IS IT STILL RELEVANT FOR PUPILS AND STUDENTS TO LEARN AND STUDY IN ENGLISH?

Is it still relevant for learners and students to learn and study in English, when they have their own home languages?

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced that the government will soon be implementing language changes in South African schools. According to Angie, children are performing poorly in school because they are being taught using English – a language that is foreign to them.

This is a good step in the right direction... Lot of people out there are struggling and failing in schools because they don’t understand the language. Every year when you check the matric pass rate, the country is sitting at around 70%, but the fact of the matter is that only less than 20% of those who have passed matric, qualify to go to University.

Back in the days I used to do three languages in Primary school, until I abandoned Afrikaans because it was adding no value to my studies and the school also abolished Afrikaans at the later stage. I think this is how the home language policy could be implemented. I've been saying this for years and I believe that this will work and improve our quality of education and subsequently improve our quality of life as South Africans. 1. We group our African languages in 3 groups. Sotho, Nguni, Northern Lingos (Venda and Tsonga) 2. You study all the subjects in your mother tongue. 3. You do three languages in school, English, Mother tongue e.g Sepedi and One Nguni language. 4. You study in a language of choice from Grade R to PHD in University. 5. Change this modernised Bantu education and bring in a new effective and decolonised education from Primary to the University.

By doing this, South Africa will produce more professionals and entrepreneurs, unlike now when we produce more job seekers, when already there are no jobs. This thing of people who are saying we should study everything in English is nonsense. English should just be a language and it should be optional and not mandatory.

Other nations like Chinese, Arabs and more are flourishing both academically and economically because they are doing everything in their mother tongue. Some of them can't even say Good morning in English, yet they are far much better than English speakers. If you still have the mentality of thinking that English determines the person's intelligence, then you're still mentally colonised and you belong nowhere in the Africa we want. I conclude by Nelson Mandela's words: If you speak to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his mind but if you speak to a man in his language, that goes to his heart.