Open Stellenbosch students set sights on language policy

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Yesterday, 4 April 2016, Open Stellenbosch spokesman Majaletje Mathura said: "The university has regressed and things are worse now following the granting of the AfriForum interdict (by the Western Cape High Court).

"The majority of students are having to attend extra classes, which is a major inconvenience. "We are left with no choice but to approach the Equality Court to challenge the language policy, which discriminates against most students and academics."

The university, which aims to increase its black, coloured and Indian student numbers to more than 15,000 in the next five years, has a student body of 30,000 - 62% of whom are white, 18% coloured, 17% black and 3% Indian, according to this year's preliminary figures.

The institution uses both English and Afrikaans as mediums of instruction at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Critics charge the language policy, which was the subject of an AfriForum Youth court battle with the university last month, is vague. They cite as problematic the fact that it states "Afrikaans and English are applied in various usage configurations", while "parallel-medium teaching and real-time educational interpretation are used as preferred options where practically feasible and affordable".

Open Stellenbosch says the policy neglects those who cannot understand Afrikaans because the quality of the university's interpretation services is poor.

Mathura said proposed new language guidelines, which were opened to comment last month, were little changed.

"It (the proposed policy) seeks to maintain Afrikaans as a medium of instruction, but the key principle - which most university stakeholders agree on - is that English should be the primary medium, with extensive support for Afrikaans and isiXhosa," he told Business Day.

The high court granted AfriForum Youth an interdict last month, ordering the institution to implement its interim language policy that accords parity to Afrikaans and English.

Last month, university management said a push to give English and Afrikaans equal status had added pressure on academic staff.

Johan Hattingh, the university's dean of arts and social sciences, said Stellenbosch wanted to be "100%" accessible to students not academically literate in Afrikaans and all module content covered in lectures would also be available in English.

"Most departments will return to the conventional Tmodules, with the proviso that this will be implemented with the utmost circumspection to ensure that no student is excluded on the basis of language of tuition," said Prof Hattingh in a communiqué to students.

Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge