Rwanda Drops French for English

Heaven knows Rwanda has had bigger troubles in its history. That said, the government is making a very big move that will have long lasting effects on both the Hutu and Tutsi who live there. Instruction in the schools will now be in English rather than French as will government business.

Theoneste Mutsindashyaka, Rwanda's state minister for education, said in an English language interview with the Washington Post, “When you look at the French-speaking countries -- it's really just France, and a small part of Belgium and a small part of Switzerland. Most countries worldwide, they speak English. Even in China, they speak English. Even Belgium, if you go to the Flemish areas, they speak English, not French.”

The government of Rwanda is adamant that this decision has nothing to do with the current poor relations between the former colony and colonial power. Rwanda’s government claims that the French armed the genocidaires in 1994. It also has accused 33 top French military and political leaders, including the late President Francois Mitterand, of direct involvement in the genocide that took 800,000 lives.

Aloisea Inyumba, a senator and member of the ruling party, argued, “This is not about France. This is about us. Introducing English is just being realistic. English is the language of business.” One of the benefits is cheaper textbooks. The Post reported, “A fourth-grade English math book costs 70 cents, for instance, compared with $4 for the French version.” That means the government can buy 5 times as many books for less money.

It will be an uphill battle in one sense. Only 5 % of the country speaks English, while most have as a mother tongue the local Kinyarwanda language or French. However, Rwanda’s neighbors and trading partners Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania use English. Rwanda has even applied for membership in the British Commonwealth. Susan Muhude, a teacher at the Baptist English Teaching Center in Rwanda told the Post, “For English classes, we might have 50 students. French, there are very few, perhaps five.” Rwanda will be a different place in 10 years’ time.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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