“It is more effective to develop a national language than to cultivate a foreign language; Teaching given in the mother tongue would avoid years of delay in the acquisition of knowledge…” The quote taken from Black nations and cultureemblematic work, published in 1979, by Senegal’s most famous intellectual, Cheikh Anta Diop, comes from the mouth of El Hadji Malick Youm, general secretary of the Autonomous Union of Teachers.
The use of Senegalese languages in schools is an old demand of the union movement. “Children are immersed in a language during their early childhood and, when they arrive at school at age 6, they discover French. “It is a known blocking and underachieving factor that slows progress in terms of literacy.”explains the unionist, satisfied with the announcement made in September by the Minister of National Education, Moustapha Mamba Guirassy, to generalize the integration of national languages in primary education.
Thousands of students from Casamance, in the south of the country, will have their first return to school this October 7 in the Diola language. Since 2016, region by region, Senegal has introduced the use of the six national languages recognized in the Constitution in public education: Diola, Malinké, Pular, Serere, Soninké and Wolof. “Of fourteen regions, national languages will be used in twelve from the start of the school year in 2024”explains Cheikh Beye, responsible for the Senegalese language dissemination program at the Ministry of National Education.
“I have books that support me and regular training” welcomes Elhadji Ka, a teacher who has been teaching Wolof and Pular classes for several years. For him it is clear that “Students learn more quickly to read and write in their native language. Later it is easier for them to learn French”. “The results are there,” the Minister of Education specified about the use of national languages in primary education.
“Teaching media and objects”
Beye also points out a change in philosophy: “At first we thought about national languages as a means of teaching. The new approach is to consider them as means and objects of teaching. » Ultimately, they could be studied as such at university. In the model designed by the ministry, French continues to be studied from the second year of primary school. “Basically, French is also a Senegalese language”Beye emphasizes.
This change is possible thanks to the work of linguists and grammarians. “Since the 2000s, there has been an increasing production of dictionaries, lexicons and grammars of national languages. “Essential tools to allow the codification and dissemination of national languages in the school system”explains Mamour Dramé, doctor in linguistics at Cheikh-Anta-Diop University in Dakar. If today Wolof and Pular are perfectly codified, work continues to establish the rules for other Senegalese languages.
“There are still efforts to be made. Teachers lack textbooks. Disorganization sometimes makes the process difficult, when a teacher from a Pular-speaking region is transferred to a Serer-speaking region.says Malick Youm. Mr. Beye does not avoid the topic: “The production and distribution of textbooks is the great challenge of the ministry. »
In Senegal, Wolof is the most widely spoken national language on a daily basis. 53.5% of Senegalese use it according to the 2023 census, when only 0.6% of the population would speak French on a daily basis. On the other hand, French remains the main language of literacy.
“A cultural heritage”
The place of Senegalese languages in education is an old topic. Already in 1971 we find presidential decrees and government reports urging the use of national languages. Even the first president of the Republic, Léopold Sédar Senghor, participated in the debate.
The latter, a graduate in French grammar and a great expert on the Serer language, maintained ambiguity regarding language policies in education. He sometimes defended the use of Senegalese languages on ideological grounds, but left room for the use of French in school under the guise of pragmatism, citing in particular the absence of Wolof grammar. His opponents will long accuse him of favoring the French.
“National languages constitute a cultural heritage that reflects our way of thinking, our beliefs and our customs”the Minister of Education also insisted. In the ministry, beyond the educational virtue of the use of Senegalese languages, we are working on something similar to a Senegalization of school programs. In this way, the place occupied by the Senegalese riflemen and the Thiaroye massacre in 1944 could be reassessed. Likewise, historical figures still absent from the programs could be summoned for entry, such as the 18th century hero.my century Thierno Souleymane Baal. For the new authorities, in office since April, education also seems to be a vector of the sovereignty they claim.
