Opinion / Letters
Open Letter to the Education Department of Zimbabwe
03 Feb 2016 at 13:15hrs | Views
We are parents and residents of Lupane district, writing this letter with a deep concern over the decline in the quality of Ndebele as a language at some of our Primary schools. We have watched over the years as our language gets compromised in spoken and written and its development progress stalling. It has become so apparent in recent years that our children who sit for their Grade Seven (7) examinations will not perform to our expectations and this has deprived them entry into good schools for their secondary education due to low pass mostly in a subject they should easily pass since it's their mother language.
The causes being that; 1 There has been a decline in the availability of qualified Ndebele primary school teachers. 2. 33%-50% of teachers cannot speak, read or write Ndebele, making us suggest that our children are not learning their language, contrary to what is provided by our constitution in Zimbabwe.
Some of the most affected schools are as below;
As a community, our pride is our culture which we identify ourselves with the language we speak and therefore, we put a lot of emphasis on children to be imparted with good cultural practices at a very tender age of between 5 and 10 without compromising.
With the understanding that the principles of good governance, which bind the State and all institutions and agencies of government at every level, include respect and recognition of diverse ethnic and cultural groups, it is therefore our hope that authorities responsible for recruiting teachers must make sure that they adhere to the supreme law of Zimbabwe by:
a) Ensuring that Ndebele is an officially recognised language therefore, should be treated equitably and taken into account that it is our language of preference.
b) Promote and advance the use of the language at our primary schools, and must create conditions for the development of this language.
We believe and hope that this can only be achieved, if we as parents and residents work together with you as authorities to ensure that only competent primary school teachers, who are fluent in both spoken and written Ndebele and they understand that we are identified culturally by this language are hired. We would also like to suggest to the you as authorities to adopt a Ndebele language proficiency test when recruiting teachers.
We reaffirm our common desire to resist the trampling of our language, culture and identity by people whose main aim is nothing but to enrich themselves in the expense of the future of our children and generations to come.
We would greatly appreciate if this issue could be expedited so that by the beginning of the first term of 2016, our children as from ECD class get competent teachers who will lay a very strong foundation that will last forever and be passed on to their children. As parents and residents of Lupane we are prepared to take further action if the issue is not resolved to our satisfaction including withdrawing our children from the affected schools and kicking out of our schools all unwanted teachers.
The causes being that; 1 There has been a decline in the availability of qualified Ndebele primary school teachers. 2. 33%-50% of teachers cannot speak, read or write Ndebele, making us suggest that our children are not learning their language, contrary to what is provided by our constitution in Zimbabwe.
Some of the most affected schools are as below;
- Punyuka Pry School- 4 teachers teaching Grade 0, 1,2 & 5.
- Jibajiba Pry School
- Makhovula Pry School
- Bhangale Pry School
- Malunku Pry School
- Madojwa Pry School
- Ndamuleni Pry School
- Mkhombo Pry School
- Matshakayile Pry School
- Gandangula. Pry School
- Masenyane Pry School
- St Pauls Pry School
As a community, our pride is our culture which we identify ourselves with the language we speak and therefore, we put a lot of emphasis on children to be imparted with good cultural practices at a very tender age of between 5 and 10 without compromising.
With the understanding that the principles of good governance, which bind the State and all institutions and agencies of government at every level, include respect and recognition of diverse ethnic and cultural groups, it is therefore our hope that authorities responsible for recruiting teachers must make sure that they adhere to the supreme law of Zimbabwe by:
a) Ensuring that Ndebele is an officially recognised language therefore, should be treated equitably and taken into account that it is our language of preference.
We believe and hope that this can only be achieved, if we as parents and residents work together with you as authorities to ensure that only competent primary school teachers, who are fluent in both spoken and written Ndebele and they understand that we are identified culturally by this language are hired. We would also like to suggest to the you as authorities to adopt a Ndebele language proficiency test when recruiting teachers.
We reaffirm our common desire to resist the trampling of our language, culture and identity by people whose main aim is nothing but to enrich themselves in the expense of the future of our children and generations to come.
We would greatly appreciate if this issue could be expedited so that by the beginning of the first term of 2016, our children as from ECD class get competent teachers who will lay a very strong foundation that will last forever and be passed on to their children. As parents and residents of Lupane we are prepared to take further action if the issue is not resolved to our satisfaction including withdrawing our children from the affected schools and kicking out of our schools all unwanted teachers.
Source - Lupane District Communities
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