| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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obstacle to the educational, economic, and technological progress of the country. Therefore, in the same 1971 decree, he argued that it was not in the best interests of the country to replace French with the national languages as the medium of instruction: ‘In the first place, replacing French as the official language and as the medium of instruction is neither desirable nor possible. Unless we want be among the last in the year 2000 rendezvous’ (translation).
However, Senghor was not proven right. The national literacy rate did not improve, and enrolments in public educational institutions were significantly low. In addition to pressure at home to promote the national languages, there were increased international concerns over the literacy rates in developing countries. As a result, international organisations such as UNESCO started campaigning and urging developing countries to support education in their own national languages.
In 1972, Senghor's government went a step further with the 1971 constitutional amendment that declared the six major languages as national languages––they reaffirmed in appendix 2 of decree no. 72-862 (which outlined the primary education policy in Senegal) that
This radical attitude shift from total rejection to recognition was a significant landmark in the history of Senegal's national languages.
In Senegal—as in many countries that have been under colonial domination—language issues are critical because of their direct impact on the widening of the inequalities created by obtaining an education in the Senegalese languages as opposed to the colonial language. Whereas education in the colonial language continues to be associated with power, mobility, easy access to vital services (such as information and basic health care), and prestige, education in the Senegalese languages not only suffers from a lack of prestige but it also fails