Post-conflict
redevelopment and reconciliation interestingly encompasses the
influence of language as it becomes and is utilised in conflict as
both an ethnic and cultural marker of difference.
How the history of Rwanda has influenced language
Rwanda
has most definitely faced this mechanism of political division
through language, visible in the politically constructed ethnic
differences created between the Hutu and Tutsi communities in Rwanda.
During the 1994 Rwandan genocide nearly one fifth of the population was
killed due to their ethnic identity.1
French
became heavily bound up in ethnic division of the Hutu and Tutsi
people whilst the legacy of Belgian colonialism during the genocide
also became so deeply implicated in French spoken in Rwanda.
According to a UNESCO report most Tutsi returnees to Rwanda
post-conflict were English speaking and most French speakers were
Hutu and Tutsi who grew up in Rwanda or Tutsi returnees from the DRC
and Burundi.2
Language in Rwanda in the 1990's: The Tri Language Policy
Thus
after the Tri-Language Policy in education introduced in the
mid-1990s, the country changed its language policy again in 2008,
where the Government ordered education to be taught exclusively in
English.3
This was introduced in an effort to absorb returning refugees from
English-speaking Uganda and Tanzania whilst also turning Rwanda’s
back on la Francophonie where Belgian colonial legacies and French
military and financial support were implicated in the Rwandan
Genocide.4
This
current Language policy was therefore introduced as a mechanism to
unify the country, supporting economic growth and development
post-conflict as well as fostering national, regional (e.g. East
African Community) and international political relations with
English-speaking countries.5
Language and Development: The transition to an English speaking Education in Rwanda today
In Rwanda today, the government has replaced French with English as the language
of business, diplomacy and scholarship. Kinyarwanda, the language
that united Rwanda is still widely spoken and estimates suggest that
over 80% of the Rwandan population speak only Kinyarwanda fluently,
5-15% speak French and only 2-5% speak English.6
Issues of
child development as well as the poor quality and lack of access to
English speaking teachers has lead the country to re-introduce
Kinyarwanda as the official school language during a child’s first
few years. This is seen by many as a progressive step yet others
perceive the constant change of language as more disadvantageous to
child development.7
The fact
remains that difference is still so highly delicate within the
population of Rwanda, it seems amazing to think that in just over a
decade since the genocide and civil war any means of differentiation
has been eradicated.
English as the National Language of Rwanda: Has it made a difference?
Has this
fostering of English as the National Language of Rwanda really made a
difference post war? We currently see the UK withdrawing aid to
Rwanda amidst allegations that Rwanda has military influence in the
DRC.8
The rise of China within Africa also leads us onto another
discussion, stepping away from the international prowess of English.
Rwanda
has mainly been a development success within the states of Africa.
Rwanda - like that of Yugoslavia and the ongoing Syrian conflict -
manipulated ethnicity, nationalism, and difference as a tool for war.
Today language has been manipulated for peace and this can only be a
positive step forwards.
Please
take a look at this link to hear a 10-minute interview made in 2008
discussing English in Rwanda:
References
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