UNESCO

Republic of Chad

Representation of the Republic of Chad before the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

School: Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Ciudad de México

Committee: UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

Topic: Multilingual and Heritage Language Education

Country: Republic of Chad

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Official Name: Republic of Chad “République du Tchad / Jumhuriyat Tshad “

Type of Government: Republic

Capital: N'Djamena

Chief of State: President Lt. Gen. Idriss Deby Itno

Head of Government: Prime Minister Emmanuel Nadingar

International Affiliations: ACP, AfDB, AU, BDEAC, CEMAC, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Currency:  Communauté Financière Africaine Franc (XAF)

GDP: $19.69 billion USD

GDP Per capita: $1900 USD

Area: 1.284 million sq Km.

Population: 10,975,648 inhabitants

Official Language: French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south); more than 120 different languages and dialects.

Religion: Muslim 53.1%, Catholic 20.1%, Protestant 14.2%, animist 7.3%, other 0.5%, unknown 1.7%, atheist 3.1%.
Literacy rate: 11%.
Immigrant languages: American Sign Language, Hausa (100,000).
Blind population: 110,000 to 175,000.
The number of individual languages listed for Chad is 133. Of those, 131 are living languages and two have no known speakers.

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School: Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Ciudad de México
Committee: X
Topic: X
Country: Republic of Chad

Document issued by the Chadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Within international fora, education always has been treated as a priority. However, fulfilling this need in all corners of the world has been a huge challenge for the international community. There is currently a new condition to multiply such a challenge: the cultural and linguistic diversity that exists in almost every country. More countries in the world are linguistically diverse than linguistically homogeneous.

        Language is one of the most important elements in the human being because it defines who we are, why we are so, and where we come from. That is why the power of language is a key issue in educational systems of multilingual countries. It is imperative for educational systems to work through this apparent barrier and provide a quality education that takes into consideration the political, cultural and social realities of students. Schools and education systems need to be tailored to the realities of immigrant populations, minorities and marginalized groups from mainstream culture.

Although there are only two official languages (Arabic and French) in Chad, more than 130 languages are spoken in this country. Almost all of them are derived from the Nilo-Saharan languages and the most popular in Chad is the kanuri which is spoken all around lake Chad.

Nearly 200 ethnic groups belong in Chad. Nevertheless, their languages can easily be grouped from the regions in which they live; the north has historically been encompased in Arabic culture and language, while the southwestern region is a showcase of the 131 languages spoken in Chad.

A third of Chadian population belongs to the ethnic group Sara; this ethnic group conforms the backbone of the Chadian economy. Even though they are not native speakers of the official language, almost all of them speak French as a result of the colonial period. Unfortunately, this is the only case in Chad in which a different language does not represent a barrier to education.

States ought to agree in the establishment of a global mechanism multilingual education and heritage language, in order for States to provide quality education to the people. It is urgent to establish functional educational systems that take into account linguistic differences amongst students in order to allow them to have good academic performance. To ensure that education takes precedence over any other impediment it is vital to take into acount the following statements:

•  Regarding the development of strategies for bilingual and multilingual education, the delegation of Chad considers that the diversity of languages makes it almost impossible to give the same classes to children speaking different languages. Therefore, the discussion  should focus in two main issues. The first one  is education for all if our first objective is to provide education for all people is imperative that the language is the same across the population. If everyone in the country used the same language, it is much easier access to education. The second is the preservation of mother languages, if our main goal is to preserve the mother tongue should be to establish support groups where multiple languages are taught to certain individuals so that later these people to teach more people and become a chain that allows the preservation of mother tongues and also the official language.

•  Through a double aid, that is, speakers who can speak certain languages ​​besides mother tongue and the official language may train more people the official language of the country, so that later this group of people should train schoolteachers in the both languages. Finally, teachers can teach children from an early age the official language without forgetting the mother tongue. These unify what is taught in the classroom at school.

• Regarding to standards and methods for classroom resources development, including reading materials, the delegation of Chad proposed to establish institutions and groups that promote creative writing workshops for people who speak different languages ​​or minority mother can translate your ideas, experiences and knowledge in books subsequently used as teaching material in schools. So the same people who are part of the minority community feel part of the education of their people and themselves.

• Regarding the ways in which language can be used to promote intercultural understanding and help eliminate discrimination, the delegation of Chad believes that is very important to promote campaigns that make people see that the language identify a nation. These campaigns should reinforce the feeling of nationality of the inhabitants and to promote tolerance and empathy with others. Show that teamwork is what will help moving forward. On the other hand all the workshops, groups and institutions created to teach and share the mother tongue or official language among different people create bonds between people attend, which foster tolerance and respect for minority groups.

In sum, Chad proposes to strengthen intercultural understanding through the launch of campaigns that promote the value of tolerance and celebrate multiculturalism and plurality in the country, thus creating bonds between different communities, cultural, and ethnic groups.

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Permanent Representatives of the Republic of Chad Global Classrooms International Model United Nations