April
2007
The Language Question0
Once again there is a serious national debate in Tanzania concerning the use of Kiswahili vs. English in secondary schools and other higher educational institutions (e.g., teacher training colleges and universities) in the country. The conventional wisdom has long held that students seek out English-language univerisities for their higher prestige. Therefore, to stay competitive with countries such as Kenya (which has far more advanced English speakers than Tanzania), the educational ministries have encouraged compulsory English language instruction for all subjects. Reportedly, Mwalimu Nyerere (TZ’s first president) was behind an effort to maintain English as the language of secondary and higher education, when it was first seriously challenged in the 1980s.
Even though a full conversion into Kiswahili-language only secondary schools would put me out of work as a science and math teacher – as good as my language abilities may be 
- I have to admit that it seems like fairly sound national policy to me. It is incredibly frustrating to see students struggle in a subject because they lack the adequate language skills. As I often tell my students, to understand English is good, to understand science is better.