Swahili Language to be given emphasis in EAC
According to Sylvestre Matata – a Rwandan who is part of a committee that is in charge of establishing a constitution that will govern EA Community says that there is a detailed plan of teaching Swahili language to non-speakers of the region.
The plan will be under the EAC department in charge of culture with its center planned to be in Burundi.
East Africa community’s anthem has already been composed and presented in the Swahili language. Besides the acknowledged official languages of the EA Community are English and Swahili only.
Whereas in Rwanda the language used as a medium of learning is English only, there are still a few bottlenecks as far harmonizing is concerned.
Only students pursuing a career in journalism in Rwanda have modules of learning Swahili language, the rest do not.
The only Rwandans who can speak or write Swahili are those who stay at the borders or once stayed in Swahili speaking countries like Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Linguists have often said that learning Swahili language while your mother tongue is Kinyarwanda becomes simple.