Grade 1-3 pupils in Kwale receive text books translated into Digo,Duruma,and Pokomo languages
Kwale County Governor Fatuma Achani and Finland coordinator(L)
By Caroline Kahonzi
The National Bible translation limited BTL has launched the second project of mother tongue text books for children of grades 1 to 3 in the coastal region of Kenya as one of the ways to build good learning foundation.
The National director of BTL Peter Munguti said that the books written in Digo, Durama and Pokomo languages will motivate students who have challenges in understanding the English language .
Mr.Munguti said despite translating the Bible ,BTL also writes books in the mother tongue languages for minority communities across the country.
“Today has been a very important day for the people of Digo, Duruma and Pokomo because for 7 years we have been writing books for children to read in grade 1 to grade 3 and today the work has been completed and books are ready to be used in schools,” Said Mr.Munguti.
He pointed out that the organization has joined with the Ministry of Education to achieve the development of indigenous books in accordance with the constitution.
“The Ministry of Education has been found it important when children start studying their mother tongue, they build a better foundation for education, that’s why in Kenya the constitution says that our languages should be promoted, protected and developed across s the Country ,” Added Mr. Munguti.
Mr Munguti says that the first launch was held in Saboti and Tharaka.
“This is the second project and we would like to work for all groups of people in Kenya who do not have these books, such as Rendile, Wasuba , Marakwet, and here on the coastal region we want to write for the Wata and Giriama tribes,”Posed Mr.Munguti.
The government of Finland through it’s coordinator John Mackeller said the Finland government has supported BTL for 8 years on writing the mother tongue books.
“More and more children are becoming literate and enjoy reading, Kofianan Literacy is finally the road to human progress and the means to which every man and woman could realize their full potential”.He said
On her part, Kwale County governor Fatuma Achani, who launched the books, noted that her government would support proposals from stakeholders that are intended to raise the levels of education in the county .
“The government of Kwale will support every project that aims to raise the level of education, for the last 10 years the Kwale County has realized tremendous achievements in improving the quality of education for our children , therefore this program will build up on the existing efforts to improve literacy levels among our children ,”Said the Governor.
About Author
