Education Minister Kader Asmal is to promote the creation of an African-language university or technikon.
"I will propose to government that one of the institutions of higher learning move towards teaching in one of the nine indigenous languages," he told the South African national commission for the United Nations Scientific, Education and Cultural Organisation in Pretoria.
Asmal said it would make sense to have regional institutions that provided separately for the Nguni and Sotho language groups.
But it would be a long-term project. It had taken about 30 years to develop textbooks and other support systems for Afrikaans, said Asmal.
He also pointed out that only 15 percent of people who entered higher education graduated. This wastage cost about R1,5-billion a year.
Continues Below ↓
The government's fundamental approach in education was multilingualism, which should begin with the mother tongue in the primary phase, said Asmal.
School governing bodies in black areas tended to choose English as the medium of instruction for their children.
Black and Indian pupils often faced difficulties because they wrote examinations in English or Afrikaans, not in their mother tongue.
"That may be why our examination results are what they are," said Asmal. - Sapa
-
This article was originally published on page 5 of Cape Times on November 05, 2002
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
