National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) conducted refresher training for over 420 primary school teachers from Rwenzori sub-region at Canon Apollo Core PTC in Fort Portal City, to prepare them to teach Kiswahili at primary school level.
The five-day training, held at Canon Apollo Core PTC in Fort Portal City from 12th to 16th November, 2024, refreshed their knowledge, skills and values required to implement the teaching of Kiswahili at primary school level.
Drawn from both government and private schools in Kabarole district and Fort Portal City, Kasese district and Kasese Municipality, the teachers were the first cohort to be flagged off to start teaching Kiswahili, starting with Primary Four, with government approval.
Addressing participants during the opening ceremony of the training, the Director NCDC, Dr Grace K. Baguma encouraged teachers to follow the timetable released by the Ministry of Education and Sports, allocating three Kiswahili periods weekly.
Dr Baguma stressed that the rollout of Kiswahili at the primary school level was in line with the aspirations of the East African Community’s drive to promote Kiswahili for economic and political integration, social cohesion, peace and protection of Africa’s strong cultural identity, heritage, and shared values and ethics. ‘Kiswahili is one of the world’s top ten most spoken languages with more than 200 million speakers. It is Africa’s most widely used native language, and also the most widely spoken in sub-Saharan Africa. Let us speak it. Let us be proud of it. Let our children learn it,’ Baguma stated.
In July, 2022, Cabinet approved the compulsory teaching of Kiswahili in primary and secondary schools. The Constitution stipulates that Kiswahili shall be the second official language in Uganda. The implementation of Kiswahili at Primary school level is in tandem with the Government of Uganda Language Policy agenda. Kiswahili is already taught at secondary school level as a compulsory subject.
In 2021, the UN designated 7th July as World Kiswahili Day owing to its wide reach and cultural significance.
Dr Arinaitwe Perpetua, the coordinator of the Kiswahili training programme said the rollout of Kiswahili at primary school level was expected to be done in a phased manner. NCDC developed the Primary Curriculum for Kiswahili, piloted and reviewed it. The Centre also trained teachers to start teaching Kiswahili.
