.Chief Chiwala

By REBECCA MUSHOTA –

THE Copperbelt Royal Council (CRCF) of chiefs has demanded that Lamba should be used as a language of instruction for pupils in schools in Lamba land instead of Bemba.
According to a Press release by the chairperson of the royal council of chiefs, Senior Chief Chiwala, the fifteen chiefs from Lufwanyama,
Masaiti and Mpongwe had resolved to reject Bemba as the language of instruction for school pupils from Grade one to Grade four.
Chief Chiwala said Lamba should be used as a mode of instruction in all Copperbelt rural schools because Lamba is the indigenous language
in those areas.
“Undoubtedly, language plays a greater role in the development, promotion and preservation of culture in any given society, Therefore
introducing a Bemba language to teach children in the rural Copperbelt would destroy the Lamba culture,” he said.
Chief Chiwala said the chiefs and their subjects held a consultative meeting in Masaiti on January 25, this year which resolved to advocate Lamba as a mode of instruction in schools.
The Lambas since 2000, he said, has been working in collaboration with the Curriculum Development Centre to publish Lamba text books.
Chief Chiwala said the Ministry of Education had even undertaken a pilot project which involved 10 schools in Masaiti, Lufwanyama and
Mpongwe to teach Lamba as a subject.
He said the ministry had indicated that it was preparing a memorandum of understanding to incorporate Lamba in schools in the rural Copperbelt.
Putting all this in consideration, Chief Chiwala said, a committee has therefore been set up to prepare the literacy teaching materials and
appealed to Government to partner with them and avail funds for publication of the books.
He said Lamba was the appropriate language to teach pupils in the rural Copperbelt.