The International Indigenous Policy Journal

Article Title

Competing Purposes: Mother Tongue Education Benefits Versus Economic Interests in Rural Zimbabwe

Authors

Gamuchirai Tsitsi Ndamba, Great Zimbabwe UniversityFollow
Micheal M. van Wyk, University of South AfricaFollow
Josiah C. Sithole, Great Zimbabwe UniversityFollow

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of educators on the barriers to the implementation of the Zimbabwean language-in-education policy, which recommends use of Indigenous languages up to the end of the primary school level. Postcolonial theory informed this case study. Individual interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with 15 rural primary school teachers, 3 school heads, and 2 school's inspectors who were purposefully selected from Masvingo district. Data were analysed using the constant comparative method for thematic coding. The findings revealed that participants strongly believed that the English language offers socio-economic opportunities, a factor which may negatively influence teachers in the implementation of the mother tongue-based policy. Recommendations that inform policy-makers are made.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Ndamba, G. T. , van Wyk, M. M. , Sithole, J. C. (2017). Competing Purposes: Mother Tongue Education Benefits Versus Economic Interests in Rural Zimbabwe. The International Indigenous Policy Journal, 8(1) . Retrieved from: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/iipj/vol8/iss1/1
DOI: 10.18584/iipj.2017.8.1.1

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