This archive report was first published on 24 July 2019.
On July 24, 2019, a motion by nominated MCA Silvia Museiya proposed that the Nairobi County government's Education department develop a policy requiring every ECDE centre to have a lesson on language and culture.
The proposed policy aims to revive indigenous languages that are fast facing extinction, especially in urban centres where children are from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
Ms Museiya argued that early childhood education is a devolved function and asked the Education department to come up with a policy compelling them to introduce a lesson called language and culture at least once a week.
She said teaching the young learners, who are between the ages of three and seven, to communicate in their mother tongues would go a long way in reviving languages which risk being forgotten.
Ms Museiya stated, 'I just need the children to be able to identify with an African language and culture and minimise the Western cultural influence in our society. If we continue losing our culture then we will even lose our social norms and values as a society.'
