OPEN FILE Zanzibar’s curriculum reform: Implications for children’s educational rights Zehlia Babaci-Wilhite Ó UNESCO IBE 2015 Abstract This article explores recent developments in linguistic choices in education in Zanzibar and examines the arguments for using local languages of instruction (LoI) as a right. The article’s analysis is based on a study of a curriculum change in Zanzibar in which English replaced Kiswahili as the LoI in the last two years of primary school in mathematics and science subjects. The article reviews theory and practices regarding the consequences of LoI for quality education and its implications for human rights in education. The methods included several field visits, observations in classrooms, and in- terviews in order to address both the reasons behind the curriculum change and its con- sequences. The conclusion is that expanding the use of English in primary school will reduce the quality of teaching and learning; from the perspective of a rights-based ap- proach, this violates the educational rights of Zanzibari children. Keywords Language of instruction Á Curriculum reform Á Rights in education Á Science Á Mathematics Á Zanzibar Á Tanzania In 2006, Zanzibar endorsed a new education policy, also known as EP 06. The Educational and Training World Bank project, entitled Zanzibar Basic Education Improvement Project (ZABEIP 2007), supported this new policy. Zanzibar’s educational program had a number of successes but also had unresolved problems in such areas as quality education, pre- primary education, and science and mathematics in secondary schools. To target those Special thanks to P. David Pearson, Jacqueline Barber and Traci K. Wierman for stimulating discussions on science literacy and for providing the opportunity to deepen my research about this topic at the Lawrence Hall of Science and the Graduate School of Education at UC-Berkeley, California. I am also grateful to Simona Popa and her team, and to the external reviewers, for valuable comments and thorough edits, which strengthened the quality of this article. Z. Babaci-Wilhite (&) Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, 5647 Tolman Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-1670, USA e-mail: z.b.wilhite@berkeley.edu 123 Prospects DOI 10.1007/s11125-015-9341-6