‘Your language is not under threat’ – Lesufi

KEMPTON’S few Afrikaans schools could become a thing of the past as the Gauteng MEC plans converting all Afrikaans schools to dual-medium teaching.

And AfriForum is not happy about this decision.

This came to light on Thursday last week during a debate between Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi, and AfriForum CEO, Kallie Kriel, at Motsu Park Community Hall in Tembisa.

In a statement issued in May last year, the Gauteng Department of Education explained the rationale behind the changes.

“Due to the increasing demand for space in our schools and the influx of learners from other provinces into Gauteng, the department has taken a decision to utilise available space to admit these learners. This therefore calls for the maximum usage of all available space to accommodate learners, informed by our constitutional obligation to place all learners who require admission into our schools.

‘In view of this, the department has developed a strategy to convert 124 single-medium schools to parallel-medium schools as a means to address overcrowding in most of our schools.”

This would mean introducing English as a medium of instruction at Afrikaans schools.

AfriForum is strongly opposing this change, saying this would lead to the complete phasing out of Afrikaans at schools, as has been evident with cases such as the University of Pretoria. Kriel also argued this would negatively affect Afrikaans learners who do not know English well.

“The education department should rather focus their energy on correcting the dysfunctional schools in SA, which is 80% of them. These schools are unable to transfer education effectively. Some of the problems lie within the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) where positions are being sold and teachers are protected by the union while they don’t do their jobs. This should be the focus and not changing Afrikaans schools,” Kriel argued.

The MEC disagreed with this statement and instead argued that schools could be improved while at the same time promoting integration.

“Who said we can’t transform our schools while at the same time promoting equal education? We are saying, let schools share their resources.”

Lesufi continued to reassure AfriForum that Afrikaans would not be erased from the education system.

“We are not excluding Afrikaans at schools. Classes will still be available for learners who want to be taught in Afrikaans. This is merely a matter if integration and sharing of resources. Let the schools that have the resources share with those that don’t.

“There is no single Afrikaans child who will be told they can’t be taught in their home language. I don’t understand why we can’t have Classes A and B for example being taught in Afrikaans and then Class C taught in SePedi and Class D being taught in IsiXhosa; then during break our children are skopping die bal (kicking the ball ) together. What’s wrong with that picture?”

According to Lesufi, the mission is to achieve a non-divided education system for all children, and not have exclusive schools that only some can attend and be accommodated.

The adamant MEC continued to assure AfriForum that by introducing English classes at Afrikaans schools, their mother tongue would not die out and the standard of the schools would certainly not be compromised.

But Kriel argued that the idea that Afrikaans schools are exclusively white was a myth.

“This is not true. Afrikaans schools are not exclusively white spaces and there are many Afrikaans schools which have black learners attending them.”

In closing, Kriel urged the MEC not to make the same mistake that was made by the government in 1976 when students were forced to learn in Afrikaans; where today, learners would be forced to be taught in English.

“It is also a barrier to equal education if Afrikaans children are forced to learn in English.”

Lesufi concluded: “Your language is not under threat, and your schools are not under threat. All we are merely doing is encouraging non-racialisation of the education system. We are better off working together.”