Michelle Jones
Education Writer
THE new curriculum, introduced in Grades R to three this year, has led some Western Cape schools to drop Xhosa as an additional language.
Schools are now only able to teach a home language and first additional language, with no time for a second additional language. This means schools that offer English and Afrikaans to pupils will not offer Xhosa – unless these classes are taught after hours.
The Cape Times sought clarification on the issue after weekend media reports and the debate in Parliament over the SA Languages Bill – where concerns have been expressed about the decline in the teaching of indigenous languages at schools.
The chairman of UWC’s linguistics department, Felix Banda, said this week that it should be compulsory for Western Cape schools to teach pupils three languages.
“The system seems to favour the two languages. I don’t think anything has really changed.
“We are talking about developing African languages, but when you look at it, nothing has really happened.”
The revised curriculum, known as the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement, is to be introduced in Grades 4 to 11 next year.
Primary schools are required to teach only two languages – ideally the pupils’ mother tongue and a first additional language.
The new timetable prescribes how many hours should be spent teaching the home language and first additional language in the various grades, with no available time for a third language.
Schools may decide which languages they will teach.
This will also have a knock-on effect on secondary schools which are offering Xhosa because there will be less demand for these classes in coming years.
The majority of pupils matriculate with English as their home language and an African language or Afrikaans as their first additional language.
A number of principals said they would love to offer Xhosa to pupils, but did not have the resources for an additional teacher, or the additional time.
Bronagh Casey, spokeswoman for Education MEC Donald Grant, said there was no indication that schools were “consciously pulling back from offering Xhosa”.
“However, this does not mean that schools aren’t constantly revaluating their curriculum choices based upon the needs of their pupils and the availability of resources.”
Sally Shields, principal of Grove Primary in Claremont, said conversational Xhosa classes were offered to all pupils in addition to English home language and Afrikaans first additional language.
“This has been the case for many years now and the school’s language policy has not changed with the implementation of this curriculum in the foundation phase.
“To facilitate the continued inclusion of Xhosa, the parents, through the School Governing Body, employ a full-time Xhosa mother tongue teacher and the school has added an extra hour to the week to facilitate teaching in the foundation phase.”
Shields said Grove staff had noted, in commenting on the draft Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement, the difficulties of incorporating a second additional language into the timetable when the curriculum made provision for only one additional language.
Cuan Dugmore, a Xhosa second additional language teacher at Westerford High, said the new curriculum would affect the variety of languages that schools might want to offer.
“It is becoming more difficult for schools to actually offer them, if you look at the policy. For primary schools (it) makes it more difficult. I am worried about it, very worried indeed.”
Dugmore said the Department of Basic Education’s suggestion that a second additional language be taught after hours was impractical and diminished the status of those languages by placing them outside school hours.
Denis Stephen, principal of Blouberg Ridge Primary, said the school no longer offered Xhosa as a second additional language as there was no time for a third language.
David de Korte, principal of Camps Bay High and SA Principals’ Association provincial president, said he knew of a number of schools that would like to offer Xhosa, but did not have the resources.