Teach patois in schools

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I CONGRATULATE Minister of Education, Youth and Culture, Senator Burchell Whiteman, on his position that Jamaican Creole (Patois) can be legitimately used in the education system (Gleaner, September 15).

I am an advocate of Afrikan-Caribbean culture in England, UK (of Jamaican parentage), who supports the teaching of Jamaican Creole as one's need for cultural benefit and identity.

Where will the next Louise Bennett hail from if Jamaican Creole is not deemed worthy of formal educational study? Moreover, if Jamaica herself doesn't value the study of creole (at all levels), what hope have I and many people like me in the UK of developing the study of Jamaican Creole and culture in general? We will have no basis for a legitimate argument if Jamaica doesn't hold it firmly in its educational curriculum.

My own parents used to always tell me not copy their "bad talk". This was the one (and only) aspect where I did not heed their advice and as a regular visitor to the island can engage quite fluently in conversations with family and friends, so much so that many are surprised that I was born "a 'inglan".

Do not surrender your language culture, Jamaica! Creole is symbolic of change, identity and the future. It is dynamic, as all languages are. The written and spoken English of today varies greatly to the written and spoken English of 100 years ago, much the same as Jamaican creole does. The late John Henrik Clarke, an Afrikan-American scholar, always said the three key components of identity were, "Land, Culture and Language"...true ting!

I am etc.,

KWABENA OSAYANDE

(Mr)

k_osayande@hotmail.com

Birmingham, UK

Via Go-Jamaica

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