PRIMARY and Secondary Education minister Lazarus Dokora said the government was working on developing indigenous languages and promoting their teaching in schools, as they have started printing and sending out books to various schools where the languages are taught. LUYANDUHLOBO MAKWATI OWN CORRESPONDENT
Speaking at the Bulawayo Press Club on Sunday, Dokora said the government had last month launched a secondary schools series of Tonga books and they were still doing more of those programmes in a bid to develop the country’s indigenous languages.
“We are making efforts to develop these languages and we hope that soon all these programmes will be running well and these languages will be taught in schools,” he said.
Dokora said the government was also working on enrolling teachers at Great Zimbabwe University, an institution that is designated for the growth of local and cultural studies, who would teach the indigenous languages.
“We hope most of our teachers will enrol in institutions such as Great Zimbabwe University so that they could learn the indigenous languages and they become assets of value in the country’s education sector so that indigenous languages could be fully functional in various domains,” he said.
The minister urged teachers to upgrade themselves, as the government was offering various scholarships for their learning at five State universities, where teachers will be trained in various programmes.
Dokora said his ministry was still working on a curriculum review will soon be giving a position on the procedure.
“We need these programmes to be supported by every stakeholder because our living trends have changed and we will be reviewing the curriculum every seven years,” he said.
