Mother Tongue First: Minister Moyo Rejects Compulsory Trilingual Proposal

HARARE — The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Torerai Moyo, has officially declined a proposal by Senator Mike Bimha to make English, Shona, and Ndebele compulsory subjects in all Zimbabwean schools. The Minister emphasized that such a move would undermine the rights of learners from minority language groups and contradict existing government policies focused on early childhood development and heritage-based learning.

Minister Moyo explained that under the Heritage-Based Curriculum, the Zimbabwe Early Learning Policy (ZELP) dictates that children at the infant level (ECD A to Grade 2) must be taught in their mother tongue.

“In terms of our law, you cannot teach them in English; you teach them in their mother tongue,” the Minister stated.

He argued that forcing Shona or Ndebele on a child whose first language is Venda or Tonga during their formative years would be a violation of their constitutional rights.

Zimbabwe’s Constitution recognizes 16 official languages. Minister Moyo’s stance is rooted in the principle that no single language should be elevated at the expense of others. The 16 Official Languages of Zimbabwe:

• Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, Sign Language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda, and Xhosa.

The Minister clarified that the government’s priority is to ensure every child is literate in their native language first. Only after this foundation is established will the Ministry look at introducing additional languages.

“It is our wish that all languages be valued... all people are equal, and all languages are equal,” he said.

He acknowledged the logistical difficulty of teaching all 16 languages to every child but insisted that respecting the mother tongue is the non-negotiable starting point for the education system.

Zimbabwe mother tongue education policy 2026