LETTER: Was the Overvaal Hoërskool crisis a plot by Gauteng’s education department?
The Overvaal Hoërskool saga has got ugly, but who sparked the fire? We should ponder some facts. Afrikaans is one of the 11 official languages. It is the first language of close to seven-million people in SA, and the second language of more than 10-million. The majority of first-language speakers are coloured. I have not seen figures on the racial mix at Overvaal, but it is not a "white" school. School governing bodies (SGBs) are allowed to choose Afrikaans as their medium of instruction. They are also free to choose any other language, but in practice the only other language chosen is English. This is unlikely to change, despite what some ideologues might hope. Overvaal Hoërskool is full. This was confirmed by Judge Bill Prinsloo. If compelled to teach new pupils in English, more facilities and teachers would be required. The Department of Basic Education has no spare capacity to provide additional resources. It would also cause visible classroom segregation as opposed to integrati...
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