L E A P n e w s. Tahariri. Editor s note. Number 15/16 September December 2007 Newsletter of the Language in Education in Africa Project

Transcription

1 L E A P n e w s Number 15/16 September December 2007 Newsletter of the Language in Education in Africa Project Author Niki Daly entertaining a young audience at the Vulindlela Reading Club, Langa, Cape Town Editor s note Dumelang, Molweni, Jambo, Hallo, Ola. Welcome to this end of the year LEAPnews edition, the first double issue. And thanks to our readers for the volumes of complementary comments and inputs we ve received. In this edition we talk about language diversity and the need for a practical approach to the integration of African languages into different spheres of society. It is common to hear people talking about the connection between language, diversity, culture and identity, but what does this mean? And what has language got to do with anything in today s life? In their paper, Language and Economy i-dollar eyi-one! (one dollar for all), Ana Deumert and Nkululeko Mabandla explain how language can embody commitment to both development and diversity in order to strengthen the economy. The authors focus on two Cape Town townships as a microcosm of Tahariri Dumelang, Molweni, Jambo, Hallo, Ola. Karibuni kwenye toleo jingine tena la kuvutia la LEAPnews ambalo ni la mwisho wa mwaka. Unaweza kuona kuwa matoleo ya LEAPnews Na. 15 na Na.16 yamo katika toleo hili. Asanteni sana kwa wingi wa maoni yenu ya pongezi na michango ya mawazo ambayo mnaendelea kuyatuma kwenye LEAPnews. Katika toleo hili tutazungumzia mpanuko bayana wa lugh na mkabala wa kipragmatiki na mwingiliano wa lugha za Kiafrika katika duru mbalimbali za jamii zetu. Mara nyingine, ni kawaida kusikia watu wakisema kuhusu Lugha, mpanuko, utamaduni na uhusiano wa utambulisho katika utani; je, hii huwa na maana gani kwa mtu wa kawaida? Swali ambalo huulizwa mara kwa mara ni: Kuna umuhimu gani wa lugha katika maisha ya sasa? Katika makala yake ya Lugha na Uchumi i-dollar eyi-one (dola moja kwa wotel), Ana Deumert wa Chuo Kikuu cha Cape Town, anaeleza umuhimu wa jinsi

2 LEAPnews 15/16 South Africa. Their paper shows how language can be used as both human and social capital in development. There is a peculiar perception that African or indigenous languages are a waste of time in terms of economic development and technology. This is despite the fact that they remain a vital means of communication to their users. We provide a summary of a paper by two concerned Zimbabwean language lobbyists, Enna Sukutai Gudhlanga and Godwin Makaudze, who identify the frustrations and challenges faced by writers and publishers of Shona literature in Zimbabwe today. In many respects, their situation is mirrored in countries across our continent. On the research front, we include summaries of documents highlighting the need to promote indigenous languages and literacy in education. These include the international PIRLS assessment, and a research proposal by the Human Sciences Research Council (South Africa) and Alliant International University (USA), which seeks to address the disparity between language education policy, programme implementation and delivery at the chalk-face. There s more interesting language news to read about in this issue. Enjoy every word as you take the ride with us. Happy X-mas! Until the next time. T h a n d e k a lugha inavyoweza kufungamanishwa kwenye maendeleo na mpanuko ili kuuimarisha uchumi. Katika mifano yake, Ana anaitaja Afrika Kusini kama ni moja ya mifano yake ambayo huruhusu watu kuelewa jinsi lugha inavyoweza kutumika katika mitaji ya kibinadamu na kijamii kama kifaa muhimu katika maendeleo.kuna dhana isiyo ya kawaida ya kwamba lugha za Kiafrika au za kienyeji zinapoteza muda tu kuhusu, mathalan, uchumi na teknolojia ya dunia. Lakini kwa watumiaji wa lugha za kienyeji, lugha hizo ni njia muhimu ya mawasiliano. Watetezi wawili wa lugha, Enna Sukutai Gudhlanga na Godwin Makaudze, wote wawili kutoka Zimbabwe hivi karibuni waliandika makala inayoitwa Kuandika na kuchapisha katika lugha za kienyeji ni kupoteza muda bure: uhakiki wa changamoto inayowakabili waandishi na wachapishaji wa fasihi ya ki-shona katika Zimbabwe (lugha ya kienyeji ambayo inazungumzwa na wa-zimbabwe zaidi ya 75 %). Haya ni baadhi ya mambo yanayokatisha tamaa ambayo wanapambana nayo watu wa lugha katika shughuli zao.msisitizo wa makala ni kuonesha kwamba bado kuna machapisho machache ya lugha ya ki-shona huko Zimbabwe. Kuna habari zaidi za kuvutia kuhusu lugha katika toleo hili. Ni imani yangu kuwa utalifurahia kila neno utakalolisoma. Kwa hiyo, karibu ili twende pamoja. Krismasi njema! Tukutane tena. Kwaheri! Thandeka Nota Editorial Dumelang, Molweni, Jambo, Hallo, Olá. Bem-vindos e bem-vindas a mais uma interessante LEAPnews, uma edição combinada de fim de ano. Notarão que as edições números 15 e 16 estão aqui combinadas. Muito obrigada pela quantidade de comentários lisonjeiros e opiniões que continuam a enviar para LEAPnews. Nesta edição falamos sobre diversidade linguista e a necessidade duma abordagem pragmática para a integração de línguas Africanas em diferentes esferas da sociedade. É comum ouvirmos as pessoas falarem sobre da ligação que existe entre língua, diversidade, cultura e identidade, mas o que é que isso significa? Uma pergunta frequentemente feita é: O que é que o significado da língua tem a ver com a vida no dia a dia?. No seu ensaio, Língua e Economia I-dollar eyi-one (um dólar para todos), Ana Deumert e Nkululeko Mabandla explicam o significado de como a língua pode incorporar compromisso com ambos, o desenvolvimento e a diversidade para fortalecer a economia. Os autores usam duas favelas de Cape Town como um microcosmo da África do Sul. O seu ensaio mostra como a língua pode ser usada como ambos capital humano e capital social no desenvolvimento. Existe uma percepção peculiar que línguas Africanas ou indígenas são uma perca de tempo no que diz respeito à economia mundial e à tecnologia. Isto apesar do facto que elas continuam a ser um meio de comunicação vital para as pessoas que as usam. Apresentamos um sumário dum ensaio por dois lobistas linguistas preocupados, Enna Sukutai Gudhlanga e Godwin Makaudze, que identificam as frustrações e desafios encarados por escritores/as e editores/as de literatura Shona no Zimbábue hoje em dia. Em muitos aspectos, a sua situação reflecte-se em países através do continente. No campo da pesquisa incluímos sumários duma série de relatórios recentes que realçam a necessidade de promover línguas indígenas na educação. Estes incluem uma proposta pelo Human Sciences Research Council (Conselho para Pesquisa nas Ciências Humanas África do Sul) e pela Alliant International University (EUA), Para um Ensino de Alfabetização e uma Aprendizagem Eficazes na Educação Africana, que procura fazer face à disparidade entre a política de educação linguista, implementação de programas e entrega nas aulas. Há mais notícias linguistas de interesse para ler nesta publicação. Espero que apreciem cada palavra que leiam e que tomem este percurso connosco. Um bom Natal! Até à próxima. Thandeka

3 Sept. Dec Snip-snap short articles on African languages Kur lor langaz kreol dan Liniversite Mardi 25 September 2007, Liniversite Moris finn lans pu premye fwa enn kur Introdiksyon a bann Langaz Kreol. Li enn kur partaym ki pu dire ziska kumansman Etidyan sirtu konpoze de bann dimunn ki milite ubyin travay dan bann lorganisazyon ki servi ek promuvwar langaz kreol kuma LPT, Playgroup, BEC. Profeser Arnaud Carpooran ki responsab kur finn explike ki sa kur la (standalone) finn gayn plis ki minimam kantite etidyan neser pu demare sinon Liniversite pa ti pu al delavan. Dapre regleman Liniversite kur bizin an Angle, eksepte si li enn kur langaz. Sa finn permet ki servi langaz kreol kuma medyom osi byin ki angle ek franse pu sa kur la. Konteni kur pu kuver bann size kuma, definisyon ek lorizinn langaz kreol, striktir gramatikal, literatir dan langaz kreol, devlopman grafi. Liniversite Moris pe rekomann itilizasyon grafi larmoni me pu flexib lor bann varyason lor manyer ekrir. par Rada Kistnasamy A course on the Kreol language at the University of Mauritius On 25 September 2007, the University of Mauritius introduced its first-ever course in Creole languages. The part-time course ends at the beginning of Most of the students are activists or working in organizations which promote the use of the Kreol language. Most come from the Workers Education Association (LPT), Playgroups and the Catholic Education Bureau (BEC). Prof Arnaud Carpooran is responsible for the organisation of this stand alone course. He said there were more applications than the minimum required for the go-ahead from the University. According to university rules all courses with the exception of language courses have to be run in English. This has allowed the use of the Kreol language as medium for the course, in addition to English and French. The contents of the course will cover the definition and origin of the Kreol language, grammatical structure, literature in the Kreol language, and the development of orthography. The University of Mauritius is recommending utilization of the Grafi Larmoni but will be flexible on variations in ways of writing. translation by Pushpa Lallah African writers tell their stories and experiences Pencils were scribbling, storyboards were pored over and ideas bounced back and forth as writers from 11 African countries gathered at a workshop at UCT over the past long weekend to pull together an anthology of stories that will, if all pans out, be read by children across the continent. The workshop forms part of the pan-african Stories Across Africa (StAAf ), a core project of the African Academy of Languages, the language agency of the African Union. Three anthologies of African stories one directed at children aged 9 12, the other at teenagers will come out of the project by the end of this year. But two calls for stories have failed to scare up enough material for a volume aimed at the formative 0 6 age group, explains Dr Carole Bloch, who co-ordinates the project from the Early Literacy Unit at the UCT-based Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA). It s not tradition to write for young children in Africa, says Bloch. As yet. Hence the workshop, where writers sat down with illustrators and famed South African children s writer Niki Daly to pen from scratch stories, rhymes and lullabies for the anthology. It ll be a while before the volume makes it into print but, thanks to the workshop, organisers now have a collection of stories and texts to start off with. by Megan Morris At the StAAf workshop (top): Niki Daly with Pushpa Lallah (Mauritius), and (above, l to r) Doare Wade (Senegal), Suzana Mukobwajana (Rwanda), Ismaila Traore (Mali). Photos: PRAESA continued over...

4 LEAPnews 15/16 New ACALAN core project The African Academy of Languages (ACALAN) has another core project: the Linguistic Atlas Project for Africa ( acalan.org/eng/projets/atlas.php). Initiated in the African Union s Year of African Languages 2006/7, the project aims to use the latest technological means available to continue the mapping of the continent s many languages that was begun decades ago. The project aims to build on recent mega-projects such as the Linguasphere (David Dalby) and the Ethnologue (La Société Internationale de Linguistique, or SIL). A core challenge will be to distinguish between language families, languages and dialects a source of ongoing debate amongst scholars. New book on language in Africa Congratulations to Paulin Djité on his new book, The Sociolinguistics of Development in Africa (Multilingual Matters, 2007), which we hope to review in our next issue. Boost for mother tongue reading 11 September 2007 South African mother tongue education received a multi-million rand boost this week, in the form of a partnership between South Africa and the United States that will see more than R21 million spent on developing children s books in local languages over the next three years. The Innovative Texts in Home Languages Uniquely Based in Africa (Ithuba) project, a partnership between the Education Department and the United States President s Africa Education Initiative (AEI), was launched at the Mathole Motshekga Primary School in Midrand, Johannesburg on Monday. Ithuba an IsiZulu word meaning opportunities is being piloted in the Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, where 120 books written by South Africans will be made available in SiSwati, Ndebele, Tshivenda and Xitsonga. The project is turning participating South African teachers into authors on topics involving science, mathematics and life orientation. According to SABCNews, the first 16 books, all authored by local teachers and targeting children in grades 3, 4 and 5, have already been completed. Speaking at Monday s launch, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said it was a concern that the majority of South African children were poor readers, often reading at well below their age-appropriate level. According to a recent survey by the South African Book Development Council, only one in seven South Africans read books. This is a challenge for us in education, because we know that reading is critical for learning, Pandor said. by SAinfo reporter and BuaNews ithuba-project.htm AILA Africa ReN Newsletter launch The Research Network for Applied Linguistics and Literacy in Africa and the Diaspora (ReN) has published its inaugural newsletter, dated October It follows the launch of the ReN ( at the June conference of the Association Internationale de Linguistique Applique (AILA, According to editor Lauryn Oates (lauryn.oates@gmail.com), the idea is for members to share information on research matters. The first issue profiles literacy and language education research in the East Africa, West Africa and Southern Africa regions. News of upcoming conferences, a research corner, notes on technology, and book reviews make up the remainder of this bilingual (English/French) publication. Upcoming events... National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NACOLCTC) The 12th Annual Meeting of the African Language Teachers Association (ALTA) is scheduled for April 24 27, 2008, in Madison, Wisconsin, USA (with a pre-conference workshop scheduled for Thursday, April 24th). General Proposals are solicited for individual papers and poster sessions. Proposals should fall broadly within the conference theme, African Languages and Globalization: Challenges, Expectations, and Possibilities. Although proposed presentations may focus on individual languages, they should address issues that clearly relate to more than just one African language. Presentations may address the linkage between language study and globalization, curriculum and material development, methodology, bilingual education, heritage language learners, autonomous and self-instructional settings, outreach and advocacy, and the use of technology in teaching African languages. Location: ALTA University of Wisconsin-Madison 4231 Humanities Building 455 N. Park St. Madison, WI 53706, United States of America alta@mailplus.wisc.edu

5 Sept. Dec IVULINDLELA IQELA ELIFUNDAYO LASEKUHLALENI Vulindlela ukuze Sifunde itsho ingoma eqanjwe liqela ivulindlela! Iqaqa liziqikaqika eqawukeni laqhawuka uqhoqhoqho! Lo ngomnye umdlalo othandwa liqela ivulindlela. IVulindlela iqela elifundayo lasekuhlaleni lasungulwa ngodisemba wonyaka ophelileyo kwalanga ngumbutho izisukhanyo Youth Empowerment (ZYE) ngentsebenziswano nabakwapraesa. Injongo zezye kukuxhobisa ulutsha lwelizwe lwethu kumacandelo emfundo, entlalo, enkcubeko nelepolitiko, ezinye iinjongo zeli nyathelo kuku: dala imeko apho isigulo sokufunda esithe saqhwalelisa ulutsha lwelizwe lethu siza kunyangwa, ngokwabelana nangokukhuthaza ukufunda nokubhala ngendlela eyonwabisayo nefaka imidlalo kubo bonke abantwana bakwa- Langa. Kukusatyelwa isicelo sikamphathiswa unaledi Pandor, obongoze bonke abantu basemzantsi Afrika ukuba balahle yonke into baqalise ukufunda! Kukusabela kwisicwangciso Sokuphuhlisa ukufunda, uku- Bhala nokubala, iwced Literacy and numeracy strategy, kumabanga aphantsi esichaza senjenje ngokukhuthaza ukuzibandakanya kweefemeli nabantu basekuhlaleni, Sifuna abantwana abafundayo kwisitrato esifundayo, kwiindawo zethu zokuhlala inguqu kwiindawo zethu zokuhlala ezibandakanya ukufunda... IVulindlela yenziwe ngabafundi abavela kwizikolo zamabanga aphantsi ezintandathu zakwalanga. Eli qela liquka amaqela amancinci abantwana abakwiminyaka emi-2 7, i-8 10 nabaneminyaka eli Abantwana kwiqela ngalinye bafundiswa izakhono ezininzi: ukufunda nokubhala ngesixhosa kwenye iveki, ibe sisingesi kwenye; idrama; ukuzoba kunye neendlela zokuziphatha. Abazali, ulutsha lwasekuhlaleni kunye nootitshala bamkelekile ukuba beze kweli qela lifundayo ukuza kwabelana naba bantwana ngamabali afundwayo nabaliswayo kunye nezinye izakhono eziquka ukubhala nemidlalo. Ukusukela oko lasekwayo, eli qela liye lafumana inkxaso engenakubaliswa kubantu abavolontiyayo bezisukhanyo Youth Empowerment, abasepraesa, amavolontiya asuka kwiindawo ezifana noojapan, Melika, Denmark, NewAfrica Books- emzantsi Afrika kunye nabafundi abantetho yabo isisingesi abavela kwisikolo samabanga aphezulu iwesterford High School. Ixhaswe ngeencwadi zokufunda ngabakwapraesa nobiblionef South Africa. Eli Qela likwabulela inkxaso eliyifumene kwabakwa-oxford University Press ngeencwadi zokufunda kunye nabebefudula beyibuchu Books ngemali yokuthenga ezinye iincwadi zokufunda. Likwenza umbulelo ongazenzisiyo kunomabali, usindiwe Magona ngokugcina eli qela lidlamkile yaye linomdla kumabali. Elinye iqela elifana neli lisandulwa kusekwa elotus River ngumelanie Zeederberg noomama abafundayo abahlala kule ngingqi. Eli iqela lifunda ngesibhulu nesingesi. Kungekudala la maqela mabini aza kufumana izipho Mona Moheb, Egyptian author and journalist, helps young Vulindlela members with their reading. See page 28 for more photographs zekrisimesi kubantu bemagazini i-insig eza kupha abantwana iincwadi njengezipho zekrisimesi ka2007. Abantu abanomdla kweli qela lifundayo laselotus River bangaqhagamshelana Melanie.Zeederberg@uct.ac.za. Ukuba ubani ufuna ukwazi banzi ngeli lakwalanga, angaqhagamshelana Xolisa.Guzula@uct.ac.za okanye Ntombizanele. Mahobe@uct.ac.za. Summary Open the way for us to learn is the theme given to the Vulindlela Reading Club by its members. There are popular old folk stories told by the authors of children s story books and teachers who offer voluntary help to Vulindlela. Vulindlela Reading Club strives to create literate communities by fostering love for stories and books in informal, creative and nurturing ways. It is a youth development initiative project that was formed in December 2006 at Langa in Cape Town by Zisukhanyo Youth Empowerment. The project targets health issues such as HIV/AIDS through awareness campaigns PRAESA supports the project by developing reading skills. Children from grades 0 7, aged between 2 and 15 years meet every Saturday at the St. Louis Primary School for their reading. For further information on how to start a reading club you can contact: Xolisa.Guzula@uct.ac.za Ntombizanele.Mahobe@ uct.ac.za Melanie.Zeederberg@uct.ac.za

6 6 LEAPnews 15/16 To empower people, the vernacular has to be used for literacy Hassana Alidou is professor of the TESOL Programme and of Cross Cultural Studies, Alliant International University, San Diego, California. She has published widely on language policy in education, and contributed to a major recent study on mother-tongue and bilingual What brings you to Cape Town? I m here as a Visiting African Research Fellow at the invitation of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). Dr Kathleen Heugh of the HSRC and I are developing a joint proposal for the examination of literacy programmes and approaches in the new bilingual programmes promoted in Africa since We have been asked to present the proposal to a UNESCO meeting in Bamako, Mali, in September [see summary, page 24 eds]. Where do you come from originally, and which languages do you speak? I come from Niamey, the capital of Niger. People speak Hausa and Zarma-Sonrai, which is a variety of Songhai, as well as Fulfulde and French. I grew up multilingually. Having lost both my parents at a young age, I was reared by my grandparents, who were Fulani and spoke Fulfulde. My twin sister and I were also adopted by Catholic nuns from Canada, who spoke French. We as children spoke Hausa and Fulfulde, while our schooling was in French. My father was from Niger, my mother was originally from Mali, so I m very attached to both countries. What has been your involvement in language research in Africa? From 1994 to 2002 I was involved in a DSE (German Foundation for International Development) language education project in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. I was academic director of the training of curriculum specialists for bilingual education. DSE developed these projects to support Ministries of education in their mission to promote quality basic education for all. We organized and facilitated the training in collaboration with colleagues from Germany and Chile, and we produced textbooks in the national languages which were used as means of instruction. Our aim was to improve education quality within the existing policy and to further education in mother tongue beyond the third grade. Throughout the implementation of these projects, I have conducted research to examine the impact of the educational innovations, as I m always interested to show research evidence that will be convincing to public policy-makers. Between the 2003 and 2006 ADEA [Association of Democratic Educators in Africa] bienniales I was part of a research team brought together by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), ADEA and GTZ to examine further the medium of instruction issue in formal education in sub-saharan Africa. After a process of drafting, peer review and validation of the education in sub-saharan Africa. Hassana Alidou There is now a need to develop a model for children to cross over from all these alternative schools to formal schooling study, the second draft was officially presented to the Ministers of Education in Gabon in 2006 by Kathleen Heugh and myself. The final report is about to be published by UNESCO. What exemplary language models and practices have you found, particularly in West Africa? For me, bilingual and multilingual education is a continuum from terrible to best models and practices. My philosophy is to help governments think more progressively to ensure the best quality education, based on the existing socio-economic resources. It s all very well to have successful experimental projects such as the six-year primary project in Ife, Nigeria. Unfortunately, the project was only taken up in one region, and never became national policy. The challenge for planners is to scale up to full implementation across the system. This was achieved in Tanzania and Somalia, although there was the inevitable political dissatisfaction. Mali started with early-exit (3 years of mother-tongue education), but is now considering going beyond that. The country has been systematic in language policy implementation. This has given the system the ability to self-correct in regard to teacher education programmes, learning materials and school classroom practices. Do school communities in West Africa decide on the school s own language policy, as in South Africa? Since colonial times Francophone Africa has had centralized policies. It is only now that the issue of decentralization is being addressed, although it is not yet a reality on the ground. There are no school governing bodies that determine policy, for instance. It is only the alternative schools that take their own decisions. They start education in the mother tongue, and educate the community. The background is that in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali in the 1980s and 1990s, the World Bank s structural adjustment programmes forced countries and communities to seek other cost-effective and culturally relevant educational alternatives. There is now a need to develop a model for children to cross over from all these alternative schools to formal schooling. The idea is to inject best practices slowly into the formal system. Should African languages be used for tuition at university? For as long as people s languages don t go all the way through the schooling system to university, they will be considered inferior. If they are used at university level, in the administration,... continued on page 8

7 Sept. Dec «Afin de donner le pouvoir aux gens, les langues vernaculaires doivent être utilisées pour l instruction» Hassana Alidou est un professeur du programme TESOL et des Etudes transculturel «Cross Cultural Studies», de l université international Alliant, de San Diego en Californie. Elle a largement publie des œuvres sur les politiques linguistiques dans l éducation, et a contribue a une grande étude récente sur les langues maternelles et l éducation bilingue en Afrique sub-saharienne.. Qu est-ce qui vous emmène à Cape Town? Je suis ici en tant que Camarade de recherche en visite «visiting Research Fellow», sous l invitation du conseil de Recherches en Sciences Humaines, «Human Sciences Research Council» (HSRC). Le Dr Kathleen Heugh du HSRC et moi sommes entrain de développer un projet joint pour l examen des programmes e approches d instruction dans les nouveaux programmes bilingues promu en Afrique depuis Il nous a été demande de présenter ce projet au cours d une réunion de l UNESCO a Bamako au Mali en Septembre [voir sommaire plus loin éd]. D où venez vous et combien de langues parlez-vous? Je suis originaire de Niamey, la capitale du Niger. Las bas, les gens parlent le Hausa et le Zarma-sonrai qui est une variété du Songhaï. On parle aussi le Fulfulde et le français. J ai grandi de manière multilingue. Ayant perdu mes deux parents a un jeune âge, j ai été élevée par mes grands-parents qui étaient Foulani et parlaient le Fulfulde. Ma sœur jumelle et moi fumes adopte par des sœurs catholique du canada qui parlaient le français. Nous les enfants, nous parlions le Hausa et le Fulfulde, et notre scolarité était en français. Mon père était du Niger et ma mère du Mali, donc je suis très attachée aux deux pays. Quel a été votre participation dans la recherche linguistique en Afrique? De 1994 a 2001, j étais implique dans un projet d éducation de langues, le DSE (German Foundation for International Development), au Burkina Faso, au Mali et au Niger. J étais directeur académique du curriculum de formation de spécialistes en éducation bilingue. La DSE a développé ces projets pour soutenir le ministère de l éducation dans leur mission de promouvoir une éducation de base de qualité. Nous organisions et facilitions les formations en collaboration avec des collègues de l Allemagne et la Chile, et nous produisions des livres dans les langues nationaux qui étaient utilise comme langue d instruction. Notre but était d améliorer la qualité de l éducation au sein des politiques existantes et de faire avancer l éducation en langues maternelles au-delà du Grade 3. Tout au long de l application de ces projets, j ai fait des recherches pour examiner l impacte des innovations éducationnelles, étant donné que je tiens toujours à apporter des preuves de recherches qui pourraient convaincre les décideurs de politiques publiques. Entre les biennales de l ADEA (Association of Il y a désormais un besoin de développer un model pour permettre aux enfants d aller de ces écoles alternatives à l école plus conventionnelle Democratic Educators in Africa) de 2003 et 2006, je faisait partie d une équipe de recherche mise sur pied par l Institut of Lifelong Learning, (UIL) de l UNESCO, par l ADEA et par le GTZ, pour examiner plus en profondeur les problèmes d éducation formel/enseignement conventionnelen Afrique sub-saharienne. Après un processus de préparation, de critique et de validation de l étude, la seconde mouture fut officiellement présentée aux ministres de l éducation au Gabon en 2006, par Kathleen Heugh et moi. Le compte rendu final est en voie de publication par l UNESCO. Quels modèles et pratiques linguistique exemplaires avez-vous trouve, particulièrement en Afrique de l ouest? Pour moi, l éducation bilingue et multilingue est un continuum, allant des modèles et pratiques terriblement mauvaises à celles qui sont les meilleurs. Ma philosophie est d aider les gouvernements à penser plus progressivement pour assurer une meilleure qualité d éducation basée sur les ressources socio-économiques existantes. Il est bien beau d avoir des projets expérimentaux qui ont réussi tel que le projet primaire de 6 ans d Ife au Nigeria. Malheureusement ce projet fut appliqué dans une région et ne devint jamais une politique nationale. Le challenge des leadeurs (planificateurs) c est d échelonner de manière a obtenir une application totale a travers le système. Ceci fut achevé en Tanzanie et en Somalie, même comme il y avait l inévitable mécontentement politique. Le Mali a démarré avec 3ans d éducation en langue maternelle mais aujourd hui est entrain d envisager d aller plus loin. Le pays a été systématique dans l application des politiques linguistiques. Ceci a donné au système une habilité d autocorrection par rapport aux programmes d éducation des enseignants, aux matériels d études et aux pratiques dans les salles de classes. Est-ce que les communautés scolaires en Afrique de l ouest décident elles mêmes des politiques linguistiques de leurs écoles comme en Afrique du sud? Depuis l époque coloniale, l Afrique francophone a eu des politiques centralisées. C est seulement maintenant que la question de décentralisation est adressée, même comme ce n est pas encore une réalité sur le terrain. Par exemple, Il n y a pas d organes de gestion des écoles qui détermine les politiques. C est seulement les écoles alternatives qui prennent leurs propres décisions. Ils commencent l éducation... continued on page 8

8 LEAPnews 15/16 it sends a powerful signal, as in Nigeria. You would narrow the debate if the use of African languages is limited to primary education, as is the case with Kiswahili in Tanzania. What has kept Tanzania back, in my view, is that it has not developed Kiswahili for tuition at secondary school level and beyond. If the spoken vernacular differs from the inherited written standard, which language variety should be used for literacy and modernization? There s a difference between esoteric or religious languages, and those used for everyday economic activity. What variety one uses to popularize literacy depends on your views on democracy. In Europe during the Middle Ages, Latin was known only by the aristocrats; its use excluded the majority of the people. To empower people the vernacular has to be used to promote literacy. Africa is no different. We need to base the contemporary function of literacy on the lived experience of people. Language spoken in non-formal domains is dynamic, not static. If the goal is to reach the masses, it is necessary to consider the forms of the particular language people speak. My interest is in social justice where are the disenfranchised? I m not a purist. We need to find the best way to promote literacy, and to ask: what are the real functions of languages and literacy? In formal domains, however, we will have to use standard varieties of the languages. How can language and literacy become a resource for empowering people? In Burkina Faso the civil society is very dynamic. People are very engaged with agriculture. There is a popular demand for Unless people s languages are used for economic activity and hence empowerment, people will only say, Give me literacy in English continued from page 6 literacy, and there are literacy classes and co-operatives. Literacy is used within an economic activity: people use these languages and their literacy skills to become more empowered. It is vital to promote literacy within an economic activity. In San Diego, California, a group of Hispanic and refugee women who needed housing formed an NGO. ACORN has mobilized people, developed partnerships with local banks, and included literacy towards investment, down-payments, getting out of debt quite literally capitalizing on literacy. People began by learning English, then learning literacy in Spanish for housing, employment, health. This has led to the economic empowerment of the neighbourhood. I m impressed by the multilingualism on South African television. Unless people s languages are used for economic activity and hence empowerment, people will only say, Give me literacy in English. The way to go is to show people they can develop something empowering locally. Then it can make an impact on a national scale. Does the development of African languages hold the promise of a political emancipation for Black people? Language and culture are part of a person s identity. Black people are as diverse as any other group. I do not share the extreme Afrocentric perspective which rejects the official (former colonial) languages as totally un-african. The post-1960 generation, to which I belong, recognizes that the promotion of African languages and culture must be part of the post-colonial project. But it espouses the official languages as part of the African linguistic repertoire. By definition, insofar as they are spoken by Africans in Africa. English and French can become Africanized. The issue is how to engage those languages within one s own repertoire without using or giving them a status to the detriment of one s own languages. I like the naming of ACALAN, the African Academy of Languages, not the Academy of African Languages. The name has been carefully chosen. National and official languages have to cohabit with each other. On the cultural level, Portuguese, French, English and Spanish can express African hopes and dreams. We can give to these languages an African flavour. The key is brassage culturel, that is, how cultures can come together in a healthy way. We should break away from dichotomizing so that we can regain our own humanity and part of our own history; we cannot deny ourselves this. interview by Peter Plüddemann

9 Sept. Dec continued from page 7 en langue maternelle et éduquent les communautés. Le fond est le suivant; au Burkina Faso, au Niger et au Mali, dans les années , les programmes d ajustement structurels de la Banque Mondiale ont force les pays et communautés à chercher d autres alternatives éducatifs plus économique et culturellement pertinent. Il y a désormais un besoin de développer un model pour permettre aux enfants d aller de ces écoles alternatives à l école plus conventionnelle. L idée est d injecter les meilleures pratiques lentement dans le système formel. Doit-on utiliser les langues africaines dans l enseignement au niveau universitaire? Tant que les langues des gens ne vont pas tout au long jusqu au niveau universitaire, elles seront toujours considérées comme étant inferieurs. Si par contre elles sont utilise au niveau universitaire, dans l administration, ceci envoi un signal puissant, comme au Nigeria. Le débat serrait réduit si les langues africaines se limitaient au niveau primaire, comme c est les cas pour le Kiswahili en Tanzanie. Cequi a retenu la Tanzanie en arrière, a mon avis, c est le fait qu elle n a pas développé le Kiswahili pour l enseignement au niveau secondaire et au-delà. Si la langue vernaculaire parlée diffère de la langue standard écrite, quelle variété doit-on utiliser pour l instruction et la modernisation? Il y a une différence entre les langues ésotériques ou religieuses, et celles utilises pour les activités économiques quotidiennes. La variété que l on utilise pour vulgariser l instruction dépend de vos points de vue sur la démocratie. En Europe au moyen âge, le latin était connu seulement par les aristocrates. Son usage excluait la majorité des gens. Pour donner le pouvoir aux gens, les langues vernaculaires, doivent être utilisé pour promouvoir l instruction. L Afrique n est pas différente. Nous avons besoin de baser les fonctions contemporaines de l instruction sur les expériences vécus des gens. La langue parlée dans un domaine informel est dynamique et non statique. Si l objectif c est d atteindre les masses, il est nécessaire de considérer les formes de la langue particulière que les gens parlent. Mon intérêt est dans la justice sociale- où sont les gens privé des droits civiques? Je ne suis pas une puriste. Nous avons besoin de trouver la meilleure façon de promouvoir l instruction et de poser la question de savoir: quels sont les vraies fonctions des langues et de l instruction? Dans les domaines formels par contre, nous aurons besoin d utiliser les variétés formel de ces langues. A moins que les langues des gens ne soient utilisées pour des activités économiques, les gens diront seulement «donnez-moi l instruction en Anglais» Comment les langues et l instruction peuvent-elles devenir des ressources pour donner le pouvoir aux gens? Au Burkina Faso, la société civile est très dynamique. Les gens sont très impliqués dans l agriculture. Il y a une demande populaire pour l instruction et il y a des coopératives. L instruction est utilisée dans la cadre d une activité économique. Les gens utilisent les langues et leurs compétences d instruction pour se donner plus d autorité/pouvoir. Il est vital de promouvoir l instruction dans le cadre d une activité économique. A San Diego, en Californie, un groupe de femmes refugiées Latino-Américaines qui avaient besoin de logement ont formé une ONG. ACORN a mobilisé les gens, développé des partenariats avec les banques locaux, et a inclus l instruction vers l investissement, les acomptes, sortir des dettes- ils ont littéralement capitalisés sur l instruction. Les gens ont commence par apprendre l anglais, puis ont été instruit en Espagnol pour le logement, l emploi, la santé. Ceci a donné plus d autorité économique au quartier. Je suis impressionnée par le multilinguisme sur la télévision Sud Africaine. A moins que les langues des gens ne soient utilisées pour des activités économiques, les gens diront seulement «donnez-moi l instruction en Anglais». La chose à faire c est de montrer au gens qu ils peuvent développer quelque chose d autoritaire localement. Ensuite cela pourra avoir un impacte à l échelle nationale. Le développement des langues africaines garde-t-il la promesse d une émancipation politique pour les noirs? La langue et la culture font partie de l identité d une personne. Les noirs sont tout aussi diverses que tout autre groupe de personnes. Je ne partage pas la perspective extrême afro centrique qui rejette les langues officiels (précédemment coloniales) comme étant totalement non-africaines. La génération post-1960, a laquelle j appartiens, reconnait que la promotion des langues et cultures africaines doivent faire partie du projet postcolonial. Mais il embrasse les langues officielles comme faisant partie du répertoire linguistique africain. Par définition, aussi longtemps qu ils sont parlés par des africains en Afrique. L Anglais et le français peuvent être africanisés. Le problème est de savoir comment inclure ces langues dans notre propre répertoire sans les utiliser ou leur donner un statut au détriment de notre propre langue. J aime l appellation de l ACALAN; l Académie Africaine de Langues, et non l Académie des Langues Africaines. Le nom a été soigneusement choisi. Les langues nationaux et officielles doivent cohabiter les unes avec les autres. Sur le plan culturel, le Portugais, le Français, l Anglais et l Espagnol peuvent exprimer les espoirs et les rêves africains. Nous pouvons donner à ces langues un goût/parfum africain. La clé c est le brassage culturel, cet-à-dire, comment les cultures peuvent venir ensemble d une manière saine. Nous devons nous détacher de la dichotomisation de manière à pouvoir regagner notre propre humanité, ainsi qu une partie de notre histoire. Nous ne pouvons pas nous refuser ceci. interview par Peter Plüddemann

10 LEAPnews 15/16 10 Book Review The Suitcase Stories Refugee Children Reclaim their Identities by Glynis Clacherty with the Suitcase Storytellers and Dianna Welvering (Double Storey, 2006) This unique book has gained considerable attention throughout the world. It took the author Glynis Clacherty and the refugee children five years to tell of the pain and suffering that these children endured in their lifetime in seeking asylum. This is a book about children who ran away from warring countries within the African continent, including Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Burundi and Angola. After seeing their plight Glynis bought second-hand suitcases for the children on which to paint and write their stories and reflect their pain, rejection, loss of culture, language and identity. Clacherty relates how she realised outings and games were not good enough for these children, who had not just endured trauma in their birth countries but were also subjected to cruelty and an often terrifying existence on the streets of Johannesburg. On top of their emotional baggage, they had to deal with language barriers and cultural issues. The refugee children used pen, paper, art and a suitcase that carried their stories of grief to claim back their identities. With the help of translators the children were encouraged to converse in their home languages such as French, Portuguese, Lingala, Kiswahili, amongst others. The children who tell their stories are not all English speakers. How did you manage to get the stories from them, especially across language barriers? You are correct: the children s home language was not only English. When I first met them some struggled to speak English Paul, for example, had just arrived in the country but they all learned English (and often a local language such as isizulu) very quickly as they needed this for survival. So the conversations we had were all in English. They did speak amongst each other in Kiswahili or French but the sad thing about many refugee children, particularly unaccompanied children who are not within a family environment, is that they lose their home language. For example, Acacio of Angola no longer knows very much Portuguese as he was abandoned in South Africa at about age 7. It would have been wonderful to encourage the children to reclaim their own languages as these formed part of what the project was about, but we did not have facilitators at the time who spoke their languages. It was a voluntary project initially and we really just worked with Diane the artist and me. We have recently institutionalised the project and have employed a careworker from DRC who speaks French, Kiswahili and Lingala with the new group of children. The book is written in English. Are you planning to translate the stories into French, Kiswahili, Lingala and possibly Portuguese? I would love to publish the book in translation but felt it was an achievement to have found a local publisher who was keen to publish in English for the South African market. I would be very keen to explore publishing in other countries (especially in Africa) and translating the stories - but this would involve a fairly complex and time consuming process. I have my normal work and am also very involved in trying to establish the project as a comprehensive psycho-social support project for refugee families. Any contacts with publishers who may be interested in other language versions would be welcome, though. How are the children now? We have stopped the regular meetings with the group who wrote the book as we felt it was important for them to move on and focus on making a life for themselves we did not want the young people to become dependent on us. We do though have ongoing informal contact with them. The children now are very caught up with making a life for themselves in South Africa. Some are still in school (in Grade 11 and 12). Others are struggling to make a living. This is a great challenge and they have many ups and downs as it is very difficult for young people with no social networks and no extended families to access resources that can help them set up businesses, find jobs or do tertiary training. Sometimes it feels as if it is a constant battle for practical resources against the odds for example, metro police confiscate goods and remove the small informal shops that many refugees live from. It is difficult to persuade a prospective employer that they can employ someone who does not have a South Africa ID, and some of the children are still waiting for documentation that was applied for years ago. We are in the process of setting up a sponsorship scheme (our core funding is for running the psycho-social part of the group) that will focus on helping young people access training and set up small businesses so they can become self sufficient. But this is a complex process and involves careful thought. But on the bright side, they are all still in contact with us and with each other, so the group did build a sense of solidarity. They are also all mostly positive about their lives and futures and keen to work hard and make a life for themselves. When can we expect their second book telling stories about their progress in South Africa? We had not thought about a second book, but now you mention it, it would be a great idea because it would raise a whole range of other issues related to refugees establishing themselves in this country. Do send me the review I have been trying to show reviews to the children so they have a sense of the impact of their work. The stories may be heartbreaking, but the children s will to carry on and not to lose hope is inspiring. As Robyn Cohen, a Cape Town-based journalist, says in her book review column, the book should be part of tolerance education programmes and used to give pupils insights into the lives of the lost children of Africa. By Thandeka Teyise

11 Sept. Dec Challenges faced by writers and publishers of Shona literature in Zimbabwe Enna Sukutai Gudhlanga & Godwin Makaudze Several factors affecting literary production in Zimbabwe are of a postindependence making. Experiences since 1980 should have challenged Zimbabwean writers and publishers to produce topical writing in indigenous languages like Shona and Ndebele, but this has not happened. Very few books have been published in Shona as compared with those published in English, despite the fact that Shona is spoken by more than 75% of the total Zimbabwean population. Some of the factors that hold back Enna Sukutai Gudhlanga the production of Shona literature are language policies. English is the official language, while Shona and Ndebele are national languages with restricted official use, such as for the early years of schooling. English is still a prerequisite for obtaining a job and acceptance into colleges and universities. In most schools the use of Shona is outlawed except during a Shona lesson. Owing to its peripheral use, Shona is associated with rural poverty and backwardness. Parents and teachers do not bother much if their children fail Shona, as long as they pass English. Parents continue to send their children to schools where the medium of communication is English. The prestige associated with English has made even some indigenous language speakers choose it for their creative writing. Through colonial and neo-colonial education, Zimbabweans have been made to look down on literature published in indigenous languages. There is no reading culture, and it is worse still for literature written in indigenous languages. When people buy Shona books, it is because those books are prescribed for study in schools, colleges and universities. Publishers therefore cannot commit to producing literature in these languages when people despise and denigrate them. Factors such as market size, publishing setup, state of the economy, lack of incentives, state censorship, as well as the lack of tutelage in literary writing, act as constraints on the growth of Shona literature. Owing to the policies and attitudes mentioned above, there is no substantial market for Shona literature in Zimbabwe. Godwin Makaudze Possible intervention strategies Indigenous languages like Shona and Ndebele should be elevated to official status. They should be made compulsory for a valid Ordinary Level certificate and should be pre-requisites for admission to colleges or for obtaining a job. Also, students entering universities, colleges, or any tertiary institution should compulsorily do a communication skills course in either Shona or Ndebele. The Ministry of Education and Culture, working together with the Ministry of Higher Education, should make sure that a creative writing course is introduced into the high school syllabus, and into tertiary level education. In order for Zimbabwe to have a bigger market for Shona literature, it should co-ordinate with neighbouring countries that also speak Shona, as in the Manica Province of Mocambique. Furthermore, the examinations should be set and co-ordinated by the same board. The publishing industry also needs to play a more positive role. In addition to sponsoring literary competitions, the Zimbabwe Book Publishers Association could sponsor workshops that promote fiction in indigenous languages. Further, publishers could innovate by creating a partnership of textbook and novel: good novels could be subsidized by textbooks, which are the company s money spinners The quantitative and qualitative boom in Shona fiction could be promoted by the establishment of a Translation Centre, one where trained and experienced translators translate good works of art from English into Shona. A Shona Writers Association should also be formed so that it coordinates and spearheads these translations from English. In conclusion, it is true that Shona literature in Zimbabwe may not be well developed but also that it never will be unless Shona speakers decide to use their language in creative writing. Enna Sukutai Gudhlanga lectures in the department of Languages and Media Studies at Zimbabwe Open University. Godwin Makaudze lectures in the department of African Languages and Music at Masvingo State University. This article is a summary of Writing and publishing in indigenous languages is a mere waste of time: a critical appraisal of the challenges faced by writers and publishers of Shona literature in Zimbabwe, published in 2007 as Occasional Paper 26 by PRAESA. Available from PRAESA or at depts/praesa.

12 LEAPnews 15/16 12 Zvigozhero zvinosangananikwa nazvo nevanyori pamwe nevatsikisi veuvaranomwe hwechishona muzimbabwe Enna Sukutai Gudhlanga nagodwin Makaudze Zvizhinji zvezvinokanganisa kunyorwa nekutsikiswa kwezvinyorwa muzimbabwe zvakavapo nekuuya kwakaita kuzvitonga kuzere. Kubva gore ra1980, pane zviitiko zvizhinji zvaifanira kutusva vanyori nevatsikisi vemabhuku mumitauro yevatema yakaita sechishona nechindevere kuti vabudise zvinyorwa zvemandiriri zvinobata zvinopisa-pisa muupenyu hwevanhu asi izvi handizvo zviri kuitika. Zvakare, zvinyorwa zvishoma kwazvo zvakatsikiswa muchishona kana zvichienzaniswa neizvo zviri mururimi rwechirungu zvisinei nekuti ChiShona chinotaurwa nevanhu vanopfuura zvikamu makumi manomwe nezvishanu (75%) zvavanhu vemuzimbabwe. Zvimwe zvezvinodzikisira pasi kunyorwa nekutsikiswa kweuvaranomwe hwechishona zvisungo zvakanangana nemitauro. ChiRungu ndiwo mutauro unotenderwa kushandiswa zviri pamutemo mumabasa akakosha enyika ukuwo ChiShona nechindevere ichingotorwa semitauro yenyika isinganyanyoshandiswi zviri pamutemo mumabasa aya. Mitauro miviri iyi inoshandiswa mumabasa mashoma chose akaita semudzidzo yepamatanho epasi. ChiRungu ndiwo mutauro unosungirwa kuvapo kuti munhu awane basa uye kuti awane nzvimbo yekudzidza mumakoreji nemayunivhesiti. Muzvikoro zvizhinji, ChiShona hachitenderwi kushandiswa kusiya kwekunge itori nguva yechidzidzo ichi. Zvichibva pakusanyanyokosheswa uye kusanyanyoshandiswa, ChiShona chinotorwa pamwe nokuonekwa semutauro unodyidzana neurombo uye kusarira shure kunowanikwa kumaruwa. Nokudaro, vabereki nevadzidzisi havanyanyi kubatikana kana vana vavo vakakundikana muchidzidzo chechishona, chikuru vapasa ChiRungu. Vabereki vanoendesa vana vavo kuzvikoro zvavanoziva kuti mutauro unonyanyoshandiswa munhaurwa dzose ndewechirungu. Mbiri inopiwa kumutauro wechirungu yakatokwezva vamwe vatauri vemitauro yevatema kuti vanyore uvaranomwe vachiushandisa. Kuburikidza nedzidzo yenguva yeutongi hwevachena uye yemunguva yekunge vatema vawana kuzvitonga (iyo isina kunyanyosiyana neyenguva yeudzvanyiriri hwevachena), zvizvarwa zvezimbabwe zvakadyiswa mufungo wekutarisira pasi uvaranomwe hwakatsikiswa mundimi dzavatema. Zvakare, zvizvarwa izvi hazvina chidakadaka chokuverenga, kunyanya kana zvinyorwa zvacho zviri mumitauro yevatema. Kana vanhu vachitenga nokuverenga zvinyorwa zvechishona, inongova nyaya yokuti zvinyorwa izvi zvinosungirwa kudzidzwa muzvikoro, makoreji nemayunivhesiti. Nokudaro, vatsikisi vemabhuku havazozvisungi kudhindisa zvinyorwa zviri mumitauro iyi iyo inoshorwa nekutarisirwa pasi nevanhu. Zvinhu zvakaita seuwandu hwevatengi vemabhuku, mamiriro ezvepfumi, kushaikwa kwemibairo, kudzvanyirirwa kweuvaranomwe hunotsoropodza mamiriro ezvinhu uyewo kushaikwa kwedzidziso dzezvekunyorwa kweuvaranomwe zvose zvinosunga pamwe nokudzorera kumashure kuwanda kweuvaranomwe hunotsikiswa muchishona. Zvakare, zvichibva pazvisungo uye maonerwo emitauro atsanangurwa pamusoro aya, uvaranomwe hwechishona hahuna vanhu vakawanda vanohutenga muzimbabwe. Zvingaitwe kugadzirisa mamiriro ezvinhu akadai Mitauro yevatema yakaita sechishona nechindevere inofanira kusimudzirwa kuti ishandiswe mumabasa akakosha zviri pamutemo. Inofanirawo kuva inosungirwa kuva chimwe chezvidzidzo zvinofanira kuti mudzidzi akunde kuti ave nechitupa chakazara chefomu yechina kana kuti awane basa kana nzvimbo yekoreji. Zvakare, vadzidzi vachangopinda pamayuvhesiti, makoreji kana zvimwewo zvikoro zvepamatanho epamusoro vanofanira kusungirwa kuita zvidzidzo zveunyanzvi hwenhaurirano mururimi rwechishona kana ChiNdevere. Bazi redzidzo netsika, richibatira pamwe neredzidzo Yepamusoro anofanira kuona kuti kosi yakanangana nemanyorerwo euvaranomwe yaiswa mumabumbiro ezvidzidzo emuzvikoro zvematanho esekondari needzidzo yepamusoro. Kuti nyika yezimbabwe ive nevatengi nevaverengi vakawanda veuvaranomwe hwechishona, inofanira kubatana nokuronga pamwe nenyika dzayakavakidzana nadzo dzine vatauri vemutauro wechishona, sezvakaita nzvimbo yemanica kumozambique. Kurevawo kuti bvunzo dzinenge

13 dzava kuumbwa nekufambiswa nebazi kana sangano rimwe chete. Vedivi rekutsikiswa kwemabhuku vanofanirawo kuwedzera maitiro avo. Pamusoro pehomwe yemari yakananga kukurudzira nekutsigira makwikwi ezvinyorwa zveuvaranomwe, Sangano rezvekutsikiswa kwemabhuku rinogonawo kutsigira nemari magungano anosimudzira uvaranomwe hwemitauro yevatema. Zvakare, vatsikisi vemabhuku vanogona kuita madambi okuvamba ukama pakati pemabhuku enganonyorwa neasiri. Mabhuku emandorokwati enganonyorwa anogona kutengeswa nemitengo yakaderera iyo inozozadziswa neinobva kune asiri enganonyorwa ayo anowanzouyisa mari yakawanda kumakambani anotsikisa mabhuku aya. Uwandu nepundutso yeuvaranomwe hwechishona zvinogona kusimudzirwa nekuumba Bazi rezvekuturikira iro rinenge riine nyanzvi dzezvekuturikira dzinoshandura zvinyorwa zveuvaranomwe zvemhando yepamusoro kubva muchirungu kuenda muchishona. Sangano revanyori vechishona rinofanirawo kuumbwa kuti rironge nokufambisa mabasa ekuturikira kubva kuchirungu aya. Nokudaro, vabereki nevadzidzisi havanyanyi kubatikana kana vana vavo vakakundikana muchidzidzo chechishona, chikuru vapasa ChiRungu. Sept. Dec Semhedziso, ichokwadi kuti uvaranomwe hwechishona muzimbabwe hahungasimukiri uye kuti hahungazombofa hwakasimukira kusiya kwekuti vatauri vemutauro uyu vasarudza kuushandisa muzvinyorwa zvavo zveuvaranomwe. Enna Sukutai Gudhlanga mudzidzisi mubazi remitauro nekushambadzwa kwemashoko pazimbabwe Open University. Godwin Makaudze anodzidzisa mubazi remitauro yevatema nemimhanzi pamasvingo State University. Chinyorwa chino ipfupiso yepepa, Kunyora nekutsikisa zvinyorwa mundimi dzevatema kutambisa nguva: ongororo yezvigozhero zvinosangana nevanyori pamwe nevatsikisi veuvaranomwe hwechishona muzimbabwe iro rakatsikiswa muna 2007 serimwe remapepa epraesa. Rinowanikwa kune vepraesa kana padandemutande iri: depts/praesa. Book Review Thimbukushu-Thihingirisha/English- Thimbukushu Subject Glossaries The Thimbukushu-English Subject Glossaries, the first of its kind, is a two-way bilingual volume intended to service schools in northern Namibia where the language is used for instruction and as a subject. The Glossaries covers four subject areas: language and literature; mathematics; body & health; and the natural world, subdivided into plants and animals. Conceptualised by Karsten Lègere, the Glossaries project was initiated and funded by the gtz s Upgrading African Languages Project (AfriLa) in In a consultative process lasting three years, the volume was compiled by Lègere & Robert Munganda together with the Thimbukushu Subject Working Group. The volume, which has some 5000 entries, represents a milestone along the road to a full-length Thimbukushu- English dictionary. AfriLa project coordinator at the time, Andreas Schott, describes the Glossaries as the first systematically compiled lexicographical work in Thimbukushu and as an important step in the standardisation of Thimbukushu. Mañandorandathana ghothikuhonga: Thimbukushu-Thihingirisha/English-Thimbukushu: Subject Glossaries by Karsten Lègere & Robert Munganda, in collaboration with the Thimbukushu Subject Working Group (2004). Published by Gamsberg Macmillan, PO Box 22830, Windhoek, Namibia.

14 LEAPnews 15/16 14 ACEing language transformation The previous issue carried a report on a pioneering provincial government initiative with regard to language in education policy in schools in South Africa ( Language transformation in Western Cape education, by Daryl Braam). In this issue we focus on the teacher programme spearheading the initiative. The first cohort of in-service teachers tasked with effecting language transformation at their schools in South Africa s Western Cape province is on track. The Advanced Certificate in Language Education (ACE), offered through the education faculty at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), reaches its halfway point in December and January with courses on advanced literacy in the first language (mother tongue), and literacy and language issues at the transition to the second language, respectively. The 2-year post-graduate programme is financed by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), through the office of the MEC (minister) of education Cameron Dugmore, and Ms Anne Schlebusch. The 16 teachers on the programme come from the pilot schools identified by school districts as potential lead institutions in the language transformation project. The pilot schools enjoy the support of the WCED, service providers and research institutes such as UWC and Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA), as well as educational publishers, for whom the expanding market in Xhosa-language textbooks across the curriculum is an enticing prospect. The language transformation plan (LTP) wants schools to sustain their learners home languages for teaching and learning purposes until at least the end of the sixth compulsory year (Grade 6). While mother-tongue education throughout schooling is accepted as the norm amongst English-speakers and many Afrikaans-speakers, at present most schools housing Africanlanguage speakers tend to transition from the mother tongue to English at the start of Grade 4, before learners are ready for the switch. Besides sending out the message that the languages of the people don t matter, the undue emphasis placed on English at the expense of mother tongues is accompanied by well-documented problems of academic performance, including reading (see report on the PIRLS assessment elsewhere in this issue). The students The 16 students are all practicing teachers with many years teaching experience, from schools as far afield as George and Worcester. The majority are from the metropole and surrounds: Paarl, Delft, Khayelitsha, Nyanga, Guguletu, Langa, and Hout Bay. All serve working-class communities, most of which are predominantly Xhosa-speaking while three are Afrikaans-dominant. Fifteen course participants have isixhosa as a home language, and one is Afrikaansspeaking. The fact that all but one are women indicates the extent to which primary schooling has become a largely female profession (although most principals continue to be male). Peter Plüddemann Courses The ACE curriculum consists of ten courses, all of which have to be passed. These are: Language education practical: Proficiency course Language in education policy in schools Language learning in classrooms Innovative language teaching methodologies Teaching reading in schools Teaching writing in schools Action Research Language across the curriculum Assessing language competence Designing language teaching materials Courses are run in the school holidays, with some assignments having to be submitted afterwards, in semi distance-education mode. Programme convenor Caroline Kerfoot (UWC) says, This has been an exciting challenge for all of us and students have been working extremely hard. We are trying to ensure that the potential offered by one of the most significant post initiatives in education is fully realized. Issues Teaching and classroom interaction on the ACE has been a learning experience for all. A key challenge for lecturing staff has been to put their money where their mother tongues are by using and permitting the use of the students home languages. English remains the university s official language of tuition and assessment. Afrikaans may be used for mediating in the classroom, but this has not been extended to isixhosa as yet. Dr Vuyo Nomlomo, a lecturer from the faculty, relates how the programme took a principled position to accommodate isixhosa. Using isixhosa orally in the classroom greatly facilitated interaction, and gave students the confidence to express their ideas. While nearly all texts are in English, an assessment task was translated into isixhosa and Afrikaans, and students were encouraged to answer in their home language. In practice, however, very few did so and some had to learn the hard way. One student who failed an exam she had written in English, easily passed the re-evaluation exam a few days later in isixhosa. When she used isixhosa she showed good understanding of the concepts. Nomlomo identifies as a challenge the fact that terminology in isixhosa in scientific domains is not yet as developed as in English, making students reluctant to opt for isixhosa. She feels that non-xhosa-speaking staff should be encouraged to attend courses that would enable them to at least have a receptive proficiency in the language.

15 Sept. Dec From top left: Nomabhaso Ngcakani, Nomampondo Vuba, Nombini Mpahla & Nomana Mboto; Nobuntu Xamlashe, Nonkululeko Gaga & Nomakula Manong; Nonceba Mqulwana & Yoliswa Petshwa; Ruth Versfeld, facilitator; Phaphama Xashimba & Someka Ngece A second challenge for the programme has been to align literacy and language skills are developed in the Intermediate phase. Genre-based approaches have not yet been used core modules on reading and writing, assessment and language across the curriculum with a genre-based approach to by publishers in South Africa. A number of publishers are language learning. Caroline Kerfoot explains, supporting us in this project and pledging We are developing an approach to literacy to make learning area materials available in and language development that will provide a We are developing an approach to A third issue for the programme is how the three provincial languages up to Grade principled way of helping learners to control 6, says Kerfoot. key school genres or text types in both the first language and the second language. At literacy and language development to academia. Articles on subjects such as to make theory accessible to students who, the same time, we want to offer support to in some cases, have little recent exposure teachers in theorising and implementing the transition from one language of learning to that will provide a dual-medium education, code-switching in another. the classroom, and a genre-based approach Genre-based approaches, according to principled way of to literacy are often written in dry academic Kerfoot, appear to offer such a framework. They helping learners to prose. In this respect the support of Dr Viv have many advantages over current approaches Edwards of the University of Reading in the as they make explicit for teachers which textual control key school UK has been invaluable, having made available to the programme easy-to-use materials and linguistic features should be focused on to genres or text types promote engagement with and control over a on how to scaffold reading and writing. particular genre. They also ensure that writing in both the first skills are developed in a coherent way, and offer Significance language and the a pedagogical framework that moves through Much rides on the success of this the first stages of modelling, scaffolded support and then second language ACE cohort. Teacher training has long independent control. Finally, they ensure that been identified as a main perhaps the main learners engage with a wide range of genres, not ingredient in improving reading and just narrative which, while important, does not writing across the curriculum. The language sufficiently equip learners to deal with the genres of thinking and transformation plan has the added mandate of encouraging the learning such as explanation and argument. development of isixhosa as a language of teaching and learning. Plans for 2009/10 are for an expanded ACE programme Kerfoot adds that such approaches have worked well for those learning through an additional language. We hope for teachers from all primary schools in the province that offer that they will offer a means of transforming the ways in which teaching and learning through the medium of isixhosa.

16 LEAPnews 15/16 16 Children of Africa can t (perform in international) read (-ing tests) Most fourth-grade and fifth-grade school children in two African countries do not possess even basic reading skills and strategies. They cannot retrieve explicitly stated details from texts, let alone accomplish other more advanced reading tasks. And they cannot compete with their peers around the world. This emerged from the 2006 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), the most rigorous international comparative study on reading literacy to date. The study was conducted in 45 education systems across 40 countries, and results were released in November Africa s two representatives South Africa and Morocco fared worst amongst a representative sample of Grade 4 and 5 children. In South Africa around 16,073 Grade 4 and 14,657 Grade 5 learners participated, but only the Grade 5 results were used for the international comparison. On the average combined reading score, South Africa s Grade 5s came last with an average score of 302 (PIRLS scale average: 500), and Morocco second-last with 323. Top performers include the Russian Federation (565), Hong Kong (564), several Canadian states, Singapore, Luxembourg, Hungary, and Italy. Reading in school Around 80% of South Africa s Grade 4 and Grade 5 learners have attained not even the most basic reading literacy, the low benchmark (see insert), as against only 6% internationally. And only 2% of South African learners reached the high benchmark. Besides coming last overall, South Africa scored extremely low on the literary subscale, averaging 299, while Morocco managed 317. On the informational subscale, South Africa managed 316, while Morocco overtook Kuwait to climb into third-last position on 335 points but was still well short of the 400 point low benchmark. An important finding from the South African study is that the year in which reading strategies are introduced has a significant impact on test scores (Fig. 2). The earlier such strategies as comparing different texts, identifying main ideas and making predictions are introduced, the better the results by the time the learner gets to Grade 5. For a system in which more advanced reading strategies are typically phased in only in Grades 3 or 4, the message is clear: begin with them in Grade 1! Girls consistently outperform boys across all countries. However, it is noticeable that the gap between girls and boys scores is biggest in the lowest performing countries. South Africa shows the third-biggest girl-boy difference (36 points), a gap that is consistent across the two subscales. However, Morocco (18) is only just shy of the international average gap of 17 points. Reading benchmarks The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) defines reading as the ability to understand and use those written language forms required by society and/or valued by the individual. Young readers can construct meaning from a variety of texts. They read to learn, to participate in communities of readers in school and everyday life, and for enjoyment. The tests measure performance on a combined reading literacy scale and on a literary subscale and informational subscale. The literary subscale assesses performance in reading for literary experience and the informational subscale in acquiring and using information. Results are also reported on a combined reading literacy scale, which measures students overall literacy skills related to both processes of comprehension and purposes of reading. Benchmark Cutpoint Reading skills and strategies Advanced 625 Interpret figurative language Distinguish and interpret complex information from different parts of text Integrate ideas across text to provide interpretations about characters feelings and behaviours High 550 Recognize some textual features, such as figurative language and abstract messages Make inferences on the basis of abstract or embedded information Integrate information to recognize main ideas and provide explanations Intermediate 475 Identify central events, plot sequences, and relevant story details Make straightforward inferences from the text Begin to make connections across parts of the text Low 400 Retrieve explicitly stated details from literary and informational texts Figure 1: Description of PIRLS international benchmarks: 2006 (source: Baer et al. 2007)

17 Sept. Dec The assessment booklets contained ten texts, which were translated into the primary language or languages of instruction in each country. Both countries schooling systems expose their Grade 4 and 5 learners to far less reading instruction than the international average. Only 10% of South African and 14% of Moroccan fifth-graders receive more than 6 hours reading instruction per week, against an international average of 25%. Conversely, the proportion of children receiving relatively little reading instruction (up to 3 hours per week) is way higher than the international average (44%) for both South Africa (72%) and Morocco (56%). The two countries are also well below the international average for the number of children attending schools that have informal initiatives to encourage reading. Furthermore, in South Africa, the majority (60%) of primary schools do not have a library or classroom libraries. More South African results The South African study was done by the Centre for Evaluation and Assessment at the University of Pretoria, with data collection occurring between October 2005 and January A closer look at the results reveals that almost a dozen years after the fall of apartheid, faultlines continued to run along the lines of language, still largely a proxy for race, and socio-economic status. Around 50% of learners tested in Afrikaans and English managed to reach the low benchmark. But this was achieved by only between 4% and 14% of those who wrote the test in an African language. Speakers of African languages performed poorly throughout, with Setswana-speaking girls doing relatively better but were still almost 100 points shy of even the low benchmark. Amongst English and Afrikaans-speakers there were significant differences in the performances of Grade 4 and Grade 5 learners. English-speaking Grade 5s did much better than their Grade 4 counterparts, comfortably reaching the intermediate benchmark. Afrikaansspeaking Grade 5 girls also outperformed their Grade 4 peers, although both remained well below the international average. A noteworthy feature is that the overlap of home language and test language produced favourable results for Afrikaans and English, but not for the African languages. Afrikaans mother-tongue (MT) speakers and English MT speakers who wrote the tests in their home language did much better than non-mother tongue speakers who wrote in Afrikaans and English (Fig.3). The coincidence of home language and test language produced the best results amongst Grade 5 English MT speakers, who scored 513 points a massive 165 points ahead of their Grade 5 peers for whom English was an additional (second) language. A similar gap existed at Grade 4 level. In the case of Afrikaans, a similar trend is discernible, although the gap in performance between MT speakers and non-mt speakers is not as great. For the nine other official languages, the discrepancy is far smaller, although the overall performances are very low. Reading at home Preliminary results suggest that early literacy activities at home were crucial to the child s reading performance at school. In the South African study, parents reported a relatively high frequency of home literacy activities, in international terms. However, fewer than 50% had more than 10 books at home. Those with more books at home did significantly better than those with fewer books. Predictably, children of parents with higher formal educational qualifications and a high regard for reading did better than their peers from homes where this was not the case. Curiously, though, South African Grade 5 learners reportedly read fiction outside of school more often than their peers internationally. Almost two in five (39%) read stories or novels every day or almost every day, against an international average of 32%. And the figure of one-third (33%) who read stories or novels once or twice a week also compares favourably with the international average of 31%. Figures for Morocco for the two top categories are similar to reading identifying support compare compare making making describe text main idea understanding personal different predictions generalisations style and experience structure Figure 2: SA pupil s achievement according to introduction of reading strategies by Grade (source: Howie et al. 2007:46)

18 LEAPnews 15/16 18 the international average. However, this high frequency for reading fiction amongst South African Grade 5s does not convert into performance. There is no difference in performance on the combined reading scale of those who read fiction outside of school daily, and those who read it once or twice a week. Both are equally dismal (308 and 310), around 200 points below the international average. Somewhat bizarrely, those who reportedly read for information only once or twice a month outside of school scored significantly higher (although still way below the international average) on the combined reading literacy scale than their peers who do so every day. The percentage of learners who read for information outside of school is generally much higher amongst poorly performing education systems than the international average, with South Africa, Qatar, and Kuwait the three highest. Some 36% of South African children reportedly read for information outside of school every day/almost every day, against an international average of only 16%. Proportions of those reading once or twice a week are similar to the international mean for all three countries. Curiously, however, Morocco s profile is similar to that of some of the highest-performing jurisdictions such as Hong Kong. Answers and questions The rigorous research design encourages confidence in the test s validity and in the reliability of the results. Even those sceptical of large-scale international assessments will concede that PIRLS has to be taken seriously by stakeholders. The results amount to a damning indictment of the schooling systems in South Africa and Morocco, which are clearly failing the majority of primary school children in their quest to become effective readers. And since reading literacy is at the core of educational achievement all the way up, the poor results are devastating in their longer-term effects. To what extent can schools serving children from workingclass communities compensate for the lack of reading opportunities at home? If results in the better-endowed political North are anything to go by, much more time should be set aside for reading at school from the early years on. This should include both reading for information, suggesting a genre-based approach, as well as reading for enjoyment. Priority should be given to building up school and classroom libraries. The paucity of informal reading opportunities outside of school suggests the need for more community literacy initiatives such as reading clubs. Special measures need to be put in place to improve boys reading performance a difficult task in crowded, low-literacy environments where often the only entertainment is to be found on the streets. While the overall trends are clear, there appear to be some puzzling findings. More fifth-graders in South Africa than elsewhere reportedly read daily or weekly outside of school hours. This trend applies to both fictional and informational texts, yet seems to have no impact on reading scores for either category. Assuming the reported finding to be accurate, it serves to question the importance of self-initiated or free voluntary reading believed by Whole Language advocates to be a key ingredient to reading success. No doubt the full report, on its release in 2008, will help to answer some questions. Education authorities in South Africa and Morocco will have to act fast in order to arrest the alarming trends identified by PIRLS The world will be watching. Baer, J., Baldi, S., Ayotte, K., and Green, P. (2007). The Reading Literacy of U.S. Fourth-Grade Students in an International Context: Results from the 2001 and 2006 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) (NCES ). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC. Available < Howie, S., Venter, E., van Staden, S., Zimmerman, L., Long, C., Scherman, V. & Archer, E PIRLS 2006 Summary Report. South African Children s Reading Achievement. Centre for Evaluation & Assessment, University of Pretoria. by Peter Plüddemann Figure 3: Learner s performance and test language correspondence to home language by Grade (source: Howie et al. 2007:26)

19 Universities in African countries are still not African universities. Mostly, they are universities in thrall to the foreign, the West, Europe and North America. Their conception, philosophy, orientation and research, even their academic rituals and ceremonies, are more often than not a bad, if not grotesque, copy of the ancient and modern metropoles. It is imperative that universities in Africa become African universities; that universities in Cameroon become Cameroonian universities. Intellectual genocide has already massacred enough in Africa. It is time to stop. My argument is neither anti-white nor xenophobic. The issue at stake is how to uncover the mechanisms behind this lethal mindlessness, which is depriving the whole of humanity of precious scientific knowledge acquired by the black peoples over millennia. My discourse also challenges white people to ask themselves: what has it meant to be white for the last five centuries? What are the repercussions for white people themselves, and for others? The white people s language is the only language In Africa, the foreigner s language has become the key to accessing the institutions that govern us, and the decisions that determine our daily lives. Competition to learn this language has become an obsession. For it is essential to be well armed in order to escape the exclusion in which the vast majority of the population finds itself. The university represents a higher level of this competition to escape. And the language used by the university is one of the first conditions of access. You have not mastered the white people s foreign tongue? Then you do not have the right to education in your own country, not even at primary school. You have no right to any worthwhile education, however brilliant you are. And that is your bad luck. There is an urgent need to dismantle the logic that domination is achieved through the command of a foreign language that entails us completely losing the memory of ourselves and becoming incapable of articulating our own thoughts in our own languages. Cheikh Anta Diop took the trouble to translate Einstein s theory of relativity into Wolof in order to demonstrate that it is not only in the language of ancient Egypt that blacks Sept. Dec Stopping intellectual genocide in African universities Prince Kum a Ndumbe III... you do not have the right to education in your own country, not even at primary school. You have no right to any worthwhile education, however brilliant you are. And that is your bad luck are able to master the natural and medical sciences; contemporary African languages are also capable of articulating thought across the academic disciplines. This does not mean that all school and university textbooks will be available tomorrow in African languages. However, it does signify and reveal the scandal of colonial and postcolonial domination through the imposition of the white people s language. The way out of this domination and the underdevelopment it engenders is clear. The direction must be this: Africans must re-appropriate their own languages and use them as basic vehicles for their thinking, production, education, dreams and outlook on the world. It is not only language that is at stake here, but also the survival of the nation, the collective control of the destiny of a people. It is a question of development thought out and directed by a nation, so that it may flourish. Language, scientific heritage and the articulation of thought No nation has ever developed by eradicating its own language or languages and by swallowing the language of another people without sinking under their enduring domination. How is it that Africa and the Africans of the 21st century have been made to swallow such a lethal poisonous snake? Today, universities in Africa have become citadels of foreign domination in which elites are moulded. They are wholly outwardly focused on the dominant countries, today called donors. Africans are educated in these universities, as is the case here in Cameroon, in the white people s language, thought, philosophy, theology, foreign languages, economics, law, medicine, pharmacy, chemistry, maths, physics and so on. The European political classes understand the situation so well that they are keen that the best of these African elites are simply integrated into the European metropoles and cast into destructive European globalisation. Given the conditions of underdevelopment and pitiful university salaries, graduates from African universities are applying in great numbers for this new style immigration. In the universities in most African countries, the African peoples thousands of years of scientific heritage is

20 LEAPnews 15/16 20 hidden. Access to it may even be forbidden by regulations. It therefore remains almost non-existent for the learner, who will deduce by implication that only white people can be educated, and that the only way of excelling is by becoming their star pupil. African laureates of these universities, without wanting it or knowing it, therefore become the privileged instruments which perpetrate foreign dominance in their own countries. Without wanting or knowing it, they become the fifth estate, which monopolises political, administrative, financial and military power in their own countries in order to place themselves resolutely at the service of the West. Promotion is only possible for those who accept the logic of this perspective. African universities can therefore only reproduce a model destined to alienate African peoples for ever, even if from time to time, little steps are made to force a thin layer of Africanness into certain disciplines. This is where we are today, and we must recognise that position with humility. That said, contemporary and future academic research has an obligation to collect, assemble and rehabilitate African scientific heritage in every discipline. Politics has the responsibility to encourage, formulate and finance this rehabilitation and to open the doors of schools and universities to our heritage. This will not only be good for Africans and for the development of Africa. Students and researchers of the donor countries will also benefit because they will finally have recourse to genuinely modern African academic sources. We will at last stop producing bad copies of the academic discourse of others and become creators of science in the world of globalised technology and thought. European languages must cease to be languages of selfalienation for Africans, languages of domination and structural alienation. European languages must become partner languages in Africa, languages of opening and frank dialogue. Foreign languages and education of the illiterate and self-ignorant scholar I would like to stress an aspect of foreign languages little discussed in our universities. Foreign languages such as French and English are not just languages of instruction in Africa. They also benefit from whole literature, arts and humanities departments. Students thus specialise in the language, literature, linguistics and civilisation of the languages country of origin. In Western universities, European languages such as German, Spanish, Italian, Greek and Latin also have the advantage of research and teaching departments, and a Cameroonian copy of these has been stuck on to our university structures. I would contend that we are now in an urgent situation, where this African or Cameroonian copy is overwhelming our students. We are producing in our universities language students graduating in European thought and languages but dangerously ignorant of their own people s languages and thought. This is a system which is reproducing foreign domination. It is unjustifiable that Cameroonian taxes are financing these cycles of study and it is unacceptable and contrary to all developmental accountability. In our French and English departments, African authors are certainly studied, but only those who write in the white people s language, which means books published since the First World War, written by Africans in European languages. The enormous linguistic and literary heritage of Africa in our languages is not considered in those departments. How can we expect that an educated class structured in this way can be called on to resolve the problems challenging its own country, Cameroon? How can we expect that an illiterate and self-ignorant educated person will one day claim to successfully drive the future of a nation, as, for example, president, minister, director general, civil servant, managing director, or manager? Language and a change in political course for African and Cameroonian universities Universities in Africa face the challenge of becoming African universities on African soil. Language is at the basis of everything: all thought, articulation and creation. African languages must make their solemn entry into African universities as languages of instruction, research, and comparative study with foreign languages. European languages must cease to be languages of self-alienation for Africans, languages of domination and structural alienation. European languages must become partner languages in Africa, languages of opening and frank dialogue. These changes must be made progressively, in stages, but it is imperative that they are made. African language departments in our universities should not be allowed to evolve in a vacuum. The debate on African languages must widen. These departments are called on to develop an academic framework for the study of African languages on a continental scale, in close collaboration with other universities. Equally they must offer services to all our other university departments. Prince Kum a Ndumbe III is professor at the University of Yaoundé, Cameroon. This article was first published in French by AfricAvenir (www. africavenir.org) and in the English edition (transl. Stefanie Kitchen) of Pambazuka News Shortened form reproduced here by kind permission of the author. Original text to appear in the author s new book, L Afrique s annonce au rendez-vous, la tête haute! discours sur la transmission du savoir, la libération totale et le développement durable des Africains, de la diaspora noire et de leur continent, ed. Afric- Avenir/Exchange & Dialogue (Berlin, Douala, Oct 2007).