If unfixed, new school language

Teachers in KwaZulu-Natal warn that without proper terminology, books, training and classroom support, SA's Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education policy may deepen the literacy crisis. By Sakhile Dube

- Sakhile Dube

Learners at Holphekhulu Primary take a break on an uneven playing field.

(Phumlani Meangano)

In her small office at Esidumbini Primary School in eThekwini, Grade 3 teacher Nonhlanhla Kleinbooi flips through her notebook to explain her concerns about language as she prepares learners for the next grade.

Her school is slowly rolling out Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education (MTbBE) in Grade 4. This means subjects like maths, previously taught in English from Grade 4, will now continue in isiZulu. Although the aim is to improve outcomes, new materials have introduced a new set of borrowed terms that confuse learners.

"In isiZulu, a rectangle is unxande," Kleinbooi says, writing the familiar word on a scrap of paper. Next to it, she scribbles another term: irekhthengile. She pauses, shaking her head. "This is where we lose our learners. They understand the isiZulu word, but when we start borrowing, that sounds like a completely different language. It's like starting school again."

Kleinbooi's frustration resonates in schools throughout eThekwini, iLembe and Zululand, where teachers voiced similar concerns with maths, science and technology terminology during a field trip to eight quintile 1 (no-fee) schools, coinciding with the release of early grade national reading benchmarks in all 11 official languages to which reading applies.