Picture of Bassey Antia: provided
Angie Motshekga, die minister van basiese onderwys, het onlangs gesê dat landswette en nie beheerliggame nie, die taal- en toelatingsbeleid en gedragskodes by ’n skool behoort te bepaal. Sy het dit na aanleiding van die Konsepwysigingswetsontwerp op Onderwyswette (BELAB) gesê, ’n wetsontwerp wat op die oomblik deur die proses van openbare kommentaar in die parlement gaan.
Naomi Meyer het ’n paar mense gevra om te skryf oor ’n wêreld waar onderrig in die taal wat die kinders by die huis praat, sou kon plaasvind.
Following the Draft Amendment Bill on Education Laws (BELAB), a bill which is currently going through the process of public comment in parliament, Angie Motshekga, minister of basic education, recently said that national laws and not governing bodies should determine the language and admission policy and codes of conduct at a school.
Naomi Meyer asked a few people to write about a world where children are educated in the language they speak at home.
Emva koqulunqo lomthetho osaqulunqwayo wemithetho yezemfundo (i-BELAB), umthetho oyilwayo okungoku nje uqhuba inkqubo yokuvakalisa izimvo zoluntu epalamente, umphathiswa wemfundo esisiseko uAngie Motshekga, kutshanje uthe imithetho yelizwe hayi izigqeba ezilawulayo kufuneka zimisele ulwimi nokwamkelwa kwabafundi. umgaqo-nkqubo kunye neendlela zokuziphatha esikolweni.
Naomi Meyer ucele abantu abambalwa ukuba bathi gqaba-gqaba ngezavenge kwabantwana ngelwimi labu lesuntu.
Bassey Antia, Professor of Applied Linguistics, Department of Linguistics at the University of the Western Cape:
Africa is the only continent on this planet where the language that is supposed to educate a child, in fact alienates the child. Take the example of assessment. In an article I wrote recently, I observed that, everywhere in sub-Saharan Africa, each time the matric or end of high school exam results are published, all sorts of explanations (but language) are offered for the poor performance of learners: “The exoglossic/monolingual language regime for these examinations is infrequently acknowledged as contributing to the dismal performance of students”. Although Africa is richly endowed with languages less than 10 of these are employed in the end of high school exams.
This is paradoxical because across the continent teachers, as well as learners, are struggling to make themselves understood in official languages they do not speak at home. In one country, a researcher concluded that in the experience of both teachers and students English is more appropriately described as a medium of obstruction, rather than of instruction.
I dream of a world where students are educated in a system where languages in their repertoire, as well as their social realities, are taken into account when they learn – as well as when they are assessed. “It is clearly important to evolve a model of examination language policy and practice that is attuned to the sociolinguistic realities of students.”
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BAQONDE and multilingual education in South Africa: An interview with Lorna Carson
BAQONDE, boosting the use of African language in education: an interview with Bassey Antia
The Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (BELAB): what parents should know
Persverklaring: Onderwysverklaring na aanleiding van Wysigingswetsontwerp op basiese onderwys
Herinneringe aan my onderwysloopbaan – en my pad met die onderrig van Afrikaans
Afrikaans en Kaaps op skool: Faeed Amardien se pad met die onderwys