This archive report was first published on 25 July 2019.
On July 25, 2019, nominated Nairobi MCA Silvia Museiya introduced a bill to require Nairobi County's Education department to develop a policy promoting the teaching of vernacular languages in Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centres.
The proposed policy aims to encourage children to learn and express themselves in their mother tongue, fostering a connection with their cultural backgrounds.
According to MCA Silvia, the idea is to enable children to identify with and express themselves in an indigenous African language, minimizing Western cultural influence in society.
She emphasized the importance of teaching young learners, particularly those between three and seven years old, to communicate in their mother tongue, which will help revive forgotten languages and promote cultural identity.
“The children can learn from home and come and express it in school. The teacher can ask them to talk about their families in mother tongue. This will prevent scenarios where children cannot interact with rural folks because of language barrier,” MCA Silvia said.
