grammatical errors and extracting words from continuous
verbal sentences.
Bilinguals are able to emote better. Their temperament is generally
adaptive and they can be more genial, as compared to single language
speakers. With increased familiarity of dialects, they find greater
confidence and sense of self-esteem.
Bilingualism offers greater exposure to different cultures and builds
bridges between them. Knowledge of different languages entails a
treasure of traditional and contemporary sayings, idioms, history,
folk stories, music, movies, literature, and poetry of different
countries and cultures. An extensive cultural experience also creates
greater tolerance, open-mindedness, and appreciation.
Bilinguals are preferred over monolinguals for jobs that require them
to travel extensively or communicate with a wider group of people.
Individuals who are proficient in a foreign language can work as
translators, diplomats, teachers, doctors, etc. Employing bilinguals
also helps in exploring new avenues and pooling in new clients from
around the word. Bilingual and multilingual employees can also help in
training new members when the need arises.
Source: www.buzzle.com
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