By Lamin Njie
The National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC), which is the National Focal Point for National Languages, with support from the Academy of African Languages of the African Union (ACALAN), recently held an educative forum for journalists drawn from both the print and electronic media, to discuss the role of media in the promotion of the National Languages Policy for The Gambia. The forum was held at the National Centre for Arts and Culture Documentation and Research unit at Pipeline.
It aimed to create awareness of the proposed National Languages Policy and Language Development for The Gambia.
Speaking at the forum, Hassoum Ceesay, Director General of the National Centre for Arts and Culture gave an insightful background of the programme. He informed that in April 2023, cabinet designated NCAC as the National Structure for National Languages to work with the Academy of African Languages of the African Union, known as ACALAN towards the promotion of a National Language Policy.
According to him, for the past months, NCAC has consulted different stakeholders across the trades to elicit opinions as to the priorities of such a policy, its format, content, and how to operationalise it when it is ready.
Mr. Ceesay used the opportunity to call on media practitioners to work together with his office for the successful implementation of the National Languages Policy for The Gambia.
