Should Kinyarwanda be the language of instruction in schools? (Yes, to preserve the local language)

THE main reason I support the use of Kinyarwanda as the language of instruction in schools at least in primary school is because it’s the best way to preserve our culture. I have had several encounters with youngsters who can’t express themselves in Kinyarwanda mainly because they go to schools where the medium of instruction is either English or French. Most of these kids only get to learn Kinyarwanda as a subject, like math or science. I believe that educationists should promote indigenous languages but it should not be used as an excuse to stifle learning of other foreign languages because they are also very important in the aspect of general communication with regional and international communities. A publication by Evode Mukama titled “Rethinking languages of instruction in African schools,” indicated that from the first year of the upper primary school, pupils are expected to choose either English or French as a language of instruction. From then on, Kinyarwanda and one of the two foreign languages become subjects to be taught. The author narrated a scenario where he asked his students to discuss an article in small groups; they were to do it in Kinyarwanda, even though the article was written in English or French. He said: “One day, I asked some of them to answer some questions in line with a short lecture I gave them in English. They tried and I realised that they were struggling with English and not with the content per se. They explained that they did not understand English because they were basically French speaking though they were supposed to be bilingual according to the national policy. Another day, I gave a short lecture in French to the same students. Then they became more dynamic than they were before. The last time, I used Kinyarwanda, their mother tongue, to explain the lecture rather than English or French, the students became not only dynamic but also excited to talk and discuss critically about issues under study.” With the aim of developing Rwandan children’s process of acquiring knowledge by the use of reasoning, intuition or perception, I argue that Kinyarwanda should be considered as the language of instruction mostly in primary schools and let the foreign languages be taught as a subject. I have travelled, and I discovered that the most developed countries use their local language as the main medium of instruction in their day- to- day communication. Take for example most European countries, all their sign posts, billboards and other communication signs are in their local languages. When I travelled to some European countries and I expected most people to speak English, I mean at least the ones that have gone to school; I was shocked when I needed an English translator. Based on the arguments mentioned above, I strongly believe that Kinyarwanda should be the language of instruction in schools.