In Senegal, the new authorities choose teaching in national languages

“It is more effective to develop a national language than to cultivate a foreign language; teaching which would be given in a mother tongue would make it possible to avoid years of delay in the acquisition of knowledge…” The quote taken from Negro nations and culturea flagship work, published in 1979, by Senegal’s most renowned 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 school is an old demand of the trade union movement. “Children are immersed in a language throughout their early childhood and, arriving at school at 6 years old, they discover French. It is a known blocking and underperformance factor which slows down progress in terms of literacy”explains the trade 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 into public education the use of the six national languages ​​recognized in the Constitution: Diola, Malinké, Pular, Serere, Soninké and Wolof. “Out of fourteen regions, national languages ​​will be used in twelve from the start of the school year in 2024”explains Cheikh Beye, in charge of the Senegalese language dissemination program at the Ministry of National Education.

“I have books to support me and regular training” welcomes Elhadji Ka, a teacher who has been giving lessons in Wolof and Pular for several years now. For him, it is clear that “Students learn more quickly to read and write in their mother tongue. Subsequently, it is easier for them to learn French”. “The results are there”, specified the Minister of Education regarding the use of national languages ​​in primary education.

“Mediums and teaching objects”

Mr. Beye also points to a change in philosophy: “Initially, we thought of national languages ​​as teaching media. The new approach is to consider them as mediums and objects of teaching. » Ultimately, they could be studied as such in college. In the model designed by the ministry, French remains studied from the second year of primary school. “Basically, French is also a Senegalese language”souligne M. Beye.

This change is made possible by 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 enable codification and dissemination of national languages ​​in the school system”explains Mamour Dramé, doctor in linguistics at Cheikh-Anta-Diop University in Dakar. If Wolof and Pular are today perfectly codified, work continues to establish the rules for other Senegalese languages.

“There are still efforts to be made. Teachers lack textbooks. Sometimes, disorganization hampers the process, when a teacher from a region where Pular is used is transferred to a region where Serer is spoken.points out Mr. Malick Youm. Mr. Beye does not avoid the subject: “The production and distribution of textbooks is the big challenge for the ministry. »

In Senegal, Wolof is the national language most spoken on a daily basis. 53.5% of Senegalese use it according to the 2023 census, when French would only be spoken on a daily basis by 0.6% of the population. On the other hand, French remains the main language of literacy.

“A cultural heritage”

The place of Senegalese languages ​​in education is an old subject. We find presidential decrees and government reports urging the use of national languages ​​as early as 1971. The debate involved even the first President of the Republic, Léopold Sédar Senghor.

The latter, a graduate of French grammar and a fine connoisseur of the Serer language, maintained ambiguity regarding language policies in education. He has sometimes defended the use of Senegalese languages ​​for ideological reasons, but left room for the use of French at school under the guise of pragmatism, citing in particular the absence of Wolof grammar. His opponents will long accuse him of favoring French.

“National languages ​​constitute a cultural heritage which reflects our way of thinking, our beliefs and our customs”also insisted the Minister of Education. At the ministry, beyond the educational virtue of the use of Senegalese languages, we are working on what is similar to a Senegalization of school programs. The place of the Senegalese riflemen and the Thiaroye massacre in 1944 could thus be reassessed. Likewise, historical figures still absent from the programs could be called upon to make their entry, such as the hero of the 18th^e century Thierno Souleymane Baal. For the new authorities, in office since April, education also appears to be a vector of the sovereignism they claim.