THE vernacular language pilot project is working very well on Small Malaita and Makira Ulawa province, says Benedict Esibaea.
Esibaea, who is the Director of Primary Division Human Resource, mentioned this during the annual joint review meeting at Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) conference room on Tuesday.
The meeting provided an opportunity for key stakeholders of the education sector to review the progress made by Ministry of Education and Human Resources in implementing the National Education Action (NEAP) plan this year.
He said from this vernacular pilot project, the ministry will know the cost before introducing it as curriculum in the education system.
“In one or two years, we should expect the result of vernacular before we will spread it to rest of the country.
“In Philippines, she has a lot of languages, but she is doing very well with vernacular languages,” he said.
The Language and Linguistics in Melanesia has carried out a research on the topic: The Solomon Islands Initiatives To Support and Enhance The Use of Vernaculars In Early Childhood Education in 2011.
It argues that at the early age is the right time for children to establish a foundation for language base and sense of cultural identity and belonging.
According Wikipedia, Solomon Islands has a total of 74 languages, 70 are living languages and 4 extinct.
Majority of the people are Melanesian (94.5%). Polynesian (3%) and Micronesian (1.2%) are the two other significant groups.
There are a few thousand ethnic Chinese.
By EDDIE OSIFELO
