LETTER: We have to be sensible about mother-tongue language teaching

Basic education minister Angie Motshekga says she is pleased African languages are finally taking their place in the sun, and the next frontier of uplifting African languages is to transform them into languages of learning and teaching.

I understand that every parent would like their child to be taught in their mother tongue, but we really have to be sensible here and ask whether we have enough teachers to teach all class subjects in each child’s home language. The answer is a definite no, unless we open up many more teacher training colleges. Yet, as we know, when the ANC came into power it closed teacher training colleges. We have 11 official languages and I’m not sure how many unofficial languages. It’s an impossible dream.

The other thing people forget is that if each individual child has classes in their mother tongue the school system will become like the old days of apartheid, and children won’t learn to mix with their peers of every colour, dialect and language. And don’t tell me the classes will be mixed. It would be impossible to teach these kids. English is the language of the government and the media, which says it all.

What happens if children can only speak their mother tongue when they leave school? Can they get into university? They are then tied to the area where their language is spoken, and will find it increasingly difficult to get a job if they don’t speak a language that is used universally. I have found among friends and colleagues that the only children who became really fluent in black African languages are those brought up on farms, who learnt the language at grassroots level.

When is Motshekga planning to introduce English into the syllabus? Because sadly, if it is at high school it is too late. The brain is better wired for learning languages at an early age.

Barbie Sandler

Constantia

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