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<div class="gmail-post-header gmail-post-tp-4-header gmail-show-breadcrumb gmail-show-cat-badges gmail-bs-lazy gmail-wfi gmail-b-loaded" title="Ramaphosa’s African Language Education Policy Is Actually 5 Years Old" style="background-image:url("http://www.thedailyvox.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/school-children-looking-at-a-laptop.jpg")">
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<span class="gmail-post-title">Ramaphosa’s African Language Education Policy Is Actually 5 Years Old</span></h1>
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<a href="http://www.thedailyvox.co.za/author/fatima/" title="Browse Author Articles" class="gmail-post-author-a gmail-post-author-avatar">
<img src="http://www.thedailyvox.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Fatima-Moosa-bio-pic-65x65.jpg" alt="Fatima Moosa" class="gmail-avatar gmail-avatar-26 gmail-wp-user-avatar gmail-wp-user-avatar-26 gmail-alignnone gmail-photo" width="26" height="26"><span class="gmail-post-author-name">By <b>Fatima Moosa</b></span> </a>
<span class="gmail-time"><time class="gmail-post-published gmail-updated" datetime="2018-03-06T12:25:56+00:00">On <b>Mar 6, 2018</b></time></span>
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<p><strong>During his inaugural <span style="color:rgb(0,0,128)"><a style="color:rgb(0,0,128)" href="http://www.thedailyvox.co.za/7-quotes-from-president-cyril-ramaphosas-sona-fatima-moosa/">State of the Nation Speech</a></span>,
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that in an “historic” first, from
the beginning of the 2018 academic year, all public schools will begin
offering an African language. However, due to SONA largely being about
the policy and not the implementation, there are many questions about
what this actually means. The Daily Vox team takes a further look.</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong><span style="color:rgb(0,0,128)"><a style="color:rgb(0,0,128)" href="http://section27.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Chapter-11.pdf">Section 29(2) of the Constitution</a></span></strong>
provides that every learner has the right to receive a basic education
in the language of his or her choice, where this is reasonably
practicable.</p>
<div class="gmail-bsac gmail-bsac-clearfix gmail-bsac-post-inline gmail-bsac-float-left gmail-bsac-align-left gmail-bsac-column-1"><div id="gmail-bsac-31647-2047795269" class="gmail-bsac-container gmail-bsac-type-code"><span id="gmail-bsac-31647-2047795269-place"><ins class="gmail-adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:300px;height:250px"><ins id="gmail-aswift_0_expand" style="display:inline-table;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none;border-width:medium;height:250px;margin:0px;padding:0px;width:300px;background-color:transparent"><ins id="gmail-aswift_0_anchor" style="display:block;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none;border-width:medium;height:250px;margin:0px;padding:0px;width:300px;background-color:transparent"></ins></ins></ins></span></div></div> <p>NGO
Section27 has said that right is “an important tool in making a break
from apartheid, in which language in education was used to perpetuate
oppression and inequality. In working towards the achievement of
equality, and in giving specific recognition to African languages,
learners now have a right to learn in their chosen language, where this
is reasonably practicable.”</p>
<p>Back in 2013 during her budget speech, basic education (DBE)
minister Angie Motshekga announced that a new policy would be coming
into effect in 2014. This policy mandated that an African language
should be taught in all schools. The <span style="color:rgb(0,0,128)"><strong><a style="color:rgb(0,0,128)" href="http://www.702.co.za/articles/262549/african-languages-to-be-taught-in-all-south-african-schools-by-2018">policy</a></strong></span>
was only formally implemented in 2016. The rollout has been slow with
only 970 out of 3 558 schools which did not offer an African language
now offering an African language. However, out of the 25 000 schools in
the country, most were already offering a previously marginalised
African language as a subject.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thedailyvox.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/table-1-for-education-story.jpg" rel="prettyPhoto"><img class="gmail-alignnone gmail-size-full gmail-wp-image-44629 gmail-b-loaded" alt="" src="http://www.thedailyvox.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/table-1-for-education-story.jpg" width="571" height="291"></a></p>
<p>The policy called the Incremental Implementation of African Languages (IIAL) policy was <span style="color:rgb(0,0,128)"><strong><a style="color:rgb(0,0,128)" href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-06-12-analysis-can-basic-educations-new-language-policy-work/#.Wpey8KhubIW">explained</a></strong></span>
at the time by the acting deputy director general for curriculum
Mathanzima Mweli as overdue. Mweli said that the policy came about
because of the constitutional provision in the South African Bill of
Rights which allows for everyone to receive an education in the official
language of their choice.</p>
<p>The policy planned to incrementally introduce learners to an African
language from Grade 1 to 12 to ensure that all non-African home
language speakers speak an African language and to provide access to
languages to all learners beyond English and Afrikaans.</p>
<p>In the <span style="color:rgb(0,0,128)"><strong><a style="color:rgb(0,0,128)" href="https://www.education.gov.za/Portals/0/Documents/Reports/IIAL%20Policy%20September%202013.pdf?ver=2014-04-09-162048-000">draft regulation</a></strong></span>,
the policy was supposed to be implemented incrementally commencing in
Grade 1 in 2015 and would continue until 2026 when it will be
implemented in Grade 12.</p>
<p>In 2013, the plan was to introduce African languages <span style="color:rgb(0,0,128)"><strong><a style="color:rgb(0,0,128)" href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-06-12-analysis-can-basic-educations-new-language-policy-work/#.Wpa6M6hubIU">incrementally</a></strong></span>
for learners from Grade R. Mweli, who explained the plan to the
parliamentary portfolio committee on education in 2013, did not answer
the questions regarding the quality of the teachers as well as the
availability of African language teachers.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thedailyvox.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/table-2-for-education-story.jpg" rel="prettyPhoto"><img class="gmail-alignnone gmail-size-full gmail-wp-image-44630 gmail-b-loaded" alt="" src="http://www.thedailyvox.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/table-2-for-education-story.jpg" width="571" height="229"></a></p>
<p>Elijah Mhlanga, spokesperson for the DBE, said in an interview with
The Daily Vox that learners are being taught a previously marginalised
official African language at different language levels (Home Language
level, First Additional Language level, and Second Additional Language
level) and this depends on school language selection as determined by
the school policy.</p>
<p>However, there are some problems still plaguing the implementation of this policy.</p></div></article></div></div></div></div></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="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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