Opinion / Columnist
Mnangagwa wants media to use indigenous languages
22 Feb 2022 at 00:35hrs | Views
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has challenged media practitioners to use indigenous languages to disseminate information to fight drug abuse.
The President said youths should embrace indigenous languages as they are part of national identity, pride and character. The President said this yesterday while addressing youths in Harare during the commemorations of the National Youth Day which coincided with the International Mother Language Day which is commemorated on 18 February annually.
The international mother language day was set aside by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) in 1999 to acknowledge the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity for sustainable societies.
It started as an initiative in Bangladesh which observed the day to remember its martyrs who sacrificed their lives to save their mother tongue, Bangla when the country was partitioned.
In his address, the President said indigenous languages should be used to disseminate information on the effects of drug abuse.
"As we continue to act against the illicit use and abuse of drugs, stakeholders in the media sector are challenged to scale up the use of our indigenous languages when disseminating information against the abuse of drugs," said President Mnangagwa.
He said youths should embrace indigenous languages as they are the pride and identity of the nation. "We join the rest of the world in taking pride in and celebrating our rich heritage which is inbuilt in our diverse mother languages.
I thus urge you our young people to always embrace the indigenous languages which are a critical pillar of our national identity, our pride, indeed our character as a people," he said.
This year's International Mother Language Day commemorations ran under the theme, "Using technology for multilingual learning: Challenges and opportunities", which sought to discuss the potential role of technology to advance multilingual education and support the development of quality teaching and learning for all.
In a statement, Unesco said technology is key in addressing educational inclusion and learning challenges that come with Covid-19 that led to many schools switching to online learning.
"Technology has the potential to address some of the greatest challenges in education today. It can accelerate efforts towards ensuring equitable and inclusive lifelong learning opportunities for all if it is guided by the core principles of inclusion and equity. Multilingual education based on mother tongue is a key component of inclusion in education," it said.
"During Covid-19 school closures, many countries around the world employed technology-based solutions to maintain continuity of learning. Obviously, teachers lacked skills and readiness for using distance teaching.
Many learners lacked the necessary equipment, internet access, accessible materials, adapted content, and human support that would have allowed them to follow distance learning.
Moreover, distance teaching and learning tools, programmes and content are not always able to reflect language diversity."
The President said youths should embrace indigenous languages as they are part of national identity, pride and character. The President said this yesterday while addressing youths in Harare during the commemorations of the National Youth Day which coincided with the International Mother Language Day which is commemorated on 18 February annually.
The international mother language day was set aside by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) in 1999 to acknowledge the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity for sustainable societies.
It started as an initiative in Bangladesh which observed the day to remember its martyrs who sacrificed their lives to save their mother tongue, Bangla when the country was partitioned.
In his address, the President said indigenous languages should be used to disseminate information on the effects of drug abuse.
"As we continue to act against the illicit use and abuse of drugs, stakeholders in the media sector are challenged to scale up the use of our indigenous languages when disseminating information against the abuse of drugs," said President Mnangagwa.
He said youths should embrace indigenous languages as they are the pride and identity of the nation. "We join the rest of the world in taking pride in and celebrating our rich heritage which is inbuilt in our diverse mother languages.
This year's International Mother Language Day commemorations ran under the theme, "Using technology for multilingual learning: Challenges and opportunities", which sought to discuss the potential role of technology to advance multilingual education and support the development of quality teaching and learning for all.
In a statement, Unesco said technology is key in addressing educational inclusion and learning challenges that come with Covid-19 that led to many schools switching to online learning.
"Technology has the potential to address some of the greatest challenges in education today. It can accelerate efforts towards ensuring equitable and inclusive lifelong learning opportunities for all if it is guided by the core principles of inclusion and equity. Multilingual education based on mother tongue is a key component of inclusion in education," it said.
"During Covid-19 school closures, many countries around the world employed technology-based solutions to maintain continuity of learning. Obviously, teachers lacked skills and readiness for using distance teaching.
Many learners lacked the necessary equipment, internet access, accessible materials, adapted content, and human support that would have allowed them to follow distance learning.
Moreover, distance teaching and learning tools, programmes and content are not always able to reflect language diversity."
Source - The Chronicle
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