Swahili teachers for work in Uganda

Dr Shukuru Kawambwa, the Tanzanian Minister of Education and Vacation Training, recently welcomed with enthusiasm the suggestion of their neighbouring country Uganda to import Swahili teachers from Tanzania and Kenya.

From 2013 Swahili teachers will be able to apply to teach in Uganda’s primary and secondary schools, as confirmed by Jessica Alupo, Ugandan minister of education.

This decision was made in response to the urgent need of Uganda to integrate with two East African countries, Tanzania and Kenya, where Swahili is widely spoken. I

n fact, in Uganda only five percent of the population speaks Swahili, probably because in the past this language was associated with the brutality of the former armies during their violent campaigns against civilians. Rwanda and Burundi are also making efforts to introduce the lingua franca for the region.

Hopefully this first step will facilitate the communication and integration within the East African Community Federation.