Lango Teachers Decry Funding Gaps as Kiswahili Struggles in schools

8 July 2026, 1:40 pm

BY ISAAC ERICK ODONGO

Speaking during Press interviews , Ms. Nelly Cherotic, a Kiswahili teacher at Lira Town College, said the biggest challenge is lack of a government budget to facilitate teachers.

“Currently, only a few schools that can afford teaching Kiswahili.

Besides government schools, some private schools are also teaching the language. In Lango and across Uganda, the number of people interested in learning Kiswahili is growing,” Cherotic said.

She noted that Kiswahili is a unifying language that brings together people of different tribes, religions and cultures, and it should be taught like any other subject in schools.

Cherotic also decried negative perceptions that paint Kiswahili as a language for “certain groups only.” She appealed to government to invest more in the subject so that learners across the region can benefit.

Mr. Musafiri Suwed, a Kiswahili lecturer at All Saints University Lango, said the language plays a big role in promoting unity, trade and regional integration.

“Kiswahili is spoken in many countries by over 200 million people. It is widely used in business and other key sectors. That is why UNESCO set aside July 7 to celebrate it,” Suwed said.

He, however, noted that lack of trained teachers, teaching materials, and low awareness are still major bottlenecks.
“Government should treat this seriously instead of associating Kiswahili with criminals. We need support to expand its teaching,” he added.