Uganda adopts Swahili as national language, recommends compulsory teaching in schools

The Ugandan government has approved the adoption of Swahili as an official language and further directed for it to be made compulsory in schools.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Cabinet approved the recommendation that is said to be in line with the directive of the 21st East African Community (EAC) Summit held in February 2021 that called for Kiswahili to be embraced as an official language region.

According to Uganda, the Cabinet also advocated for the language to be taught in both primary and secondary schools as a compulsory subject.

“Cabinet recommended that the teaching of Kiswahili language in primary and secondary schools should be made compulsory and examinable. It was also further agreed that training programmes for Parliament, Cabinet and the media be initiated,” read the statement.

This follows a prior recommendation by the Uganda National Kiswahili Council in 2019 that pushed for the introduction of Kiswahili as the second national and official language in the nation.

Since the country gained its independence in 1962, English has been the only official language.

Among the seven EAC member states namely; Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kiswahili is the most spoken language.

In Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and now Uganda, Swahili is an official language with Kenya and Tanzania serving also as national languages.

Being the most spoken African language on the continent and with over 200 million speakers globally, the African Union (AU) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) have also adopted Swahili as an official language.