Johannesburg - Civil rights organisation AfriForum has dismissed the Gauteng Department of Basic Education’s latest bid to change single-medium Afrikaans schools to dual-medium schools as a “ploy to attack Afrikaans schools”.
The organisation condemned a notice that was distributed listing the names of single-medium Afrikaans schools to be considered for the change, according to the department.
The Pretoria schools on the list apparently include Afrikaans Hoër Meisieskool, Laerskool Pretoria-Oos, Laerskool Anton van Wouw and Hoërskool Menlopark.
Carien Bloem, AfriForum’s campaign co-ordinator for education affairs, said they felt strongly about quality education and every pupil’s right to be taught in their own language. The proposed change would hamper that right, she said.
“The language at any school is determined by the ratio of learners who attend it, and Pretoria schools which are single medium have at least 80 percent of learners using that language.
“The department creates the false impression that an amendment of the language policy will create room for more learners, but there is no space for more learners.
“The solution is that the department should provide more schools, if that is indeed the real problem.”
The department, however, has said it wasn’t looking to create dual-medium schools, but rather changing some schools in the province into parallel schools.
Department spokeswoman Phumla Sekhonyane said: “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 use the available space to admit these learners. The department must therefore utilise all available space to accommodate these learners.
“The change would mean that the affected schools will have separate classes for English and other classes in any chosen language,” she said.
Professor Kobus Maree, of the University of Pretoria’s Department of Educational Psychology, said he supported the idea the department was mulling.
“Inner-city schools are filled to the brim already, and if they have spare classrooms, there’s no excuse not to use them. It would be in the best interests of society.
“Children can benefit from any kind of mode of education, given that all the additional support is provided to the schools and teachers,” he said.
“The majority of teachers already teach in their second mother tongue, and it is therefore absolutely essential to upskill teachers in terms of their language of teaching ability. We tend to conjure up ghosts that need not be there and underestimate learners,” Maree said. “AfriForum thinks it’s an excuse to destroy Afrikaans schools.”
AfriForum was ready to legally oppose the move.
The Star