This archive report was first published on 13 August 2019.
As Kenya adopts the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), it is crucial to reassess the significance of mother tongue in our education system. The 1976 Gachathi Commission report recommended that languages of the catchment be used for education in rural schools up to Grade Three, while Swahili be used for teaching in urban schools.
On August 13, 2019, Peter Mose argued that mother tongue is not a barrier to learning English, but rather a vital tool for acquiring knowledge. He emphasized that English should not be promoted as the sole language of instruction, as this would downgrade our 43 languages and obliterate essential elements of our diverse indigenous cultures.
Research shows that many children from informal settlements and rural areas struggle to acquire English in classrooms, where it is often taught in code-switched form. This makes it difficult for them to understand and learn the subject. In contrast, languages like Swahili or Tugen are generously heard at homes, playgrounds, and other social gatherings, making it easier for children to learn and understand them.
Advocating English monolingualism would undermine our multilingual and multicultural heritage. Instead, we should promote multilingualism by anchoring mother tongues in CBC, bringing up a generation of tolerant young people who will espouse unity and find pride in our diverse languages and cultures.
Dr. Mose, a lecturer and researcher, argued that teaching in mother tongue does not mean children will not acquire English. English will be taught as a subject from Grade One, alongside content subjects like mathematics. This approach is similar to Germany, where children are taught content subjects in German up to university, alongside the teaching of English as a second language.
