<div dir="ltr"><h2><span>Afrikaans school rejects Gauteng Education Dept’s claims over admissions</span></h2>

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                                            Hoërskool Overvaal has 
challenged the department's decision, saying it also doesn't have 
capacity. 
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                                            <img src="http://cdn.primedia.co.za/primedia-broadcasting/image/upload/c_fill,h_289,q_70,w_463/lnwpejbohivds7hlhizn" alt="Picture: Pixabay.com.">
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                                            <span>Picture: Pixabay.com. </span>
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                                                    <a href="http://ewn.co.za/Topic/Gauteng-Education-Department">Gauteng Education Department</a>
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                                                    <a href="http://ewn.co.za/Topic/Afrikaans">Afrikaans</a>
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                                                    <a href="http://ewn.co.za/Topic/Hoerskool-Overvaal">Hoerskool Overvaal</a>
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                                            <span>
                                                <a href="http://ewn.co.za/Contributors/barry-bateman">Barry Bateman</a>
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                                            | <abbr class="gmail-timeago" title="23 hours ago">about 23 hours ago</abbr>
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                                                    <p>PRETORIA - An Afrikaans high school in Vereeniging has argued that the <a href="http://ewn.co.za/Topic/Gauteng-Education-Department">Gauteng Education Department  </a>can't simply ride roughshod over language policy to admit 55 English-speaking pupils to the school.</p><p><a href="http://ewn.co.za/2018/01/09/afrikaans-school-s-bid-to-stop-admission-of-english-speaking-pupils-postponed">Hoërskool Overvaal has challenged the department's decision</a>, saying it also doesn't have the capacity. </p><p>The court on Thursday agreed that the matter is an urgent one as the 2018 school year starts next Wednesday. </p><p>Counsel
 for the school told the court it is up to the school to determine its 
capacity. It adds the department’s district director cannot dictate a 
school’s language policy.</p><p>The school has rejected the department’s claim that it has capacity to accommodate learners.</p><p>It
 has also countered the claim that it is using language as a barrier to 
entry, saying it has a growing number of black pupils being admitted to 
the school who learn in Afrikaans. </p><p>The court also heard that there are English schools within the area which do have space to admit the 55 pupils. <br>The matter has been adjourned until Friday when the department will submit its arguments.</p></span><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies                     <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone:  (215) 898-7475<br>Fax:  (215) 573-2138                                      <br><br>Email:  <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a>    <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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