The Language of Education in Africa: The Key

Issues
by Seyoum Hameso
The use of African languages in complementary and equitable fashion, alongside other languages, will be part of
the full development of Africa's own genius and of the continent's search for its own path of development.
(Robinson, 1996: 180)
1. Introduction
Whether our concerns are about the everyday lives of people and their social interaction, or about social
change and education, the issue of language is as vital as it is complex. The complexity is best
demonstrated by its inextricable links with a society's cultural, economic and political life. It also has
inevitable historical embodiments. Thus any inquiry into contemporary Africa takes us to the pastthe
colonial past. In one way or the other, that past had been one of conquest and domination, one of
suppression by alien rule facilitated by alien languages. Except in a handful of cases, like Kiswahii in
Tanzania, most colonies were run in colonial languages.
Independence came, promising hope, freedom, improved living standards and progress. The promises
made by nationalist politicians following, in some cases, a protracted struggle, seemed to warrant change
of circumstances. In the midst of high expectations, those who inherited the political kingdom took over
diverse population groups with distinct languages and cultures alongside alien and haphazard territorial
boundaries. At the time, the rule was simple: to wrest authority from colonial powers, as Julius Nyerere
boldly hinted. But no one other than Kwame Nkrumah said it all in the most remembered phrase: 'Seek
ye first the political kingdom, and all else will be added unto you'. That grand seizure implied the need
for consensus and reduction of diversity. At one extreme, one central government was envisioned along
with one language and probably one leader for the whole continent. The vision belonged to another
millennium and the idea was shortly rejected. The same preoccupation with the kingdom also seemed to
engender permanent relegation of all other issues, including the people, their cultures, their languages,
and above all their diversity, to a lesser degree of priority.
In those heady days of the late 1950s and 1960s, informed leaders were influenced by the vogue ideas of
the day: modernization and nationbuilding either through capitalism or socialism. While the most
aggrieved of the leaders opted for radical socialism, the less aggrieved went along with their
uncomfortable legacy. Either way, the means and the destinations were never mutually unintelligible.
For all found comfort in centralism and stubborn singularity in their national policies. Contrary to
historical precedents in Europe, where nations were, by and large, formed on the state's ethnic and
linguistic congruity, Africa's leaders found it fit to build states by destroying the real nations: the Ewes,
the Ibos, the Hausas, Oromos, etcetera. For the word nation has become so attractive that, to be modern,
they named their project: nationbuilding.
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The task was pretty daunting. It was one that took Europe centuries of blood and toil. For the newly
formed African states, it meant a lot of things. It required enlightenment and reformation following the
wellknown and welltrodden path taken by European empires and nations. It required Weber's
rationalregal state driven by a Marshallian rational economic man. It seemed to entail expansion of
education, i.e., literacy. The economy was to be transformed from agricultural to industrial, and the
process was named 'industrialisation' along the lines of the Industrial Revolution in England in the
nineteenth century. The societies 'needed' transformation from 'primitive' and 'tribal' to the 'modern',
whatever that meant. This implied physical migration away from the 'idiocy of rural life', and away from
the curse of Babylonian multiple tongues to the promised landthe townwhere you speak one pidgin.
And pidgin, it was.
All this was needed to be done in the matter of a decade or so. After all, the UN Secretary General, Dag
Hamerskjold announced the year 1960 as 'The Africa Year'. Economists, (one among them was Arthur
Lewis, later Sir, who advised Nkrumah's government in Ghana), the most notorious social engineers of
the modem age, were called upon to manufacture the infamous Five Year Development Plans. And so
they accomplished the task with remarkable speed, calculating how quickly 'unlimited supplies of
labour'unfortunately stuck in the zero marginal productivity sectorcould move to shanty towns
blackened by scorched earth mining and the loading and unloading of foodstuffs. With only the remotest
relevance to the African beyond the villages of Timbuktu, the most revolutionary resolutions (full of
physical targets never to be achieved) were passed, promising a balanced 'big push'. And because of their
remoteness, these blueprints were left to gather dust on the shelves of planning agency warehouses, just
like a bible does in a secular Western family. In the meantime, political leaders, at the height of their
political power in the newly inherited kingdoms, made their choices on behalf of the public as a matter
of urgency with costly and massive outcomes, some intended and some not. One, among the many
public choices, impinged on the language of education.
2. The Language of Education: Choice and Policy
Language performs different functions including a means of communication, expression and
conceptualisation. It can also be used as a means of domination and discrimination; an instrument to give
or block access to economic and political processes. It is the latter aspect that brings the issue of
language to the centre stage, and that is partly our concern here. Once the functions and importance of
languages are recognised, the choice of languages of education is often made on historical, political
(nationalistic) and cultural grounds as much as on the basis of pedagogical and linguistic ones.
For historical reasons, the determination to keep indigenous languages from the public domain was a
favoured option by many of Africa's nonnation states. It so happened that in the hazy atmosphere of
early 1960s, given the artificial nature of boundaries, the new leaders signed, in the Organisation of
African Unity (OAU) formation in 1963, to respect 'the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each state'
endorsing the borders that do not, by and large, coincide with sociolinguistic boundaries. By that
endorsement, speakers of one language were fragmented across artificial boundaries. In West Africa, for
example, Mansour (1993: 67) states that out of 15 million Pulaar speakers, Guinea accounted for 40% in
1986. The respective figures for the same language in Guinea Bissau, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Niger, and
Nigeria are 23%, 21%, 18%, 14%, 14%, and 9%, respectively. Similar cases hold true for Manding,
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Wolof, Hausa, Yoruba, and other speakers. In this inconvenient arrangement, the choice or imposition of
one ethnic group's language for official and educational purposes, as it happened in Ethiopia, was a
cause for deep social conflict. The very fact of historical mischance that diverse groups are put together
under one political roof, meant that the choice of one group's language serves a defacto declaration of
war on the others.
3. Nation and Nonnation States
Even though the general pattern throughout much of Africa is the same, one should account for country
specificity. With reference to the choice of languages and policy parameters related to this, there are
slight variations. Where the idea of nation and state is coterminous, as in Somalia, the Somali language
was accorded a national status. It was also developed as the medium of instruction in 1972. In the case of
Kenya and Tanzania, an indigenous language in Kiswahili has been in use as official or second official
language and medium of instruction. As a 'neutral' languageat least it does not belong to any one
particular ethnic group in both Kenya and Tanzaniait was positively encouraged. In the case of
Tanzania in particular, the language issue is approached with conscious, and to some extent, autonomous
understanding; but the professed intentions failed to materialise. By 1967, the Arusha Declaration
recognised that education was vital for selfreliance. Among African languages, Kiswahili has an
unusual history. The fact that it was widely used by the Germans and later by the British colonial powers
helped its status. At the same time, the use and promotion of Kiswahii was viewed in terms of the
overthrow of colonialism, furtherance of its linguistic development, and a means of ensuring unity in
Tanzanian society. Despite these broad political intentions to make Kiswahili the language of instruction
beyond primary school level, there has been reluctance to pursue the policy to its logical conclusion.
In many other African countries, informed language policy was forestalled by the choice of foreign
languages (mainly English, French or Portuguese) as they constituted a 'neutral' solution. (Yet, this
language neutrality is debatable, since different languages and cultural frameworks impart different
world perceptions.) Assuming sovereignty over population groups, cowed and confused by alien rule,
inheriting an economic base best suited to exports of raw minerals and cash crops, and controlling the
political system that is often alien (hence authoritarian), the nonnation states of Africa faced a stark
reality. Some leaders, in a vain attempt of pretending to shy away from the colonial legacy, went to the
opposite extreme, making more mistakes than would be warranted by common sense. In one way or the
other, what took root was a perverse scenario of inorganic states, artificial boundaries, and artificial
languages and cultures that were only remotely relevant to the people's daily needs. The urge to
communicate and to train the messengers required a quick decision and the only readily available media
were the languages of former colonial administrations. Soon these languages were 'enshrined' in
constitutions that were to be easily discarded following every other violent change of regime. In the case
of Cameroon, as elsewhere, Robinson (1996) states that no provisions were made in reference to
indigenous languages. Therefore, most of these countries settled on inconvenient compromise, often
choosing the languages of former colonial powers for official and educational purposes.
On the basis of this mooted agreement went the legacies of the postcolonial alien state machinery, an
acceptance of authoritarian and repressive political methods, the perpetuation of economically dependent
centrism, and the socially pervasive assimilationism of the past. With these, Africa's own institutions,
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nations, and nationalisms were denigrated as backward, tribal and narrow in contrast with the
progressive, modern, civilized and universal ethos of capitalist nationalism. These meant modernization
of state structures of control (mainly the military and the bureaucracy) and the system of education
aimed at bolstering them.
The superimposed, floating state, found it easy to push aside the issue of indigenous languages, even for
educational purposes. The debate over cultural and linguistic diversity was muted for the sake of the
overriding need to build a political kingdom on the premise of unity. While a nation by definition is
based on linguistic, cultural and ethnic affiliation and homogeneity, the way African states were
programmed to operate was quite different. In this conflict, a number of factors militated against
indigenous languages. In the following section, therefore, we will ask to what extent the determination
of language policy and choice should take account of the advantages and disadvantages of both foreign
and indigenous languages as media of education.
4. The Use of Foreign Languages in Education
4.1 Advantages
Foreign languages are used in different countries in business, diplomacy, media and scholarship.
Inability to understand these languages costs resources while knowledge of them can only be an asset.
Secondly, they have become prerequisites for acquiring science and technology. Thus, Western
education, scholarship, business, and science and technology were rendered impossible without
acquiring those languages, mainly English and French, but occasionally German and Japanese.
Linguistic dependence such as this, and lack of vision as to what to do about it, engendered a scenario of
arrested development. In the case of Tanzania, Judith Barrett (1994: 610) details the reasons why
English was retained and defended as a way of preventing Tanzania being isolated from the rest of the
world, as well as a means of keeping abreast of technological and scientific achievements in
international fora.
Thirdly, foreign languages are viewed as symbols of power and a means of securing good, secure jobs.
As far as members of the elite are concerned, the use of such languages is a sign of prestige, and a higher
competence in them is known to entitle the speakers to a legitimate claim to power.
Yet while learning and knowing these languages is beneficial, there is no prima facie case for them to
serve as the media of instruction. They could as well be taught as subjects in schools like mathematics or
economics. Apart from this, there are a number of reasons why foreign language would be ineffective as
the medium of instruction. TrappesLomax (1990: 967) details such reasons.
4.2 Disadvantages
Firstly, foreign languages are foreign and lack authenticity. They are not the people's language. Being
uncomfortably foreign, they remain the language of the few, namely, the elite who are a class of their
own and are also alienated both from their own society and from their counterparts elsewhere with
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whom they are also unable to merge. Therefore, foreign languages remain languages of academia,
languages of university education, languages of research and scholarship. This foreignness of the
language of instruction has been a major force in making education a culturally alienating process.
Whereas language is supposed to help in bringing education close to the learner, and therefore in
motivating learners to invest energy and time 'in the intrinsic excitement and selfregenerating dynamo
of learning' as Samof (1993: 213) says, the lack of integration of educational goals with the cultural
context and African values has contributed to the present educational crisis in Africa, in which education
is geared mainly to the (re)production of ruling elites. That is also partly how education has made itself
increasingly irrelevant to the real issues of the masses and to Africa's development. This further indicates
the elitist nature of education where students are forced to receive education in foreign languages beyond
primary schools in many African countries.
Secondly, foreign languages are not teachable in the sense that it is difficult to ensure language
proficiency of teachers in foreign media. The case is pronounced when the teachers are not native
speakers themselves. As far as learners are concerned, a foreign language is hardly ever experienced
outside the educational environment. In pedagogic terms, it is noted that foreign languages remain
secondary for pupils (they are only rarely used outside classrooms with poorly trained and equipped
teachers). Worst of all, they are foreign to young pupils who have been brought up in their own mother
tongue and find them completely unintelligible.
It is for these reasons that UNESCO has been in the forefront of promoting the idea of education in
indigenous languages. YahyaOthman (1990:46) points out that students enter secondary education
without adequate understanding and knowledge of the medium of instruction. Such a system results in
'individuals hampered by linguistic deficiencies in their thinking, in their critical observation, in their
questioning of ideas and facts, and in the interpretation of what is communicated to them'.
Last but not the least, by perpetuating cultural and linguistic dependence, the use of a foreign medium
saps nationalist energy. Exorbitant national costs need be incurred to possess knowledge materials
produced in the chosen medium. Policy adjustments and broad conditions need to be fulfilled to acquire
the most valued and expensive raw materials of the twenty first centuryrelevant information. Yet the
corollary of these arguments is not that foreign languages are an obstacle per se to national growth and
hence should be banned. On the contrary, they are extremely useful and should be learned. What is in
dispute is making these languages the medium of education. Looking into the vitality of indigenous
languages better makes this point.
5. The Use of Indigenous Languages in Education
Education through the medium of mother tongue ensures that a 'child's educational development is
rooted in his own cultural heritage ...' (Criper and Widdowson, 1975, quoted in TrappesLomax,
1990:94). It is also pointed out (e.g. by Rugabumya, 1990; Robinson, 1996: 173) that evidence from
international research shows that use of the first language is a factor in educational achievement and that
the educational process in any society ought to be conducted through a language that both learner and
teacher command well. Moreover, in situations where students learn best within learning institutions,
Barrett (1994: 910) maintains that this can be done by starting where the pupils 'begin with their
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experience and existing knowledge and thus position them as "knowers" ... and by allowing them 'to use
their own language within the classrooms'. This indicates the need for the cultural contextualisation of
education. Otherwise, if the shift from one language of instruction to the other continues, as it often
does, education turns out to be a constricting and restricting factor. This argument is made by
YahyaOthman (1990: 51), based on observations made on Tanzanian children, who, upon finishing
primary schools in the medium of Kiswahili, shift to the English medium in secondary schools.
5.1 Obstacles
The adoption, use and promotion of indigenous languages faces a number of obstacles. It is already
noted that African history is burdened with pervasive legacies. One of them is linguistic, and it is
reflected in selfdenial, part of which is rooted in despising African languages as 'tribal' and 'primitive'
and nothing but vernaculars. The position is adopted by both 'educated' natives and external apologists.
This very fact was raised by Robert Armstrong (1963: 69) who said, 'If we are ashamed of our own
language, then we must certainly lack that minimum of selfrespect which is necessary to the healthy
functioning of society'. The same author further argued that:
if the young people come to despise their father's language, the chances are that at the same time
they will reject their father's wisdom. The emotional importance of a language lies in the fact
that it contains the choices of one's mother, father, brothers and sisters, and one's dearest friends.
(Armstrong, 1963)
The general tendency to favour foreign languages as official languages and as the media of instruction is
the major obstacle to the use of indigenous languages. It is a tendency that is reinforced by political and
economic constraints.
Politically, one notes the desire of the bureaucratic elite to reproduce its own class through the medium
of education in international languages. On the basis of Tanzanian experience, Barrett (1994: 1314) is
of the opinion that the retention of foreign languages best serves the interest of the elite who use these
languages as screening devices to higher positions, and hence maintain their position.
The above position is reinforced by arguments based on the cost associated with changes. Economically,
that is, the initiative to replace African languages as the media of instruction requires resources in terms
of teacher training, developing grammars and orthographies, producing and translating textbooks and
supplementary materials. Where written scripts are not developed, they should be designed. The cost
issue is one of the arguments used against development of indigenous languages, namely that education
in different mother tongues is not affordable. In particular, a poor country with meagre resources can
hardly pay for the additional expenses of teacher training and materials production associated with
instruction through the medium of indigenous languages. But the argument does not take into account
the educational needs that can be met only through the indigenous languages, and the fact that ability in
these languages already exists without cost.
None of these arguments is intended to be decisive. The matter is complex, and it is conceded that there
are also cases in which the use of foreign languages is beneficial. In order to explore the complexity still
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further, we now look at the case of Ethiopia.
6 Ethiopia: Language Policy and Practice
Whereas the general patterns that prevail elsewhere in Africa are also to be found in Ethiopia, there are
some unique scenarios. Ethiopia was an empire, and hence the imperial imposition of dominant power
(Amhara) on other ethnic groups occurred. The history of domination began in the 1880s when Emperor
Menelik, a Shoan Amhara, expanded his domains beyond the traditional feudal Abyssinia. The effects of
territorial expansion was soon matched by linguistic, political and cultural influence. With the centre's
approval, imperial soldiers were settled in the South, taking over land and property, reducing the
indigenous people to mere serfs and peasant labourers. Most of the settlers were from the northern
highlands, and were mainly, but not exclusively, Amharic speakers. There were Guraghes, a few
Tigreans and others, most of whom were assimilated to the politically dominant culture. Thus the
southern nations, most of whom had their own languages, cultural symbols and sociopolitical
institutions, came under Amhara rule. The process of conquest, bloody, and in places disastrous, as it
had been, was followed by a consolidation of imperial power which brought about the need for training
and education.
That being the case, the presentday Ethiopia is home for three major language groups, Cushitic,
Semitic, and Nilotic Omotic. Under this broad category, no precise numbers of languages and dialects
can be given, since the relevant studies are lacking. Mention however, could be made of the main
languages as including, Agaw, Amharic, Afar, Hadiya, Guraghe, Kembata, Oromo, Sidama, Tigre,
Wolayta, and others. The Oromo language is by far the most common being spoken by all Oromo people
who constitute about 40% of the whole population. But then, Amharic dominance meant that other
languages were not to be accorded national status and they were often referred to as 'minority' languages.
6.1 The Position of Amharic
On this basis, taking over an empire, Emperor Haile Selassie and his era saw continued Amhara
dominance that was momentarily interrupted by Italian colonial occupation (193541). The latter
introduced new initiatives, not the least of which was replacement of Amhara domination by Italian
colonial rule. When the Italian army surrendered to Allied powers, the Emperor was accorded a
favourable image and generous support from the outside world, mainly the West. Then in an attempt to
'modernise' absolutist feudal autocracy, he undertook initiatives for change, but these 'modernisation'
drives primarily served the purpose of defending the empire.
Accordingly, new measures were introduced including a constitution, formation and training of
professional military service, establishing schools and a university (in the 1950s, named after the
Emperor, and now the Addis Ababa University) and improving the system of tax collection. These
measures were accompanied by the policy of assimilation into Amhara culture and the imposition of the
Amharic language. That was how a language of one ethnic group became the medium of instruction for
all in primary schools, and the sole official language, seconded by foreign languages. The same
imposition also secured the dominant position of the Amhara elite in all walks of life for almost a
century. At the same time the Emperor's advocacy of Western governments (which in turn brought about
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economic and military support) promoted the use of English as the medium of instruction in secondary
schools, in addition to being the second official language.
Given an absolutist feudal system, the very demands of modern education posed, sooner rather than
later, a threat to imperial monarchy, and the whole system crumbled in the face of devastating famine
and oil price hike of the early 1970s. Accordingly, a military junta replaced the ageing emperor in 1974.
To many it sounded like a revolution, but it is best compared with what followed the Russian Revolution
in the Soviet Union, in the sense that there was no fundamental change in the imperial nature of
Ethiopia. In the guise of socialism, policies of proletarian internationalism and aggressive militarism,
centrist and assimilationist, were pursued to their extremes. Although a mass literacy programme was
pursued in the spirit of mass mobilisation, for which purpose indigenous languages were used, the script
was Amharic and all formal education continued to be delivered in Amharic. At secondary and
university levels, English continued to be used as the medium of instruction.
This imposition of Amharic in a country where the majority of peoplemost of whom live in the
countrysideneither speak nor write Amharic, had an influential role in higher education. According to
Edmond Keller (1991: 140) the status given to the Amharic language as the medium of education in
primary schools in the majority nonAmharic speaking areas was fiercely resisted as unfair and unjust,
as it favoured some indigenous speakers at the expense of others in the state sector. The Oromos,
Eritreans, Somalis (i.e. Somalis in Ethiopia), Sidamas and other nations within the Ethiopian empire
resented the use and imposition of the Amharic language 'not only because it disadvantaged them in the
competition for university places, but also for the implication it had for the destruction of their own
languages and cultures', not to mention its implications for jobs and other social and political activities.
This, coupled with the centrist, authoritarian policies of the military, known as the derg, wreaked havoc
in whole societies; the economy was overwhelmed by shortages and economic crisis; and the war in
Eritrea and other parts worsened an already precarious existence for the majority of the poor, who were
caught in the margins of impending disasters (most of which were manmade), such as drought and
concomitant famine.
6.2 The 1994 Constitution
All these issues led to a change of regime from military dictatorship to military insurgency led by a
Tigrean elite. The transitional charter and arrangement has introduced some changes. Initially, it was a
process where different ethnic groups participated, although the dominant position was claimed by a
northern Tigrean ethnic group and the Tigrean People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which formed the
Ethiopian Peoples Democratic Revolutionary Front (EPRDF). Such predominance notwithstanding,
participants to the transitional government agreed on an interim education and language policy.
Accordingly, in 1992, new measures of primary education in ethnonational languages were introduced
as opposed to the policy of the ancien rgime. Moreover, most languages became working languages of
the respective, socalled administrative zones. Apart from this minor achievement, the political process
was fraught with problems, eventually leading to the withdrawal of almost all opposition parties from
the transitional government. This enabled the EPRDF to draft and approve a constitution, and to design
language and education policies, not to mention broad, farreaching economic and political guidelines.
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The 1994 Constitution states, in Article 5, that Amharic shall be the 'official language of the Federal
Government'. It also states in Articles 2 and 3 respectively that 'all Ethiopian languages shall enjoy equal
state recognition' and that 'the member states of the Federation shall determine their respective official
languages' (Ethiopian Constitution, 1994). Whereas the practice of such broad constitutional provisions
is yet to be seen, the direction of language of education has no constitutional reference, and it is not clear
how indigenous and foreign languages are to be treated in the future. Except for the brief interlude of
transitional arrangements in 199192, there has been no positive and open discussion on language policy
in Ethiopia. Secrecy underpins language policy discourse. The fact that Amharic is still the official
language of the central government carries all the weight, and makes it in practice the medium of
instruction in schools in the north and centre of the country.
As far as the south is concerned, for the sake of administrative expediency, more than ten language
groups are forced to form one 'Federal Administrative Region', which makes it difficult for this region to
use any of the constituent languages other than Amharic. And this makes it likely that the previous
policy will revive, in effect forcing a switch to Amharic at secondary schools. This would exhibit what
the conflict between Kiswahili and English did in Tanzania; namely that the language of education
instead of becoming a liberating, dooropening agent ... becomes constricting and restricting factor,
where basic concepts which should grow with a child, and be added constantly as the child learns more,
are shaken midway by an ineffective change of medium'. (YahyaOthman, 1990: 51)
Currently at least, primary schools in most of the southern areas use indigenous languages and Latin
scripts that are found to be more suitable than the Sabean (Semitic) scripts often used for Amharic and
other northern languages.
But problems still abound. There is a lack of education materials. This was particularly so regarding the
lack of supplementary books other than text books, where students need to develop further their
analytical understanding of the text. Yet the most serious problem regarding language policy is the lack
of political commitment, and the severely authoritarian nature of the political leadership, which lacks
political opposition. When Eritrea reclaimed its independence in 1993, Amharic was replaced with
Tigrinya and Arabic as the media of education and as official languages.
The events in Ethiopia and Eritrea have common precedents in recent developments across the world
and in Africa, to which we now turn.
7. Contemporary Developments
'Transition' is the word that comes and goes relating to Africa's sociopolitical landscape. Once it was the
'wind of change'. Later on, those disenchanted with the first wind wished for 'the second liberation'. A
number of social experiments were tried in the name 'revolution', 'African socialism', 'apartheid',
'kleptocracy', and gunloaded insurgency. Today, with the end of the cold war, another experiment is on
its way, if it has not already expired: multiparty democracy. Being one reflection of the unidirectional
process of changes along Western lines, democratization was equated with concepts such as party
competition and liberal economics to mention but a few. Most of these are forced on Africa where the
Western realities are a long way from being obtained.
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Of all of these, 'multiparty politics' is a much bandied about term, which at least has the advantage of
referring to initiatives that have been tried and are still being tried. It is beyond dispute that if handled
with sensitivity and care, genuine democratisation presents a number of opportunities. It gives people the
chance for change, in particular the chance to change unyielding, unwanted authority. It enables societies
to look for alternatives in place of social and political decay. It makes public officials accountable to the
people and to their express needs.
The possibilities are diverse; but the brief experience so far is by no means encouraging. While few
governments were willing to be voted out of office peacefully, in many cases incumbent regimes
remained in place by using all the means at their disposal, such as harassing opposition, creating
surrogate parties and manipulating the political procedure. There is also a clash of perception as to how
democracy comes into being and functions, irrespective of the sociopolitical environment. That is, it is
less clear what strictly constitutes a democratic process. The outcome of competitive party rule, in an
environment where ethnic domination has so far been concealed in single party system, is not
necessarily that which one would expect from American or British elections where, by and large, two
main parties compete for a share of votes, and where issues and interests are clearly articulated through
'free' and informed media (the Fourth estate). But these models are hardly the ones African regimes have
followed, often curbing, if not circumscribing the freedom of the media. Due to a constellation of
historical and political conditions, African democracy will take shapes that are not precisely the same as
Western liberal thinking. For example, if true democracy prevails in an African village, people will
choose as their representatives those who share their own languages, address their concerns and
grievances, and who support local initiatives. These scenarios would serve as distinctive features of
African democracy.
On the economic front, the trend has continued of 'opening up' the fragile economies to market forces, to
multinationals, as a precondition to getting 'adjustment' loans and access to external capital. The effect of
globalisation and the trend in technology and information are yielding diverse outcomes, sometimes
eroding the economic and political base of Africa's nonnation states.
The transborder flow of electronic data and 'electronic' capital in the information age, is rapidly
crossing the artificial boundaries, where and when men failed to cross them. It is not as of yet known
what precise impacts these phenomena will have on African economies. But one thing is certain: the
illconceived rush to statebuilding at the cost of genuine nationbuilding was never warranted.
Alternatives ought to be sought along the lines of peopleoriented development and political
participation, all of which will require the revival and activation of indigenous languages and cultures.
This might also require ever more regional cooperation among the states. In stipulating this grassroots
alternative, Robinson (1996: 171) reckons that nongovernment organisations (NGOs) are well poised to
undertake contextual development activities, and to choose appropriate strategies so as to support local
initiatives and build capacity (though, like their governmental counterparts, they also may be prone to
waste of resources through corruption). He further argues that these institutions would strengthen respect
for local cultures, and they are 'more likely to use the local language in their communication, since their
actions are premised on the participation of the people'.
Socially and culturally, the trend of Westemisation embodies elements of cultural and linguistic
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imperialism. Positive attitudes are created towards using foreign languages with incentives attached,
such as a good job for those educated through them. On the other hand, there is a defence of cultural and
linguistic autonomy manifested in the proliferation of identity movements. One only has to note the
protracted struggle for independence in different countries. The central issue is popular participation,
redressing past injustices and changing or reversing prevailing ethnic domination. In this equation, the
vitality of ethnicity in the language debate is notable. As Robinson (1996: 168) puts it:
since language is readily available as a symbol of ethnicity, any promotion of African languages can be
interpreted as a desire to enhance the political power of these speakers [and that] genuine pluralistic
policies must make space for communities to choose their own language.
Furthermore, due to the move towards pluralism and democratisation, parties may support policies that
yield popular support which means development that is suited to the local needs and means of
communication, (see Mansour, 1993:87).
8. Conclusions
History is replete with the legacies of the past. In the case of former colonies, this meant the use of
foreign languages as the media of education and of government. These languages are beneficial in that
they are international and serve as the means of transferring modern science and technology. The
problem is that they are foreign and difficult to teach and that they may fail to equip the students well for
adult life.
On the other hand, indigenous languages do reflect learners' backgrounds or address their needs while
positively influencing their educational achievement. In that sense they are relevant, practical, and
necessary for the revival of Africa's institutions. Yet there are a number of obstacles, most of which
emanate from historical, political and economic reasons. That is precisely why one recommends that
language policy ought to take all these broad considerations into account at design and implementation
levels. The consequences of failing to reckon with Africa's own background has come back to haunt
entire societies. And people have become increasingly aware of the need to revive African cultures and
the use of African languages in the revival of African economic and political institutions. To this end,
African policy makers and opinion formers need to look into the possibility of using indigenous
languages in education and government and, in order to do so, they will also need a multidisciplinary
research agenda to inform the development of new language policies.
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Reference Style: The following is the suggested format for referencing this article:
Hameso, Seyoum. The Language of Education in Africa: The Key Issues [online] URL:
<http://sidamaconcern.com/hameso/language.pdf >(March 2001)
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