Cert TBA
80 mins
BBFC advice: TBA
In Western states we take it for granted that the native population has the opportunity to be taught in its own language.
But that is not the case for 40 per cent of the world's children.
And in some countries, lessons are taught in a combination of TWO languages which have to be learned.
Alastair Cole highlights the issue after spending a year with a primary school class in rural Zambia.
Cole focuses on three small children, Steward, Elizabeth and M'Barak who have to contend with the language issue as well as all of the usual social and educational challenges of first school.
The official language of Zambia is English and parents interviewed in Cole's film recognise that their offspring will only be able to aspire to significant careers if they understand it.
However, their teacher holds the lesson in English and in an African language which is different to their own.
Thus, schoolchildren are on the backfoot from the very first day and, understandably, struggle to maintain attention in classes in which they only initially understand a small percentage of what is being said.
During Colours Of The Alphabet, children have the usual tears and tantrums that would be expected of year one learners.
But it is clear their chances of progress are stunted because there is no opportunity to learn in their own language.
Cole's film shows the various different barriers they face by using subtitles of each language in different colours. It makes for a startling melting pot.
For centuries, it has been implied that people of the Third World are not as bright as those in developed countries but this documentary reveals the lie behind that presumption.
It is an important piece of work but it is quite repetitive. I felt that interviews with those who shape education policy and a quality narration would have helped give it depth.
Reasons to watch: highlights a world problem which has been below the radar
Reasons to avoid: repetition of the classroom scenes
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 7/10
Star tweet
Looking forward to presenting @AlphabetFilm Our presentation on multilingualism, filmmaking at #LSLive2016. 5.15 in the piazza!
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