Learning in a Foreign Language

Tanzania has seen huge success in its education sector, receiving a United Nations award in 2010 for impressive progress towards attaining the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education.

The primary school enrollment rate has reached 95%.

The country also has about 24 universities, which graduates thousands of Tanzanians every year to work both in and out of Tanzania.

The Tanzanian education system is bilingual, and requires children to learn both Kiswahili and English languages. Academic instruction at the primary level is in Kiswahili, post-primary, it occurs in English.

This is great because, English is essential. It is the language which links Tanzania and the rest of the world through technology, commerce and administration. Learning Kiswahili, the national language, enables Tanzania’s students to keep in touch with their cultural values and heritage.

However, a lot of teachers and students lack a good command of English, making this system lead to poor academic performance in secondary and higher learning institutions.

English is not Tanzanians’ mother tongue, and most students start getting academic instruction in English without proper preparation and understanding of the language. Delivering and grasping course materials in English has been a huge hurdle, leading to students completing their studies without properly understanding what they have been taught.

To reduce this effect, Tanzania has improved its English syllabus, as well as increased the average number of English lessons per week in secondary school, where English is a compulsory subject, as well as the medium of instruction.

Nevertheless much effort is required to help students get a better grasp of English, including enforcing its usage on school premises, and providing more English books to make schoolwork easier for Tanzanian students, and help them become competitive in the global market.

But I would also like to know what the audience thinks. Do you think it is better to teach in the students’ mother tongue, if teachers and students will both have an easier time with it? Or is it worthwhile to make the language of instruction English, so students have better opportunities in this global integrated world?

Photo: © Curt Carnemark / World Bank