Regional conference on bilingual education and the use of local languages

Date: 
03 August 2005 to 05 August 2005
Location: 
Windhoek
Namibia

The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), the German cooperation agency (GTZ) and the UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE), in partnership with the Ministry of Education of Namibia and the Agence intergouvernementale pour la francophonie (AIF), has held a conference of experts on bilingual education and the use of African languages as languages of instruction in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The conference was held at the Country Club Resort in Windhoek, Namibia, August 3-5, 2005.

Many specialists from a variety of backgrounds took part in the conference, including linguists, education specialists, experts in communication, academics, publishers, senior officials of education ministries, and representatives of development agencies from seventeen African countries (Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia) and countries from other regions (France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States). Five professors from African and Northern universities contributed their expertise (the University of Cape Town, South Africa; the University of Ibadan, Nigeria; the University of Leipzig, Germany; the University of Oslo, Norway; and Alliant International University, United States) and the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN). In addition to the organizers, several development agencies that support education in Africa also attended, including the Irish cooperation agency, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and the International Development Research Center (IDRC). Also participating in the conference was two regional and sub-regional organizations, CONFEMEN (Conférence des ministres de l’éducation ayant le français en partage) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), as well as two ADEA working groups: the Working Group on Books and Learning Materials (WGBLM) and the Working Group on Communication for Education and Development (WGCOMED). 

Conference documents