However, during the grand finale of the competition, unlike all other finales of this competition that had previously been held, something strange came up. Most of the girls if not all, could barely express themselves in English when asked questions by the judges.
Surprisingly, many people on social media jumped to the defense of these girls many claiming that “English was not their mother language” and how they are more articulate in Kinyarwanda. Some even suggested that asking in English should be banned in future contests. Judges Jolly Mutesi and James Munyaneza were highly criticized for their vague questions.
I have tried to replay the whole event on YouTube and especially the question and answers part, but I can’t even find where any of the questions were not clear. I guess that most people who jumped to the defense of these girls because of their poor English display did so largely due to personal emotions but not at the critical angle of the issue.
First and foremost, all the girls that attended the competition are high school graduates and all the finalists were those that were considered to be the cream of all the competitors. By the look of the things, most of these girls either were educated in urban or even semi-urban schools where we think the education standard is high. The mode of teaching in all these schools is English, exams are administered in English.
We should also not forget how the government of Rwanda through Rwanda Education Board has hugely invested in the teaching of the English language in schools for the last 10 years. So, if the finalists were not able to express themselves in English, how about the rest that didn’t make it past the auditions? I think Rwandans ought to confront some things with truth. The display by the girls was totally unacceptable bearing in mind that they are seeking to be crowned Miss Rwanda and also act as role models to many girls.
How then does a high school graduate fail to answer a simple question like {{“What has been your achievement in the last 10 years?”}}. Kindly remember that this is a competition, which must have benchmarks to be followed and the winner must have fulfilled all those. This is a competition that the winner walks away with a brand-new car and a monthly stipend whereby the prizes and money offered to the winner remains a dream to even people with Masters degrees.
Why should we then choose a mediocre beauty queen just because she is very articulate in only Kinyarwanda? This is someone who is not only going to execute her duties in Rwanda but also build working relationships and fundraise for her activities abroad. How will she do that if she can’t express herself? Some even suggested that she can have a translator, but for how long? This is just a one-year term! Who will handle the costs of a translator?
That said, I suggest that Miss Rwanda organizing team should not bow to the pressure exhibited by social media users over the weekend to remove English language or even French for that matter as a prerequisite means of communication for one to become Miss Rwanda. This has also displayed that there is a lot to do with our education system and the teaching of the English language in general.
During our high school days, we used to have routine debate programs, where have these circular activities disappeared to? This is one of the ways of building self-confidence and great public speaking skills. With the English display that was shown by the girls, a lot ought to be done by REB and other concerned parties.
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