Maintaining ancestral languages through extension schools: the case of telugu in Mauritius

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the role of extension schools in maintaining ancestral languages, specifically Telugu, a minority language in multilingual Mauritius. Extension schools are voluntarily run outside school hours and complement mainstream education. However, in the Mauritian context, these schools focus on Indian languages, which were introduced to Mauritius by indentured labourers in the 1800s who now comprise the majority of the population. The extension schools aim to preserve ancestral languages and cultures and to avoid language and culture loss, as Indian languages were, until recently, not taught in schools. This study aims to define extension schools and their operations and analyse how teaching and learning in extension schools have functioned in language and culture maintenance in multilingual Mauritius. Using a qualitative approach, data were generated through semi-structured interviews with three teachers of Telugu who have been both students and teachers in extension schools and from document analysis of available records.