'Education should be bilingual'

2005-10-26 14:06

Addis Ababa - A British education expert with experience in teaching in Africa said on Wednesday that educating children in sub-Saharan Africa solely through European languages was likely to inhibit their academic development.

A consultant with the University of Bristol and the London Institute of Education, John Clegg, said: "Education through European languages limits levels of individual and school achievements."

Clegg was speaking at the opening of a conference on language and development.

In a paper entitled "Moving Towards Bilingual Education in Africa", Clegg contended that children who were educated through both a local language and a foreign language were likely to perform better in school and develop higher second language ability than those taught only through a European language.

Community involvement in education

He said: "Bilingual education should mean that part of the curriculum is learned in local languages."

Clegg said bilingual education also prompted greater community involvement in education.

He said until now, teacher education in Africa had largely avoided the question of the medium of instruction, calling for bilingual education initiatives to be implemented "urgently" with help from development agencies.

Some 150 participants from Africa, Asia, North and Central America attended the seventh International Language and Development Conference in Addis Ababa.

The conference explored language policy, learning and teaching in the developing world.

- SAPA