Language, Education, and Public Policy in Eritrea

African Studies Review, Apr 2003 by Woldemikael, Tekle M

Abstract:

After an Eritrea nationalist movement gained Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia in 1991, the newly formed government introduced a national educational policy based on the use of mother languages as the medium of instruction in all public schools. The stated purpose of the policy was to foster national unity, identity, and development while respecting cultural diversity. Nine different languages are spoken in Eritrea, among a population that consists equally of Christians and Muslims. The government has shown considerable flexibility in applying its language policy, particularly in its response to resistance from some predominantly Muslim segments of the population. Yet the implementation of the educational policy shows that three languages-English, Arabic, and Tigrinya-have come to dominate the majority of schools in Eritrea. This article examines how the state carried out its language policy from 1991 to 1997 and explores the problems it confronted in implementing the policy.

Résumé: Après qu'un mouvement nationaliste érythréen eut fait obtenir à l'Erythrée son indépendance de l'Ethiopie en 1991, le gouvernement nouvellement constitue introduisit vine politique nationale d'éducation basée sur l'usage des langues maternelles comme moyen d'instruction dans toutes les écoles publiques. Le but avoué de cette politique était de stimuler l'unité, l'identité et le développement nationaux tout en respectant la diversité culturelle. Neuf langues différentes sont parlées en Erythrée parmi une population composée de chrétiens et de musulmans en proportions égales. Le gouvernement a montré une souplesse considérable dans l'application de sa politique linguistique, en particulier dans sa réponse à la résistance de la part de certaines parties de la population à prédominance musulmane. Pourtant, la mise en application de cette politique scolaire montre que trois langues-l'anglais, l'arabe et le tigrinya-dominent maintenant dans la majorité des écoles en Erythrée. Cet article examine la façon dont l'état a mené sa politique linguistique de 1991 à 1997, et étudie les problèmes auxquels il s'est trouvé confronté lors de la mise en oeuvre de cette politique.

Introduction

Eritrea consists of about three million people, who are mostly rural farmers and seminomadic pastoralists. Eritrean society is composed of approximately equal numbers of Christians and Muslims, who have shaped the basic identities of nine ethnic groups, speaking nine different languages. The nine languages can be grouped into three major language families: the Nilotic, the Cushitic, and the Afro-Semitic. The Nilotic languages in Eritrea are Nara and Kunama. The Nara- and the Kunama- speakers are believed to be the oldest of current inhabitants of the region; they speak two related but different languages. The Naras are mostly Muslims, while the Kunamas are mainly Christians, recent, converts from a traditional African religion; some Kunamas are Muslims. Both groups are sedentary agriculturists who grow sorghum, peanuts, sesame, and fruit. They follow a slash-and-burn method of clearing the soil and use the hoe for cultivation. These two groups live in western Eritrea near the borders of Sudan and Ethiopia; Kunamas are also found across the border in Ethiopia. The majority of Nilotic language-speakers are found in central and southern Sudan, parts of northern Uganda, and western Kenya.

The Cushitic languages are Afar, Saho, and Bilen. Most Afar-speaking people are found in Ethiopia and consider the Sultan of Awasa in Ethiopia to be their traditional leader, but some Afar speakers are found in Eritrea and Djibouti as well. In Eritrea they are scattered along the Red Sea. The Afars are mostly nomadic pastoralists whose grazing area extends from eastern and southern Eritrea into Ethiopia. The home of Eritrean Afars is the Eritreari port of Asab, which was the major port of entry into Ethiopia. They are exclusively Muslims. Closely related to the Afars are the Sahos, another small ethnic group in Eritrea. The Sahos practice both nomadic pastoralism and mixed farming. Their home territory spreads from eastern Eritrea, near the port of Massawa on the Red Sea, to the central Eritrean highlands, and stretches farther into Tigray, the northern part of Ethiopia. The Sahos in Eritrea are exclusively Muslim, while those in Tigray are mostly Christians known as Irob. The Bilen are another small language group in Eritrea, found in the south-central part of the country near the city of Keren, and south of Keren toward Asmara, the capital city. Bilen is part of a larger Cushitic language subfamily called Agau. Agau speakers are also found deep inside the northwestern part of Ethiopia. They are mostly agriculturists, and their population includes equal numbers of Christians and Muslims. Agau-speaking Christians and Muslims are closely related kinship groups. Historically, the Bilen have been primarily Orthodox Christians; the Muslims among them are twentieth-century converts.