English debate in Kacyiru lanes conversations

English debate in Kacyiru lanes conversations

By GEORGE KAGAME

After much deliberation, consultations, capacity building workshops and retreats, the cabinet only recently passed the all important decision that decreed English as the main language of instruction for all school going children.


There is a simple matter that the during the same week that cabinet made their decision known to the whole country, an international conference held in Nyandundu-where else?- was discussing redeveloping a curriculum for countries emerging out of conflicts. Many of the countries participating were mainly former French colonies-save for the UN.
During this week long conference, most of the speakers presented their papers in French which is the medium that English will replace beginning in 2010. Anyhow, the change from Franco to Anglo for the pupils is a welcome decision but it is shrouded in some confusion as one market vendor in Kacyiru recently observed after-all: "is it not the same government that was at loggerheads with students some years back after they had refused to take the mandatory French course before entry into tertiary institutions?" asked the vendor. The students who were only familiar with English were protesting the policy of the mandatory French course.


Now like the biblical Saul who after pursuing Christian converts felt sympathetic to them with the help of the Holy Spirit turned into Paul and joined the Christian crusade, the government saw English light how this came after the students were chased away.

With English speaking countries contributing largely to the economic survival either in terms of aid or trading partners-it was only prudent to change and realign the labour resources and hopefully soon the paper work to those of our development partners for better communication purposes. The decision however was received with mixed reactions in a social club that meets for a proverbial drink in the outskirts of Village Urugwiro, to be specific at the junction leading to Gisozi Genocide memorial and Kigali Liberal University-ULK!.

Peter Mazuru, a regular at the club recorded a conversation between four of his colleagues in the drinking fellowship and below are the excerpts. Member one: English is here; but then again, it has been for a very long while, and don’t be fooled the queen’s language was here long before the previous government. Now we all have to learn the language, if not to get jobs to be able to communicate with the enormous number of tourists and development partners interested in Rwanda today.


Member two: I badly need to learn to English, that way I will able to get a job in the Vision 2020 Inc. But then again, I never had a chance to learn French beyond ‘senkanti’ (fifty) maybe I will easily remember English words like Wayne Rooney.

Member three: You are all wrong, English is just a language like Kinya-rwanda, and if you want a job you must be able to sell something to a prospective employer. What can both of you do? Apart from drinking brew that costs only Senkanti do?

Member four: To answer your question, I can carry 100 bags of cement from point A to point B in one day. But you what you are saying is happens when government takes long to announce already predicted decisions.

Mazuru: By the time Vision 2020 becomes a reality we shall be speaking Chinese!