The Katikiro of Buganda, Charles Peter Mayiga who asked the Ministry of Education and Sports to initiate compulsory teaching of Luganda as a subject in all schools in Buganda has faced backlash from parents who view his move as tribalistic and backward.
Mayiga stated that making teaching Luganda mandatory in schools will help learners understand better the subject being taught to them.
Mayiga’s remarks follow his submission to the Education Policy Review Commission during a meeting that was chaired by Amanya Mushega on February 22, 2023. The main aim of the meeting was to improve Uganda’s education system to make it better.
“We suggest that Luganda should be compulsory in all schools in Buganda up to at least Primary Seven,” he said.
This has however, raised controversial statements from various people across the country.
Some members of public have considered Mayiga’s statement as demeaning and promoting tribalism among children and the country at large.
Others have considered it as indirectly imposing the language on other regions since Buganda schools accommodate several tribes and children from different regions.
John Kalinaki, a resident of Kyegegwa said that the making of Luganda compulsory in schools will keep students from other regions of the country away from the central region schools.
“By deciding to make Luganda mandatory in all schools of Kampala simply implies that only children from the central region will be the only ones to study from Buganda schools,” he said.
Hajjara Namata, a teacher in Kampala states that the Katikiro’s suggestion will set students back and hinder them from competing with students from other regions.
“The Katikiro’s thought process doesn’t make sense to me as an educator. I believe it is a backward move and will cost students in central Uganda a lot. They will be left behind, not to mention that it contradicts Uganda’s education policy,” Namata stated.
The Ugandan education policy requires that the mother tongue be used as the language of instruction for the first three years, with English taught as a subject.
The policy also requires that in the 4th grade, English is adopted as the language of instruction dropping the use of mother tongue altogether.
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