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<h1 class="">Cash woes stall language project</h1>
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February 25 2014 at 01:04pm <br>
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<p class="">Related Stories</p>
<ul class=""><li><a class="" href="http://www.iol.co.za:80/capetimes/african-languages-pilot-project-defended-1.1652381">African languages pilot project defended</a></li></ul>
<p class="">Durban - </p>
<p class="">Schools in KwaZulu-Natal where Grade 1 pupils
were meant to be learning a third, African language this year have
confirmed that they are still waiting for teachers and workbooks to
arrive. </p>
<p class="">They have cited the provincial Education Department’s perpetual cash woes as the reason for the delay. </p>
<p class="">The schools were meant to start offering Zulu
lessons three weeks ago as part of a pilot project, but the Basic
Education Department’s much-vaunted African language policy has yet to
get off the ground in the 15 pilot schools in Chatsworth, Phoenix and
Pietermaritzburg. </p>
<p class="">Both the national and provincial education
departments have, however, downplayed the problems in the face of fierce
criticism from teachers’ unions. </p>
<p class="">The National Professional Teachers’
Organisation of SA said yesterday that while it embraced and supported
the intention of the policy, the delays in getting the pilot project off
the ground were a consequence of the “undue haste” in implementing it. </p>
<p class="">The National Teachers Union branded the pilot
project a “failure”, and the SA Democratic Teachers Union argued that
the national department’s poor planning was indicative of it not taking
indigenous languages seriously. </p>
<p class="">But Basic Education Department spokesman Elijah
Mahlangu said the department was not perturbed because the purpose of a
pilot phase was to identify the pitfalls. </p>
<p class="">Mahlangu said the teaching of a third, African
language was proceeding smoothly in the 41 pilot schools in Mpumalanga,
97 pilot schools in the Eastern Cape, 10 in the North West and 12 in
Gauteng. </p>
<p class="">Mahlangu said that Free State and KZN had not
been able to implement the pilot as initially planned because of budget
constraints. </p>
<p class="">Last November, Basic Education Minister Angie
Motshekga published the much-talked-about draft policy for public
comment in the Government Gazette. The document stated that she would
have to appeal to the National Treasury for more money to be able to
fund the salaries of extra teachers, and for textbooks, workbooks and
readers in each of the languages. </p>
<p class="">Next year’s Grade 1 class will be the first to
have its school day lengthened, to make space for a second, but first
additional language. Its timetable would then include the teaching of a
home language, two first additional languages, maths and life skills. </p>
<p class="">As The Mercury reported in May, the policy aims
to foster multilingualism and promote social cohesion, and Afrikaans
has been included on the list of African languages. </p>
<p class="">KZN Education Department spokesman Muzi
Mahlambi said the department ought to be “commended” for opting to pilot
the policy before the full-scale implementation next year. </p>
<p class="">“When a project is piloted it seeks to check
the readiness of implementation in terms of the ground personnel
(officials and teachers), engagement and buy-in of the stakeholders and
the public opinion. The challenges and comments that have been
experienced thus far can only help us to improve the pilot project and
sharpen our implementation in the near future,” Mahlambi said. - The
Mercury <br></p><p class=""><a href="http://www.iol.co.za/mercury/cash-woes-stall-language-project-1.1652479#.Uw4UeoXh3qU">http://www.iol.co.za/mercury/cash-woes-stall-language-project-1.1652479#.Uw4UeoXh3qU</a><br></p><br clear="all">
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