259 The PROPELCA programme, along with the language committees other initiatives in
literacy, publications and advocacy, owe their current existence, and presumably their sustainability in future, to this combination of features.
7.3. Local agency, education choices and minority language maintenance
This study has found that local agency among the Bafut, Kom and Nso communities, expressed as community choices about the kind of education its children will receive, has had
dual outcomes. On one hand, these education choices have resulted in the prevalence of a curriculum which does not serve the educational needs of the majority of the language
community well. On the other hand, the increased willingness of parents to choose the mother-tongue education alternative over English-only education is resulting in strengthened
local language use and affirmation of local community culture. Closer examination of these dual outcomes is in order.
7.3.1. Educational choices and education effectiveness The education choices made by Bafut, Kom and Nso communities over the years
have been shaped by the communities beliefs and values concerning formal education section 3.1.6, and have exhibited both compliance with and resistance to the wishes of
educational authorities. Most notably, resistance to official attempts to adapt curriculum to what appear to be local needs and capacities has been consistent and ultimately successful
sections 3.1.4 and 3.1.5.2. These choices, made within the national educational environment, have resulted in the
current state of education in the Bafut, Kom and Nso homelands. Primary education is delivering a modicum of academic knowledge and a marginal level of English fluency
section 6.1.1. Secondary school and higher education are available only to a limited number of community children, for both economic and academic reasons section 6.1.1. The limited
level of English literacy acquired in the communities primary schools, and their association of literacy with English language, has contributed to the limited social uses of literacy
sections 5.4.3 and 5.5.1. However despite the limitations of this system, the prestige of English and English-
language education remain high in these communities section 6.1.1 and 6.1.2. This esteem for an English-language academic curriculum to use Balls term, section 3.1.6, highlights
one of the ironies of this expression of local agency: the very education system which is prized by local citizens and has been for decades prioritises non-local knowledge and
260 values, contributes to the development of a small educated elite sections 4.5 and 6.1.1 rather
than opening higher education to the majority of the population, and is highly detrimental to local culture and values Ball 1983; the Nuffield Foundation 1953; section 3.1.6.
Language community members do appear to have found a way to reconcile their belief in the value of this academic education with the reality that, for most children of the
language community, such education does not lead to higher education and hence to salaried employment. This study indicates that parents have reconceptualised the purpose of primary
education, so that it is valued not primarily for its role in accessing secondary and higher education, but for its role in socialising children to the community section 6.4.3. Primary
school is supposed to teach a child to behave well and to work well, along with literacy skills and general knowledge section 6.1.2. If a child does not for some reason continue on to
further education, that child is nevertheless considered to have sufficient schooling to become a productive member of the community. Thus, the failure of the academic side of primary
school is compensated for by its effectiveness in socialising children to be productive members of the community. This represents a significant change in the Cameroonians
historical expectations of schooling as a place where outside values and non-local knowledge are gained sections 3.1.2, 3.1.3, 3.1.6. Paradoxically, however, local esteem for the English-
language education system as a whole does not appear to be declining. With PROPELCA, the educational choices before these communities are now
widening to include the alternative of instruction in the mother tongue, either as subject or as medium. Crucially, this educational alternative uses the same curriculum as its English-only
counterpart, and fits into the same schedule of examinations. Furthermore, it is increasingly being seen to enhance the ability of children to succeed in primary school examinations,
implying the enhancement of their learning section 6.1.1. Parents and community members who are familiar with PROPELCA are for the most part satisfied with the education it
provides section 6.1.2. Even so, the PROPELCA mother-tongue education programme faces opposition to
the extent that it is perceived as a threat to the educational aspirations of community members. The legitimacy of local languages in the learning process continues to be
questioned by those who are not familiar with the programme, and fear of losing valuable opportunities for English school success inhibits parents acceptance of PROPELCA. This
reluctance to risk the childs educational future provides further evidence of the paradox described above: although the purpose of primary school itself has been reconceptualised as
261 substantially non-academic, the prestige and desirability of English-language academic
success continue to influence parents aspirations for their children. 7.3.2. Education choices and language maintenance
The key question driving this research is whether, and how, educational choices by Bafut, Kom and Nso communities is related to maintenance of these languages sections 1.1
and 1.3. The relationship between the educational choices of language community members and maintenance of the Bafut, Kom and Lamnso languages is demonstrated in three ways in
this study. The most direct indication of such a relationship has to do with the impact of the
PROPELCA programme on both oral and written uses of the mother tongue. Section 5.3 describes various facets of language development which were shown to occur in the context
of the PROPELCA programme. The choice of a PROPELCA class over the English-medium alternative for a child thus facilitates maintained oral use and amplifies written use of the
mother tongue. Another aspect has to do with the institutions whose interests were shown to lie in
maintained use of the mother tongue and increased use of its written form. Traditional authorities, government education authorities, local churches, the language committees, and
NGOs such as NACALCO and SIL, each for their own reasons sections 5.2.2, 6.4.4 and 6.4.6, are interested in successful mother-tongue development. This institutional support
strengthens the viability of PROPELCA as an educational option, with its attendant effects on maintenance of the Bafut, Kom and Lamnso languages.
Third, this study shows that the majority of uses of literacy in any language in the Bafut, Kom and Nso communities are contained within two silos of literacy practice: church
and school section 5.5.2. Both of these silos of literacy practice are also sites where interest in, and the use of, written mother tongue occur sections 5.2.1 and 5.2.2. Thus the normal
literacy practices in these communities appear to be open to the introduction of written mother tongue through education, which in the case of PROPELCA is shown to contribute to
maintenance of the language. The connection between mother-tongue use in primary schools and maintenance of
that mother tongue thus centres around implementation of the PROPELCA programme and its associated initiatives in literacy, publications and advocacy, buttressed by both
institutional interests and the social environment for literacy practice.
262 The PROPELCA mother-tongue education programme, although limited in its impact
as yet, shows potential for providing a model of education which values local language and knowledge and at the same time facilitates learning of the academic curriculum. This study
has shown that the implementation of PROPELCA, along with mother-tongue literacy classes, the production of written mother-tongue materials, and the local advocacy work of
the language committees, has very real linguistic effects on maintenance and development of the local language section 5.3. The programme also helps to strengthen the community-
school connection, helping parents to understand and interact with what their children are learning section 6.4.4. PROPELCA, along with the language committees other programmes
for the promotion of the written mother tongue, is demonstrating the capacity for establishing biliteracy among the Bafut, Kom and Nso populations section 5.6.3. However this study
also shows that, as has always been the case, the choice for - or against - such an education alternative resides in the community.
7.4. Education choices and language maintenance in the future
