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| Language policies in South Africa before 1994 [boodskap #16451] |
Thu, 30 July 1998 00:00 |
Leendert van Oostrum
Boodskappe: 1880
Geregistreer: July 2000
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Afskrif van my e-pos aan die IDRC in Ottowa en Johannesburg.
Dit lyk my Gloudina is nie die enigste stiksienige, waningeligte Kanadees in
die omgewing wat disinformasie oor Suid-Afrika versprei nie.
Die telefoonnommer van die Kanadese Hoë Kommissariaat in Pretoria is (012)
422 3052.
************************************************************ *********
International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada
Dear Ladies and Gentelemen,
I have just read your very commendable report: Languages of Instruction:
Policy Implications for Education in Africa, produced by the Working Group
on Educational Research and Policy Analysis from the Association for the
Development of Education in Africa (CRDI/IDRC 1997, ISBN 0-88936-829-5) of
which I read the copy that was published on the Webb.
I must, in the interests of science, point out some clear errors of fact in
the text of Chapter 1 - Policy Contexts in Africa: Issues, Problems, and
Constraints. The following staments are made:
"South Africa
The South African education system during the Apartheid years was
characterized by a curriculum that served the interests of the white
minority: second-rate education for blacks; and the imposition of an LoI
policy that favoured Afrikaans and English at the expense of African
languages. African languages were totally excluded from public life."
I should point out the following:
a) The Lol policy introduced in 1953 was that mother tongue intstruction was
used fo the first four years of education if at all possible - that it
should be extended to later years as soon as possible.This policy was
applied to such an extent that communities in cities such as Soweto were
organised along language lines, to promote the accessibility of mother
tongue instruction to pupils. Instruction in the mother tongue was available
(and utilised by almost all students) up to grade 12, and the languages were
offered at most universities. The languages included all of the 11 languages
presently recognised as official languages in South Africa as well as
several others. Despite encouragement over many years, communities could not
be persuaded to accept mother tongue instruction for education beyond the
fourth year. (The present government, in fact, during the years of struggle,
appeared to actively discourage - as a politicial tactic - mother tongue
intruction. Dr MJ Madiba, who started the Mokopane training college as early
as 1961 to train teachers to teach in the mother tongue as medium of
instruction, was bublicly rebuked by ANC led community organisations
including teacher organisations.)
b) Since 1994, mother tongue instruction has, in fact, seemed to dimininsh
as many school communities chose English as the medium of instruction, and
as many non-English speaking parents chose to send their children to English
medium schools.
c) As far as the exclusion of African languages is concerned, perhaps it is
necessary to point out that Zulu was used as official language of government
in the Kwa-Zulu region, Sotho in the Bophutatsana regions, Venda in the
Venda region, and Xhosa in the Transkei and Ciskei regions. The public
broadcaster in South Africa broadcasted in all of the present 11 official
languages as well as many others on Radio as well as TV. Coverage in African
languages (including Afrikaans) on TV has, in fact, diminished since 1994.
Masola (1989) has shown that publication of literature, text books, news
papers and magazines in African languages in South Africa flourished during
the apartheid years. This has almost ceased since 1994.
I note, from Table 3 in Chapter 3 as well as the cited references that
almost none of the academic and published work on language and literacy in
South Africa was consulted. Perhaps because most of it is available only in
Afrikaans and other African languages?
I would recommend that the authors of this work be encouraged to investigate
the matter further. The present text is is a valuable reference but is not,
where references to South Africa are concerned, to the credit of the authors
or the publisher.
If the International Development Research Centre is, as is claimed on it's
webb page, to be "a public corporation created by the Canadian government to
help communities in the developing world find solutions to social, economic,
and environmental problems through research", I suggest that some form of
control over the quality of the reasearch might be indicated.
The disinformation referred to above insults the work of the African poets,
novelists, teachers and journalisits, linguists and lexicographers who have,
in many cases, invested a life time in promoting their languages as
languages of culture and learning in South Africa.
I am faxing a copy if this letter to the Canadian High Commisioner,
Pretoria, to accompany my request for information in the Lol available to
members of the First Peoples in Canada and the history of exclusion of their
languages from public life during the years 1948 to 1994.
Yours sincerely,
Leendert van Oostrum
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