[lg policy] South Africa: Chaotic Language Policy Goes to Rights Commission

Sun Jul 28 15:55:12 UTC 2013

South Africa: Chaotic Language Policy Goes to Rights Commission By Selby
Nomnganga, 26 July 2013
  Related Topics

Mr. Zolile Prusente is the curriculum specialist with the regional
education department in Upington. Recently, he sent a complaint to the
South African Human Rights Commission regarding a problematic shift in
language policy in the past year.

He alleges that the school principal and the school management team
implemented a language policy that designated English as the first language
of instruction for all subjects against the advice of the law or parental
preference. Afrikaans, isiXhosa and Setswana were set aside and offered as
alternative languages. The decision was an abrupt change from the former
policy which provided for instruction in the students' first languages
rather than English.

For Prusente, the shift in policy is most harmful for the students. "[This
situation] clearly shows that the SGB [school governing board] is not in
control of language policy and that language policy is dictated by
educators to suit their needs," he wrote in his statement to the Human
Rights Commision. Prusente believes that the students' constitutional
rights are violated by the "one-way" decision to teach primarily in
English. Those responsible, he said, acted "without... taking cognisance of
the additive bilingual approach promoted by the language-in-education
policy." In his statement, he refers to the Northern Cape Education
Department circular 37 which also highlights "the importance of mother
tongue instruction in the Foundation phase." In their response, the
principal, Ms. AB Silwana, and the chairperson of the SGB, Mr. Themba
Smith, denied Prusente's claims and said that the "overwhelming majority of
parents" voted for their children to be taught in English.

While most teachers have agreed to the change, there are some who doubt the
validity of the vote and who have consequently received "warning letters"
from Silwana. Mrs. Thembisa Magodi, who is an SGB member and one of the two
grade two teachers who refused to implement the English-only medium, said
she and her colleague were not aware of any parents meeting or voting. They
have refused to acknowledge Silwana's warnings and stated that any policy
"that [asks] us to teach in a foreign language [English] is not reasonable
[and] unlawful because the Law encourages mother tongue teaching."

Magodi and her colleague point to the 2007 whole school evaluation report
that "has shown that learners do not understand English" as further proof
that the new policy is not beneficial to students. Both teachers have
announced that, ignoring the new policy, they "will continue in the third
quarter to teach in the home language of learners and English only as an
additional language."

Silwana and Smith contend that the South African schools act No. 84 of 1996
gives the SGB the power to determine the language policy. They state that,
since 2009, the SGB has engaged in thoughtful deliberations regarding "the
complexity of formulating a language policy" for a "multi-cultural and
multi-lingual learner population." Furthermore, they maintain that the
adoption of English-only policy is based on a "research/survey" taken
during the 2011-2012 year that demonstrated that "parents preferred English
as the language of learning and teaching."

Prusente believes that the policy change is rooted in the SGB's biased
aversion to multi-lingual education. He claims that the boards sees "many
languages spoken by learners as a problem instead of a resource." This
leads them to favor English instruction, he explained, and makes them
"guilty of killing [the home] languages of the learners and community." He
challenges the SGB to provide evidence of the minutes and attendance
register where the language policy was decided upon.

Mrs. Miriam Gatyeni (54) is the grandmother of a grade two and grade three
learner. She remembers the survey looking into language preferences, but
denies that English was the overwhelming favorite. She, for one, chose
Afrikaans. "Another parent chose isiXhosa and another man preferred
English," Gatyeni recalled.

The new language policy has forced her to consider different options for
her grandchildren's schooling. If the mother tongue of her grandchildren is
not used to teach them, she will be forced to take them to an Afrikaans
school in Blikkies, known as Progress, which is "far" from her home. "Home
language is the best. It is [the] language [in which] I talk to them at
home, just like it was with my mother," said Gatyeni.

When asked for a copy of the language policy, Silvana referred this writer
to Smith who said that while the policy "is not closed or classified
information", it has to be handled "carefully". He also said that only the
documents guiding the policy formulation process can be availed.

The site steward at Vela-Langa, Mr. Daniel Mokopi, said they reported the
language policy chaos to the South African Democratic Teachers Union and
decided that they "don't want to interfere in individual school matters."

The South African Human Rights Commission will hold a meeting regarding the
matter today.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201307261280.html?viewall=1

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