@Hardwood just a simple lesson for you. There was never the language german before, that is spoken today. The german of today is called "Hochdeutsch" meaning high German. Before, people spoke dialects that are equivalent to the sub languages of Luhya or Kalenjin. There was kölsch, schwabisch etc. Germans saw it prudent to have a language that is understood by everyone and that is why they came up with Hochdeutch.it is the official language of Germany. The same can be said of French,Russian and English. Very few people still speak these dialects. If Kenya is to make progress, we need to encourage the growth of kiswahili because, it is the only language that is well developed.by the way,have you ever seen Department of Okuyu anywhere on this earth?.Just to inform you,many serious Unis all over the world have a department of kiswahili. Europeans would not create a redundant department. It is because they have seen the value of kiswahili. In Germany,there are many companies with Kiswahili names. Have you ever never seen an okuyu one. Smell the coffee son of Okuyu

This is true. Even Chinese have hundreds of dialects, but have chosen official language, Mandarin.

As we talk about dropping Kiswahili, South Africa has adopted it as a subject in their schools.

Namibia is following suit. To start teaching Kiswahili in 2021.

Kiswahili Kitukuzwe!

Tell them... I find Properly spoken swahili so intriguing

The proposal proffered in this thread was/is that Kiswahili is taught as a universal subject across the board only up to class 3 or 4 but certainly not as a mandatory as well as examinable at the final year of Primary education and secondary education.
Those students who may wish to pursue Kiswahili all the way to University level should be free to do that – at least to keep BBC Kiswahili radio and the likes staffed.
Making it mandatory and examinable at Primary & Secondary levels is a major disservice to students.
The subject contributes to ones mean score and can stand in the way of opportunities.

Teaching Kiswahili up to secondary level has not made ‘us’ good speakers of the language neither can it the said to have contributed that much to its uptake in society.
Come to think of it an average adult Tanzanian in Arusha who left school at grade 4 speaks better Kiswahili than an average Kenyan who got an A at KCSE.
An average Kenyan in Nakuru who failed his Kiswahili exam at class 8 and dropped out of school at that level, speaks more or less similar Kiswahili with a person who got an A at form four.
As a matter of fact an overwhelming majority of university graduates prefer to use English most of the time.
A Kenya intellectual is shamed on BBC radio by a Tanzanian commoner, or a coastarian.
So I don’t see how making it mandatory & examinable has helped us.

Here lies the problem. To learn a language, you don't need to use vocabularies.

All above words are academic. No one uses them in conversations not even in Zanzibar.

Duly paying attention to the substantive discussion; - I guess we both appreciate that a student sitting his KCSE could be faced with such or similar vocabularies, Methalis, kanushas, kinyumes ningalis ningelis or the ngelis.

What the student scores here affects his/her mean score and could well mean not qualifying to study medicine.

We need to seriously re-examine our policies in education and how well they prepare us to position ourselves in the scheme of international economy.