School language change doubts

The department of basic education has rolled out a new programme for grade four learners in maths, science and technology

- Umamah Bakharia

Experts have questioned the feasibility of the department of basic education's plan to implement the mother tongue-based bilingual education programme this year. It aims to enhance literacy by extending the use of African languages as a medium of instruction beyond grade three.

The programme, piloted at the start of the 2025 academic year, will mainly target home-language schools — where the primary language of instruction is the language spoken at home — across all nine provinces.

The school has to indicate to the department of basic education that it has changed the language of learning and teaching in grade four to one of the nine official African languages in the country.

The initial phase of the programme will focus on maths, science and technology (MST) in grade four. From next year, the department will add an additional grade all the way through to grade seven.

Although the programme is a positive step towards expanding educational accessibility, experts say foundational issues need to be addressed for it to succeed, particularly around language development and teaching capacity.

"One of my main concerns is the readiness of African languages to handle the complexities of technical subjects like the MST subjects," said Judicial Sebatana, a lecturer at the North West University's faculty of education.

"At the [university], we struggle to find candidates qualified to teach or study in Setswana and Sesotho at advanced levels. This shortage is particularly acute for technical subjects.

"Many African language teachers are not trained in technical subjects and technical subject teachers may lack proficiency in African languages. In some cases, these teachers might not even be from South Africa, which can complicate language integration further."