The Mediums of Instruction at SU

The Mediums of Instruction at SU

It would be naive to think I could talk about the injustices of linguistic privilege without touching on the language crisis at the University of Stellenbosch. I'm not going to elaborate on what, where, when cause that could take me 3 days to explain. If you have not been following the news lately or if you don't follow South African news, a simple Google search will provide you with everything you need to know about this saga. It might be smart to do so now as this blog will be tackling issues directly related to it.

What are the Issues?

As you are now aware of, the university has shifted between a policy accrediting Afrikaans and English as equal languages of tuition, to primarily English and back to Afrikaans and English at the start of this term. The new (old) language policy of Afrikaans and English gives rise to a number of problems. None of these problems stem from profound philosophical insights, but are genuine problems people have experienced and voiced.

Because of the problems being raised, I believe that the university must revert back to the "old" English policy. 

Simply put, this is because English is the halfway point for most South Africans. The statistics are that only 14% of black students had Afrikaans as a subject up until matric last, this means that 86% of black students do not understand Afrikaans well enough to have it as a language of tuition. That means 86% of black students would not have (will not?) succeeded in Stellenbosh, whilst an Afrikaans person can easily understand English. Personally I also take my notes in English, as do most of my friends, even though we are Afrikaans to such an extent that we went to an Afrikaans only high school.

Now you might argue that there are plenty more universities that cater in English for these students who do not understand Afrikaans. There are two things wrong with this statement. Firstly, as discussed in a previous blog, language and race walk hand in hand. If you exclude someone based on their language, you exclude their race. For obvious reasons this is wrong. The second problem is that Stellenbosch is in fact the second best university in South Africa, you are denying someone world class education just because they do not understand your language. 

And yes, you can very easily say "Well what about the Afrikaans speakers who do not speak adequate English?" In the end it is about weighing the human rights of two groups. It is not fair that one student can have mother tongue education and another in a language he or she does not even understand. In a world where most people who pursue tertiary education have been schooled in English, it is only fair to then scrap Afrikaans as a language of tuition in Stellenbosch.

BUT in the same breath I say, just for now. Until other languages can also be introduced as mediums of tertiary education.

What now?

Here is where I share my idealistic views on what tertiary education must be like. Firstly: no classes on a Thursday, secondly: classes end and three, and thirdly- nah I kid. 

I believe with everything in me that African languages must be introduced as languages of instruction at university. All students have the right to be schooled in the language of their choice, which will obviously be their mother-tongue. The implementation of African languages at tertiary education, starts already in primary education (read about that in my previous blog). At the moment the first wave of scholars are undergoing mandatory lessons in an African language, which will minimize the stigma around the academic credibly of African languages. In 12 years' time, the university must stand ready to accommodate speakers of IsiXhosa (as it is the most widely spoken African language in the Western Cape) and Afrikaans. Only when another African language is introduced as a language of instruction, may Afrikaans be reintroduced. The classes can take the same form as they do now, 50/50 English/Xhosa and a separate class can have 50/50 English/Afrikaans. English will always stay relevant as it is the lingua franca and is most probably the language that will mostly be spoken on the job. In this 12 year, or even more, span, it is the government's and universities' job to build these African languages into academic languages. The process will be costly, but the benefits to be reaped will be worth it and will bring in more income. 

I believe no one wants to be the "transition" generation; everyone wants to have these benefits now. But we simply can't. By being the "transition" generation we are equalizing the playing field and aiding transformation. We must be willing to withstand a tinge of discomfort so that our children may one day have all the luxury in the world.