On 22 September 2021, the Constitutional Court ruled in favour of the retention of Afrikaans as language of tuition at the University of South Africa (Unisa). AfriForum brought this case against Unisa after the university\u2019s introduction of a new language policy that only provided for English as medium of instruction. In the ruling, the court gave Unisa until 2023 to make the modules that had been available in Afrikaans in 2016, available in it once more, allowing sufficient time for the reintroduction of Afrikaans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has just come to AfriForum\u2019s attention that Unisa is currently conducting a survey on language preferences among students. According to one of the students who has already completed this survey, it is introduced with the request: \u201cHelp determine students\u2019 perceptions regarding the reintroduction of Afrikaans as a language of teaching, learning and assessment without the parallel introduction of other official languages\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alana Bailey, Head of Cultural Affairs at AfriForum, states that this is a leading question that portrays Afrikaans as an enemy of other languages, instead of making it clear to students that Afrikaans education is a constitutional right that could simply have been retained at a minimal cost, with the introduction of parallel teaching in more languages, had this indeed been the aim of Unisa. \u201cThe problem is not Afrikaans, but the lack of will at universities to accommodate more languages. The easiest thing for managements to do, is to set up Afrikaans as the scapegoat and then to phase it out as language of tuition. The result is that all students have to try to get by in English, which in fact is the mother language of less than 10% of South Africans,\u201d says Bailey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unisa currently faces serious questions about, among other issues, its administrative problems. AfriForum finds it strange that such a survey is now receiving attention, instead of effective service delivery to students and the implementation of the Constitutional Court\u2019s ruling. Bailey believes that this creates the impression that Unisa is trying to find reasons to circumvent the court\u2019s orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AfriForum encourages all students who are currently enrolled at Unisa to participate in the survey and to make their support for Afrikaans education clear. \u201cThe future of Afrikaans as an academic language must be promoted in all possible ways. If students do not claim the right to mother-language education, it will neither be an option for Afrikaans students in future, nor for students who speak any of the other official languages,\u201d Bailey adds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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