Debate over minority-language education policy in Zimbabwe has resurfaced after local legislator Clifford Hlatshwayo announced on October 9 that Shona, the country’s most widely spoken language, should stop being taught in schools in his constituency. His speech at the Matharihasi Festival at Hakamela Stadium in Chipinge South argued that children in the predominantly Ndau-speaking area of Zimbabwe should learn their own language in schools, while describing Shona instruction as “colonization.”
The Ndau language is primarily spoken in southeastern Zimbabwe and neighboring Mozambique, and is particularly associated with the districts of Chipinge and Chimanimani in Zimbabwe’s Manicaland Province. Its similarity to Shona remains a sensitive subject, as an English linguist classified it as a dialect of Shona in 1931.
However, the 2013 Zimbabwean Constitution settled the question by recognizing Ndau as one of the country’s 16 official languages, whereas beforehand only Shona, Ndebele, and English were distinguished. Section Six of the Constitution requires the state to treat these languages equitably and promote their use. To implement this principle, Zimbabwe’s Education Amendment Act of 2019 directed schools to teach every officially recognized language and ensure that students’ mother tongues are used in early childhood education. The law further states that school curricula should attempt to reflect the cultures associated with the languages taught. Nonetheless, the extent to which this has been implemented in Ndau-speaking communities remains a debated topic.
A 2024 study by researchers Talent Mudena and Kingsley Ugwuanyi examined Ndau education a decade after its official recognition. The study identified several challenges, including a shortage of trained Ndau-speaking teachers, insufficient instructional resources, and the widespread perception of Ndau as a dialect of Shona. The researchers concluded that these factors all contributed to Shona replacing Ndau in some schools. To reverse this trend, Hlatshwayo’s speech called for deploying more Ndau-speaking teachers to the district.
Hlatshwayo’s announcement also renewed demands for greater local authority over education. Political analyst and former treasurer-general of Zimbabwe’s ruling party, Future Msebele, expressed his support for Hlatshwayo’s speech, arguing that the preservation of minority languages requires local agency alongside sustained national investment in education.
The sociopolitical debate follows the recent launch of Ndau FM, a community radio station commissioned in Chipinge on September 24. The station broadcasts in Ndau and attempts to improve access to local news and early-warning messages in rural border communities. UNESCO reported on October 5 that the station has helped isolated residents access information in their own language. Still, it remains to be seen whether Hlatshwayo’s more ambitious overarching goals will be realized.