By Ruth Yeabu Sesay
The Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) is developing a curriculum that will see local languages being taught in senior secondary schools in the country.
This was disclosed by the Programme Manager of the Institute for Sierra Leonean Languages (TISLL), Lamin H. Kargbo during an interview with Politico on the 23rd of February 2023 at his Freetown office.
According to him, MBSSE being one of their partners is designing a curriculum for schoolgoers in senior secondary school so that indigenous languages will be incorporated in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination-WASSCE.
The 21st of February has been recognized as ‘International Mother Tongue Day’ worldwide and this year is the fourth time celebrating it in Sierra Leone.
The theme for this year’s celebration is “Multilingual education- a necessity to transform education in a multilingual world”. The day is being recognized as an indigenous language day worldwide to show the significance of local languages nationally and internationally.
Kargbo said people tend to look down on their local languages and do not speak them to their children, saying if such a trend continues, indigenous languages will disappear together with culture and traditions.
“Children refuse to talk their local languages because when they start schooling, there is a list called vernacular list and if a pupil’s name is written for defaulting, they will be punished. This action served as a nonverbal mode of saying our local languages are not relevant enough to be spoken in schools,” he said.
He recommended that incentives and prizes are given to people who decide to study Sierra Leonean languages at college. He further said that in order to encourage indigenous languages to be effective, certain positions in the country should be reserved for people who are multi-lingual speakers.
Some of the partners of TISLL; the Non-formal Education Directorate, the Bible Society, and the ministry of education are helping to ensure that Sierra Leoneans embrace their languages.
“We are a Non-Governmental Organization being funded by the Lutheran Bible Translators from America and they are the people who started this institute together with the Ministry of Education”, he said.
The Head of the Department of Language Studies Fourah Bay College, Dr. Abdulai W. Jalloh said he calls Sierra Leonean local languages the dream language. He also said that the initiative of celebrating the day in Sierra Leone has impacted the lives of many youths as it portrays how their languages can be used to pass information swiftly across the country. He went on to say that his institution is part of the board of TISLL which has appointed literacy coordinators across the country to help people read and understand their languages.
Dr. Jalloh said he is part of the team that designed the curriculum for the senior secondary schools an action he was certain will greatly impact the country as languages are a mark of identity. He said if these languages are used in the classroom, learning will be effective and communication easier.
“I believe this is the time for us to put our local languages in the centre to aid us in acquiring education and teaching. That is why I call them languages of power,” he said.
Jalloh and Kargbo both appealed that TISLL be supported with funds to enhance their work in promoting local languages in and out of Sierra Leone.
TISLL was established to promote indigenous languages through literacy, material development, training, and sensitizing people to embrace their languages.
Copyright © 2023 Politico Online (27/02/23)
