Uganda: Kiswahili to Be Made Compulsory in Schools

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9 July 2023
The Independent (Kampala)

Kampala — The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East Africa Community Affairs, Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga disclosed that the Government of Uganda is to make the Kiswahili language a compulsory and examinable subject in primary and secondary schools.

Kadaga made the remarks while addressing journalists at the EAC Affairs Ministry, located at the Kingdom building in Kampala on Wednesday. The joint Press Conference brought together representatives from the Ministries of Gender, Labor and Social Development, Defence and Veteran Affairs, Education and Sports and top leadership from the EAC Secretariat.

"Kiswahili has been recognized by the Ugandan Cabinet as an official language and is widely spoken in the EAC bloc and beyond. Being an indigenous African language, Uganda must adopt its usage widely by making the language a compulsory and examinable subject in both primary and secondary schools," she said.

She called upon the media to popularize the Kiswahili language more than other foreign languages because Kiswahili has its origin in Africa, where Africans have to be proud of speaking the language. She added that Kiswahili plays a pivotal role in accelerating regional trade in the EAC bloc as the mode of communication among traders and their customers.

Read the original article on Independent (Kampala).

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