My colleague, MEC Whitey Jacobs
Ms Lucy Moyane, Chief Director: General Education and Training from the National Department of Education
Dr Neville Alexander, well-known language activist and academic
Members of the Provincial Language Committee
Members of the Language Task Team appointed by my predecessor André Gaum
Representatives of unions, governing bodies and language-interest boards and groupings
Representatives of the Western Cape tertiary institutions
Representatives of the publishers' associations
Teachers, principals and officials from the WCED and from the Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation"I tried so hard to forget Xhosa. My parents wanted me to talk English at home but I was so use to talk my home language … I'm a good speaking my home language but English … I don't like to talk in public or in a lot of people…"
These were the words of a 13-year-old. Silent and anxious in class, she was struggling with a learning burden not of her own choosing. Stripped of her language, she felt disempowered and her learning progress impaired, socially she felt isolated. The dilemma of this youngster is part of the subject of today's deliberations.
I want to share another experience with you: Recently I visited a primary school Mfuleni. I was very impressed with a Grade R class, where a five-year-old toddler could count for up to 100. He did well in English, but struggled when I asked him to repeat it in Xhosa.
Those of us entrusted with governance cannot pretend that it's OK for some linguistically-privileged learners to pass swiftly and powerfully through the system, because all teaching and learning takes place in their own home language while, in the same room, their classmates sit wordless and language-starved.
It's easy to pay lip-service to multi-lingualism. It's also very easy to dig up the arguments of all the factors, which militate against a serious language status change exercise.
We can reel off points about missing scientific terminology in African languages, the need to wait for the tertiary institutions to change their policies about Medium of Instruction, the paralysis brought about by parental choices, which fly in the face of the research, the pervasive effect of apartheid, the shortages of teachers, etc.
The world has experienced regular conflicts around language rights, and so have we here in South Africa. Class systems and racial hegemonies as well as complex language-related dogmas held by those in power, or those either desiring or feeling stripped of power, have created millions of innocent victims.
We are all familiar with our history, where language has been used as a political tool to exclude and marginalise poor black communities.
We are all familiar with how language even changed the course of our history. When the Apartheid government tried to impose Afrikaans as a Medium of Instruction on the student generation of 1976, all hell broke loose. In response, a deep rooted sentiment casting Afrikaans as the language of oppression developed in many communities. At the same many thousands who flooded to join the ranks of those fighting against minority domination spoke Afrikaans as their mother tongue. For decades the apartheid government made resources available to boost English and Afrikaans as the official languages of the Republic.
Here in the Western Cape many of our Xhosa-speaking brothers and sisters were forced to learn to speak Afrikaans in order to get a job. Many were forced to change surnames to survive and deliberately suppressed their own mother tongue at the workplace. Even up to today, there remains an intolerance and insensitivity in some quarters in this province towards Xhosa.
Our provincial government under the Leadership of our Premier Ebrahim Rasool, is actively working towards the realization of the vision of a Home for All. The strategic path we have adopted to arrive at this vision, is our economic development blueprint, Ikapa Elihlumayo - to grow and share the Cape. Our provincial language policy has declared Afrikaans, isiXhosa and English as the official languages of the Western Cape. We are called upon to advance multi-lingualism.
There are a number of lead strategies, which underpin Ikapa Elihlumayo: the Micro Economic Development Strategy under MEC Tasneem Essop; the Social Capital Development Strategy under MEC Koleka Mqulwana; and the Infrastructural Development Strategy under MEC Marius Fransman. As Education we have been mandated to lead the Human Capital Development Strategy, with a focus on youth.
Our national Minister of Education has scoped a progressive vision of the future for languages, and given us some strong indicators of intent. She has set up a task team to investigate medium of instruction at our tertiary institutions; she has placed English as a subject right alongside the other languages in the country in a symbolic move to remind us about our assumptions about language and status.
We support the call by Minister Pandor that every learner must be given the opportunity to study an indigenous African language. This presents a huge challenge. My dream for every learner in this province is that everyone learns isiXhosa, Afrikaans and English. And I hope that we can today plan some first practical small steps towards that goal.
There is a school of thought, which would argue that the state can't legislate language matters: the argument is that language is a by-product of community, it's part of the free market place.
This argument sees state involvement in language as destructive. We are gathered here today to peel away the layers of arguments like that to see what and where we think we can try to legislate. The root question is, what can we, as a province, do to redress the imbalances of the past in the language arena?
I am delighted that MEC Jacobs and his department are here: their technical contribution will be invaluable; their inspirational contribution likewise. Let us hope this partnership goes from strength to strength.
Eleven years into our democracy we must continue to search for practical solutions to language dilemmas. And I'm talking about the basics which are needed to fully empower our children, to make them confident communicators, to give them self-expressive opportunities, to enable them to take their assured places in the economy and to develop their full potential.
President Thabo Mbeki in his speech at the 2nd National General Council of the ANC recently: "It is clear that there is serious concern among certainly some sections of the Afrikaner population that the democratic order is acting in a manner that results in the marginalisation or diminution of the Afrikaans language".
He goes on to note that we see how we translate into reality the call made in the Freedom Charter, that "All people shall have equal rights to use their own language and to develop their own folk culture and customs". Correctly, this particular provision occurs under the clause - "All national groups shall have equal rights!"
The President goes on to link the language debate to the challenge of the creation of a non-racial society and completes his point by saying "The point I am making in this regard is that among others, we have to engage the language question more vigorously and systematically as an important part of the profound process of social transformation which our movement leads".
And in this respect, like the recent Mikro case has shown, we have to find a balance between the anxieties of communities concerning language and culture on the one hand , and the right of access to education. Single medium schools are an integral part of our provisioning. In fact over 700 of our schools have Afrikaans as the medium of instruction. Our department is also trying hard to meet the call for isiSotho as a medium in some of our schools. The key challenge we face is to manage the demographic shifts taking place in our province and the shortage of well- located classroom places. Our education provisioning plan must thus give certainty at a local level as to the medium of instruction to allay both sets of anxieties. I believe that this can be done without compromising mother tongue education and single medium schools.
We won't be able to say everything or solve all our problems simply because we have great thinkers and committed men and women in this meeting.
But what we do need to do, is to be honest and practical. The main question here is language, in the context of social and economic transformation, which is an enormously complex issue.
As I have mentioned earlier, do language skills mean access to the economy or just economic survival. Do parents make choices out of expediency because if they don't, they will starve?
Apart from the core messages about language in our constitution we have a number of national policies which govern language-in-education matters. Ms Moyane of the National Department will probably sketch these for us - to remind us of the parameters within which we operate already.
However, both the national Human Rights' Commission study of 2000 and our own study in 2002 reveal that many of the precepts of the existing policies are not being adhered to. For example, the 1997 Language-in-education policy requires that schools have their own Language policies and that these should, for example, give expression to plans to develop multilingualism in schools.
Only 40% of WCED schools in our own study even had such policies - and this is merely reported information, which notes that a policy exists. There has been no examination of the quality, scope, meaning and implementation of such policies.
We have two representatives of the national department here today and Deputy Minister Enver Surty has specifically requested that a full report be made to the Director General, Mr Duncan Hindle.
To be honest we hope that parts of today's deliberations might have a direct impact on the new Language in Education Policy, which is still in draft form. We know that each province has its own particular language configurations and challenges but that we need one another in order to come up with the best policy and the most viable implementation strategy.
If we decide to commit to a programme, which will train teachers to expertly manage a language-transition process which extends to the end of the Grade 6 year, then we know that we will need reading books and text books to match.
If we are able in the end to partner our neighbours - Northern and Eastern Cape and make language lobby groups which are big enough to interest our publishers then we are talking business!
And, in view of the numbers of learners making their way into this province from the Eastern and Northern Cape, the more our policies and theirs are in harmony, the better sense it makes. We are pleased to note, in this regard, that there are representatives from the publishers' association of south Africa amongst us today.
The WCED is today initiating a process of critical self-examination. We are here in numbers but, I would imagine, will spend more of the day listening to the wisdom of you who are assembled to start the conversation with us, than in talking.
We have not done nothing regarding our language complexities but we have not done nearly enough. The report, which is acting as a foundation document today was completed in December 2002 but the WCED has not yet taken a firm position on its recommendations.
It is my intention that there will be no turning back after today. We have invited representatives of every stakeholder body to come and be part of the process: we are playing open cards with you all. We want to, after due consideration of all points of view, and in harmony with the pending policy, make a formal commitment to a particular course of action regarding language policy matters.
This is a summit, not a conference where binding resolutions will be taken. But there is no turning back after today. Please consider time-frames towards reaching our goal of a provincial language in education policy before this is out. More importantly, please propose concrete steps towards adding a third language to the language offerings of our children in all schools . Secondly I would like hear practical proposals as to how we can assist our teachers to extend the number of years where our learners benefit from mother tongue instruction.
Where we need to legislate, we will, where we need to spell out rules and support criteria we will, where we need to invest in training and in trained personnel we will - all on a managed basis of course.
The research-search conducted as part of the 2002 survey presents compelling arguments for mother-tongue-based education for as long as possible. Areas under review included North and South America, West and East Europe, India and SE Asia, the rest of Africa and South Africa.
It is clear that - and I'm quoting the report now - "most modern research confirms the proposition that a sound foundation in the mother-tongue facilitates the learning of additional languages.
It also supports the intuition that children who are obliged to learn through a language they do not know are in most cases extremely disadvantaged and unable to catch up.
In addition the report tells us - and I quote again - "Research provides evidence that literacy transfers across languages. Learning to read in the mother-tongue makes learning to read (and write) in an additional language easier (successive biliteracy)".
Currently we have evidence of a growing migration of Afrikaans children into English medium classes or schools. And in the ex-DET schools teachers are converting their classes - at least nominally - into English medium ones as soon as possible.
But we have other evidence that the system is not working - we have a high drop-out rate, our test scores show poor literacy and numeracy levels and, in the Senior Certificate standardization process the marks for speakers of African Languages are scaled up.
We need to ensure that all learners are accommodated in classes, which match their learning needs. It seems clear that we will need to arrive at agreed-upon definitions of dual and parallel medium schools and provide incentives for schools to make voluntary changes to the medium of education (or LoLT) where relevant or necessary.
To manage this we will need to set up a team of experts to support schools through change. And, although the focus of some of the 2002 recommendations is on the primary school we need to put other things in the pipeline as well for older learners. Serious attention must be paid to issue of timetabling.
To this end we could need to have a basket of posts to provide, for example, Xhosa first language teaching for learners at high schools where this language need is not met.
But language shifts and indeed language status shifts cannot happen by decree and certainly cannot happen overnight. But a positive predisposition is a good place to start after all. I believe that great lessons can be learned from the tireless work by Afrikaans cultural organizations to build and strengthen the language. I am amazed to see the response by readers of Rapport to that newspaper's campaign for bursaries for Afrikaans language teachers. It is time that the development of indigenous African Languages, and in our province isiXhosa in particular, receives institutional support from government at all levels. At the same time massive advocacy is required. We have an English Festival in Grahamstown, an Afrikaans festival in Oudtshoorn..when are we going to start celebrating isiXhosa at a yearly major national festival in Cape Town.
I want to thank all our officials for working so hard to make this a success, and especially Anne who was very instrumental in organising a lot of this. Also to the provincial language committee for their role.
So thank you very much...
I want to end by borrowing three voices to speak to us. Firstly listen to the words of a young writer, Mbali Sibisi, who wrote, while still at school in 1994, the following:
I wish I could sing
With a voice so
Powerful and moving.
I wish I had a wonderful voice
To thank the people who made me grow.
I wish I could sing to
All women who have done or said
Something worthwhile.
I wish I had a voice inspiring enough
To change people and things around me.
I dream of a day when my voice will change
My neighbourhood.
I shall stand on the roof of our small house and
Sing and sing -
Changing the dull neighbourhood into a vibrant place.
I wish I could sing to the hopeless
And give them hope of a better future.
I wish I could sing to the dying
And make them healthy and strong again.
And fill them with nourishment.
I wish I could sing to my brothers
Who have lost themselves and their cultures
And change them into pillars of our troubled society.
I wish I could sing to my immoral society ….
Oh, I wish I could sing!
I don't know if it's fair to juxtapose that with these words of Ingrid Jonker or not, but I'm going to just do it quickly:
LIED VAN DIE LAPPOP
Ek is die lappop wat nie praaten maak net op jou liefde staat
Saans lê ek blind en stil en doof
en lig nie meer my semel-hoof
My hande roer nie en my lyf
word met jou weggaan koud en styf
Sonder jou hulp kan ek nie loop:
jy het my sommerso gekoop
en sal my nog een Guy Fawkes-nag
goedmoeds verbrand en daaroor lag.
Ek is die lappop sonder gees
My pyn jou luid gevierde fees.
Ladies and Gentlemen - all our children have beautiful voices and aspirations. We need to give them foundations and platforms. Let's do our best today to look most sharply at both Afrikaans and Xhosa as languages needing our attention.
Indulge me for a minute with the third installment in our language trilogy - a short Xhosa rallying call.
Thetha! Thetha ngolwimi lwakho!
Phupha! Phupha ngolwimi lwakho!
Bhala! Bhala ngolwimi lwakho!
Funda! Funda ngolwimi lwakho!
Cula! Cula ngolwimi lwakho!
Cinga! Cinga ngolwimi lwakho!
Awu! Ndiyakuhlonipha luLwimindini lweNkobe!
Ungummxibelelanisi wenene.
Undenza ndinqwenele ukufunda nezinye iilwimi
Ukuze ndikwazi ukunxibelelelana nabanye abantu
Bamazwe ngamazwe.
Inene baya kundazi ukuba ndingubani na!
Hayi uyolo lomntu owazi iilwimi ezininzi!
Ufana nekhompyutha yona ithwele iinkcukacha ezininzi zeli lizwe.
Ek se , mamela, its our language!
For enquiries, contact Gert Witbooi: 082 550 3938, or gwitbooi@pgwc.gov.za.
Gert Witbooi
Media Secretary
Office of the MEC for Education
Western Cape
Tel: 021 467 2523
Fax: 021 425 5689
Visit our website: http://wced.wcape.gov.za
INtshona Koloni - iKhaya loMntu wonke
Die Wes-Kaap - 'n Tuiste vir Almal
