France wants Guyana to mainstream French in schools

Ambassador to France has signaled that the French Government is seeking to have its native language more widely taught in schools across Guyana.

This was discussed, among a range of cooperative prospects between France and Guyana, in a courtesy call made by Ambassador of the French Republic Antoine Joly to Minister of Education Nicolette Henry.

Ambassador Joly told Minister Henry that the French Government is looking into ways in which they could assist Guyana with the teaching of French, locally. Mr. Joly’s delegation intends to work on the practice of ‘twinning’ French schools with Guyanese schools. This is of interest because it will allow France to pour resources into training Guyanese teachers in their pedagogy of the French language so Guyanese students would have a better understanding of it. Minister Henry has committed to identifying a technical officer within her Ministry, with responsibility to streamline these efforts locally.

So far, France is offsetting the expenses of two Guyanese teachers who are to go off on an Advanced French language course in French Guiana.

Earlier this year, President of France, Emmanuel Macron launched an international drive to promote French as a “world language,” saying that the French should be proud of their language. The Guardian had reported that Macron’s efforts received international backlash from critics who described his campaign as imperialist, since France still currently owns a series of colonies and since French is the sixth most spoken language in the world.

Source:https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com