The Kenyan government has controversially enacted a policy that makes learning Kiswahili an optional subject in the Grade Eight national examinations, sharply criticized by Kiswahili scholars and the Association of Swahili Teachers in Kenya. Kiswahili is set to be optional, East Africa’s lingua franca, at a time when regional integration is taking center stage.
Under the new Competency-Based Curriculum, Kiswahili and sign language will be options for grade eight candidates in the national examinations. A number of stakeholders branded this move regressive to the compulsory status of Kiswahili; among them was Gabriel Mbeka, chairman of the Association of Secondary Kiswahili Teachers.
“It is unbelievable to tell me that the Kiswahili subject will no longer be a compulsory paper in the Standard Eight national examinations, according to a new government policy. This to me is just a rumour,” said Mbeka during a Kiswahili workshop in Eldoret. He said the decision was reached without sufficient consultation with the relevant stakeholders.
He argued that the government, rather than downgrading Kiswahili, should be doing more to make it stronger in schools. Mbeka gave examples of countries like China that are trying so much to preserve and promote their languages, adding that the apparent disregard for Kiswahili by the Kenyan government bilked at him.
He called upon the Ministry of Education to reconsider the decision and initiate a public discourse with Kiswahili scholars so that better ways of promoting the language can be found. Mbeka urged MPs to pass a bill for the establishment of the Kiswahili Council of Kenya, which would oversee the promotion and preservation of the language.
The sentiment was also echoed by chairman of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya, Sheikh Abubakar Bini. Challenging the government, he said that for the sake of cultural heritage, Kiswahili should be given first priority at all levels.
Dr. Allan Opijah, a lecturer in the Department of Languages at Moi University, pegged his support on the establishment of the Kiswahili Council. Ironically, he put it that parliamentarians were using Kiswahili during campaigns but failed to prioritize its institutionalization.
In case Kenya were to establish a Kiswahili Council, it would be the second country in the East African Community after Tanzania. The latter, through an act of parliament in 1967, formed a National Swahili Council, which is often cited as an example of how such a move could be done.