Tanzania gets 2.8 billion/- grant for teaching of French language
 
2008-05-16 09:48:06
By Correspondent Felister Peter

Tanzania has received a 2.83bn/- grant from the French government to support qualitative and quantitative development in the teaching of the French language from primary school to university level.

The grant was offered in Dar es Salaam yesterday at the signing of a three-year Action Plan Financial Agreement between Education and Vocational Training minister Prof Jumanne Maghembe and visiting French Minister of State for Cooperation and Francophone Alain Joyandet.

Maghembe said the assistance was issued following Presidents Jakaya Kikwete`s request to France when he met former French President Jacques Chirac in May 2006, in Paris. The two talked about expanding the teaching of the French language in Tanzania.

The grant was aimed at supporting Tanzanian schools and higher learning institutions to cope with an increasing demand for the teaching of French.

``This will in turn demand the training of French language teachers. So far there are only 389 primary school French teachers while at secondary level the statistics are not well known,`` said Maghembe.

The project has three main components: establishing a coherent and efficient system of pre-service and in-service training of French teachers; pre-service training improvement at the Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE), and in-service training schemes offered by the Open University of Tanzania (OUT).

Maghembe said the second component involved the reinforcement of French and francophone studies in higher education and research.

This will benefit the State University of Zanzibar and the University of Dar es Salaam.

The money will also be used to develop audio-visual resources and distance learning as a means for supporting pre-service and in-service training of French and the promotion of francophone culture.

However, Joyandet said the demand for the French language in Tanzania was increasing. He said his visit would help to strengthen the relationship between France and Tanzania.

``It is my hope that when I come back to Tanzania there will be many students speaking French at all levels of education,`` he said.

• SOURCE: Guardian