Disgruntled chiefs, parents push for Xitsonga
SAMUEL NJINGA
Disgruntled chiefs and parents in Chiredzi and Mwenezi districts, Masvingo Province, are vigorously pushing to have Xitsonga, popularly known as Xangani language, taught in schools in the area, Business Times can report.
They are prepared to petition President Emmerson Mnangagwa over the matter.
They said their children were being deprived of their indigenous language.
“When we talk of culture we talk of a language. As long as our language is not being taught in school it means there is a shrinkage of both culture and the language in particular,” Chief Feleni Chitanga said.
He said there are graduates that have studied Xitsonga at Great Zimbabwe University and are roaming the streets.
Most of the parents in Chiredzi and Mwenezi have shared their disgruntlement over the matter.
A parent, Herbert Phikela, said there was a need to petition President Mnangagwa.
“We cannot have our children being taught a language that has got nothing to do with our roots. It is time that we push from the grassroots.
“We should petition and push the leaders, both political and traditional leaders as well as pressure groups,” Phikela said.
He said a multifaceted approach is needed so that the language is taught at schools.
Another parent, who requested anonymity told Business Times: “Freedom is when your language is not incarcerated. The President (Emmerson Mnangagwa) must be informed that there is now a Xangani Chimurenga.”
A parent told this publication that it was time to review some of these issues and Xangani must be taught both in primary and secondary schools.
Great Zimbabwe University Xitsonga lecturer, Khensani Steyn Madlome told Business Times that it was disturbing to realise that most of the schools dominated by Xitsonga speaking people in the Mwenezi and Chiredzi districts were not offering Xitsonga language.
“I know of schools that are not teaching Xitsonga yet they have a catchment area that has got a lot of Xitsonga speaking people. At Chizumba primary school Xitsonga used to be taught but it is now history,” Madlome said.
Contacted for a comment , the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education spokesperson, Taungana Ndoro, said there were no adequate qualified teachers for the language.
“Our records show that we have a lot of people who speak Xitsonga in Mwenezi and Chiredzi but when it comes to having teaching qualifications in terms of the language we hardly have any teachers to that regard,” Ndoro said.
He added: “In fact our call for a teacher capacitation development programme in which we were inviting people with Xitsonga qualifications hit a brick wall recently.
“We needed 200 people to pursue the programme. We only got two applicants to take up that teacher capacitation development programme.
“I think the community is there, it will be conducive if they can come forward and go through training in higher and tertiary education so that we may be able to get qualified teachers.”
However, investigations bythis publication showed that there were Xitsonga teachers in most of the schools in the two districts who have long since been assigned to teach other subjects at the expense of Xitsonga.
