MUKONO– Learning and speaking any language should be more casual and put into practice in accordance with the daily life that we live in so that it makes more sense as well as being appealing.
With this in mind, the Association of Teachers of French ( APFO) with the support of the French Embassy in Uganda, Alliance Francaise de Kampala Lapaire and other partners have made strides at the CALUFU that was hosted at Seeta High School in Mukono.
The five day camp that commenced on May 2- 6 , was focused on making learning French enjoyable and fun as the theme ” Apprendre et s’amuser” which fits in well with the new curriculum.
The students engaged in various fun activities such as fashion and design, singing, cooking, dancing sessions, debates and discussions, poems , sports and many other physical activities.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, Agatha Tumwine , the President APFO, emphasized that it was in tandem with the new curriculum and it is more of a re- fresher course for the teachers and a proper way of learning for the students
“The future belongs to all of you and believe you know what to do. Our hope is to have a generation of people that are multilingual even if we know that some of the you do not want to be teachers. I can assure you that all our teachers have got jobs even before graduation. Even for those who do want to be teachers , it is very good to be multilingual so that you can do business in your professions with that cutting edge beyond the rest”. Agatha Added.
“I speak more than six local languages and multi- lingualism is more than English or French but we are also focusing on the soft skills.” Agatha explained.
She also thanked the partners and sponsors for that great support that has made it possible for them to have the second edition of CALUFU which had been on development of competences for young people in Uganda in the 21st Century.
Tumwine noted that due to ongoing campaigns like these they have been able to have over 11 new schools start having French classes in the country which was not the case.
The guest of honour, Louise Bay, cooperation attache Culture and Education , French Embassy in Uganda stressed that French is not just a subject but a leading language in communication for both business and other dimensions of life with enormous opportunities since it is spoken in more than five continents.
“French and English has opened very many opportunities for me since it is spoken across the globe. We are also working on giving out three scholarships at the university and more details will given out “. Louise added.
She encouraged the participants to make the best of their memories so that they could count and yield fruit.
Kwizera John Bosco, lead CALUFU Camp Central cluster , noted that they had very many activities aimed at having students surviving through normal life and they were not focusing on on how best one can speak.
Ssentongo Kisakye, a French student at Namilyango college testified that the program gave him an opportunity to interact freely and comfortably with other participants , facilitators an teachers outside the class room set up which is not the usual case.
Another participant, Nassozi Immaculate, from Seeta High School pointed out that she enjoyed engaging sessions in fashion, cooking , dancing which gave her a chance learn at ease and helped to boost her confidence.
The Camp attracted over 300 attendees from over 12 schools and it will spread to other parts of the region during the course of the year.
