STORY: Cameroon commemorates Int'l Mother Language Day
SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 19, 2024
DATELINE: Feb. 21, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:48
LOCATION: BAFOUSSAM, Cameroon
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of schools and pupils
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): SUCCESS ABOFEGEH, Pupil of Les Normaliens Lay Private Bilingual School
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): BELINDA BAFOR, Teacher of Les Normaliens Lay Private Bilingual School
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (French): CLARISSE NDAM MEGANCHE, Founder of Les Normaliens Lay Private Bilingual School
5. various of schools and pupils
6. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): GILES NDZE, Pupil of the Progressive English Nursery and Primary School

STORYLINE:

Cameroon is commemorating the International Mother Language Day, which falls on Wednesday this year, by teaching local languages in schools.

There are about 260 indigenous languages in Cameroon, but only French and English, inherited from colonial masters, are official, according to the Ministry of Secondary Education of the country.

It is important to emphasize on the need to decolonize Africa through teaching of local languages, said local linguist Joseph Maluh.

"This program, at its core, is a solid example of what decolonization looks like. It will gradually erase the language of the former colonial master while giving importance to local languages. And while it will take a while to get a framework in place to expand this programming all over Cameroon, supporting it will be crucial," Maluh said.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): SUCCESS ABOFEGEH, Pupil of Les Normaliens Lay Private Bilingual School
"I am happy because people are happy that I am learning the dialect and my parents are also happy that I am learning the dialect."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): BELINDA BAFOR, Teacher of Les Normaliens Lay Private Bilingual School
"They are so excited when we teach the national language. But there are some children that have not grown in the village. They find it difficult. So when introducing the national language, we deal with nearly all the languages."

SOUNDBITE 3 (French): CLARISSE NDAM MEGANCHE, Founder of Les Normaliens Lay Private Bilingual School
"In the past two years I've been working with the children at this school.
I've noticed that the national language and culture teacher have brought about a big change in their attitude."

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): GILES NDZE, Pupil of the Progressive English Nursery and Primary School
"Local languages help us to communicate with those who know our local languages, and also help us to know our national culture and to know where you come from."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Bafoussam, Cameroon.
(XHTV)