Since the Tower of Babel back in Genesis chapter 11, bringing people together using the same language has been difficult if not near impossible. So for the continent with well over a thousand different languages, this endeavor has been nothing less than challenging.

This article talks about the use of English in the African education system but much could be said for the other languages that are spoken throughout Africa such as French, Portuguese and even Arabic. Currently, there are 21 countries that use French as the official national language or as one of the national languages, 19 that use English, 12 that use Arabic and 6 that use Portuguese.

English came into Africa along with its colonial conquerors and imperialists and its use quickly became a tool for them to exercise and retain power over Africans. English became the language of government administration, business, politics and legal matters, thus it was the language of power in the countries that used it. For the African, English was the key to getting white-collar jobs, enjoying special privileges and understanding Western thoughts. This led to the desire of many Africans to learn and know English, both for their children and for themselves, which was really only possible through the formal education system. This became a very successful method, but as time has progressed, everything slowly started deteriorating.

The two main problems with English in the African education system today are the facts that English is being taught by non-native English speakers and that there is difficulty for African students to learn in a language that they have not yet mastered. The latter problem is derived from the former but both present challenges for the African student to be successful in school.

In the early days, English was taught to Africans by the colonists and by missionaries but since independence of almost all African countries, the colonists and their institutions have left or abandoned their roles in Africa. Also, as African governments and institutions started taking over the basic responsibilities of their citizens, whether through actions or plain rhetoric (and graft), missionaries’ have had to redefine their own role and purposes in Africa. Many of these missionaries’ roles have shifted to other services that are still being inadequately met, such as humanitarian aid delivery and medical treatment rather than teaching. Lastly, as English moved from being a privileged language to a national language, the necessity for Africans to learn English grew to where there became a serious shortage of trained English teachers. Thus, it became acceptable for any teacher who could speak English, whether trained or not, to be able to both teach English and use it as a medium of instruction. Unfortunately, all of this has led to the problem we have today.

Concerning African students’ ability to understand their subjects when their medium of instruction is changed to English, two cases are observed. The first is found in South Africa where one of the ten other national languages is replaced by English as the medium of instruction in 4th grade. The other is found in both Kenya and Tanzania where Swahili is replaced by English as the medium of instruction at the secondary and tertiary school level.

After apartheid ended, the South African government made an effort to give equal status to all the major ethnic groups and languages in South Africa as a way to redistribute apartheid power. This led to the addition of nine new national languages and the recognition of five other languages and their prescribed use in the education system. Interestingly, though there is no compulsory rule to change the medium of instruction to English at any grade level, most South African primary schools replace the indigenous language used with English out of choice. Their reasoning is because there is a lack of quality educational books written in their African languages and all standard tests are in English. This may be a problem, but it could be solved if these schools created the market for those books and exams by continuing to use their indigenous languages throughout their education system.

In both Kenya and Tanzania, English is a mandatory course that is taken in primary school while Swahili is the medium of instruction. But, from secondary school and onward, English becomes the medium of instruction and Swahili becomes a subject for the students. Nevertheless, what is observed in these countries is that teachers code-switch and code-mix, which is changing the language spoken either between sentences or in the middle of sentences. Teachers do this when it appears that their students are not grasping what they are saying in English. This helps students understand, but teachers still write everything on the board in English and refer to all the subject materials out of English texts. Even worse, the students are expected to be able to express themselves solely in English, especially in their writing. All this leads to a student’s disorientation and confusion in learning anything concerning their subject content and a serious impediment in gaining a quality education.

It has been recorded in various studies that students’ scores significantly drop for African-language native speakers in South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania after the switch to English, not just at the next level but for subsequent grades as well. What can be done about this?

One solution to this problem has been presented by Martha Qorro, Head of the Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She feels that learning English is important for students but suggests that using it as a medium of instruction is not the solution. Rather she suggests that using a more familiar language as the medium and improving the teaching of English as a subject can go a lot farther. She states that this can eliminate the huge amount of incorrect English which students are exposed to, enhance students’ understanding of their subject contents, eliminate the false dependence on English and leave the English teaching solely to the English teachers.

This is just one solution, but if nothing else is thought up or implemented, then doubtlessly our African students and their future will continue to remain underdeveloped. Recognized writer on languages, Ali Mazrui, points this out by saying, “Can any country approximate first-rank economic development if it relies overwhelmingly on foreign languages for its discourse on development and transformation? Will Africa ever effectively take off’ when it is so tightly held hostage to the languages of the former imperial masters?”

So for a handful of students, Africa can provide one of the most unique educational experiences that most can only dream about or imitate with study-abroad programs; but for many, the African education system can be a confusing maze that just getting out of is a challenge.

Martha Qorro’s comments can be found in “Language of Instruction not Determinant in Quality Education” in the Guardian, 29 May 2002. Accessed from: www.ippmedia.com

Ali Mazrui is quoted from “Perspective: The Muse of Modernity and the Quest for Development” in Altbach, P., Hassam, S. (Eds.), The Muse of Modernity: Essays on Culture as Development in Africa. Africa World Press, Trenton. 1996.