STAKEHOLDERS PROPOSE INTRODUCTION OF ARABIC AND FRENCH IN REFUGEE HOSTING DISTRICTS IN WEST NILE

Matua Job Richard (in black and white) the Assistant Resident City Commisisoner  speaking during the meeting

By Godwin Abedican

Arua

As West Nile has become a home for refugees who always come from the two neighboring countries South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, stakeholders are calling for considerations to have the languages of the two countries introduced in schools where refugees are hosted.

The democratic republic of Congo has French and Lingala as its predominant languages while south Sudan is dominated by Arabic language. This according to the stakeholders will act as a mechanism to facilitate cross border activities for the future generations.

Speaking in a dialogue recently held by partners that brought together the refugee leaders and partners, Matua Job Richard the Assistant Resident City Commissioner Arua notes that this would create more relevance of teaching language in schools.

“Knowledge is purposeful. If French and Arabic are to be taught in our primary schools here, the generation of west Nilers who understand French and Arabic will have the potential to become businessmen and women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan and even Sudan.  We would have built capacity in them for interactions that can bring prosperity to the region. Even if that French or Arabic goes only up to primary Seven, so long as one knows the basic, that is all,” Matua suggested.

According to Giselle Kapalata, the Executive Director of Congolese Refugees Association (CORA), if learnt early enough, the languages can be very beneficial since the refugee situation in the region may not change soon.

“I think it is very important reason being, when you learn a neighbor’s language, first of all communication becomes easier and secondly in terms of businesses it also becomes easier. We have a lot of Ugandans who would like to go to Congo for business but they have a challenge of language. If there was to be a school where those people would learn the languages, trust me it, would be very easy for them to enter Congo and South Sudan for business. If this is done it will be very easy for us to move and work,” She expressed.

Similarly, Malish Bonjira, the Executive Director of South Sudanese Refugees Association (SSURA) agrees that this could be big factor for co-existence. “Language is one of the factors that embrace social cohesion.  When people speak the same language it becomes very easy to interact. Taking a decision to teach these languages in schools, I think will be one of the best moves taken to promote peaceful co-existence among these three countries because people will be speaking the same language,” Bonjira said.

However Rita Harriet the senior inspector of schools for Koboko district says much as it’s a good idea, it is very unpractical given the challenges introducing a new subject comes with. “To me I see that it will not be so effective in Uganda reason being that we do not have teachers for these particular subject areas for primary. So, it would be a very big problem to bring in something that is not sustainable. I see that the country is not prepared to have such in primary. May be, what the districts that have refugees can do for now is to have translators as the first step, but to have teachers recruited on board for this is a big challenge,” Rita remarked.

For a new teaching area to be introduced in schools, the ministry of education needs to develop a curriculum that suits the same, availability of the learning materials and availability of personnel in relation to available resources.