[lg policy] Afrikaans school rejects Gauteng Education Dept’s claims over admissions

[Harold Schiffman]

Afrikaans school rejects Gauteng Education Dept’s claims over admissions

Hoërskool Overvaal has challenged the department's decision, saying it also
doesn't have capacity.
[image: Picture: Pixabay.com.]
Picture: Pixabay.com.

   - Gauteng Education Department
   <http://ewn.co.za/Topic/Gauteng-Education-Department>
   - Afrikaans <http://ewn.co.za/Topic/Afrikaans>
   - Hoerskool Overvaal <http://ewn.co.za/Topic/Hoerskool-Overvaal>



Barry Bateman <http://ewn.co.za/Contributors/barry-bateman> | about 23
hours ago

PRETORIA - An Afrikaans high school in Vereeniging has argued that the Gauteng
Education Department <http://ewn.co.za/Topic/Gauteng-Education-Department>can't
simply ride roughshod over language policy to admit 55 English-speaking
pupils to the school.

Hoërskool Overvaal has challenged the department's decision
<http://ewn.co.za/2018/01/09/afrikaans-school-s-bid-to-stop-admission-of-english-speaking-pupils-postponed>,
saying it also doesn't have the capacity.

The court on Thursday agreed that the matter is an urgent one as the 2018
school year starts next Wednesday.

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.

The school has rejected the department’s claim that it has capacity to
accommodate learners.

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.

The court also heard that there are English schools within the area which
do have space to admit the 55 pupils.
The matter has been adjourned until Friday when the department will submit
its arguments.


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 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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