NZIMANDE'S PLAN TO IMPOSE LANGUAGE UNIFORMITY ON OUR UNIVERSITIES
According to a statement made by the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Blade Nzimande, during his budget debate earlier this week, "... we no longer have Afrikaans or Zulu or Tswana universities. All our universities are South African universities and must serve all the people of this country."
Nzimande is, of course, right. Our universities must serve the people of the country. The question is how they should do so in a manner that best serves our diverse population and that accords most closely with the rights and precepts in our Constitution.
Section 6(4) of the Constitution states that "all official languages must enjoy parity of esteem and must be treated equitably." How is it equitable then that one language, English, should be imposed on all universities?
Section 6(2) requires "the state to take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of" our indigenous languages. But how is this to be achieved if they are not permitted to develop and flower as full-blown academic languages - and if our one indigenous language - Afrikaans - that has attained this status is neglected to wither on the vine? It was for this reason that the late Prof Jakes Gerwel recommended that our indigenous languages should be developed and championed by various universities.
Section 29(2) states clearly that "everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice in public educational institutions where that education is reasonably practicable. In order to ensure the effective access to, and implementation of, this right the state must consider all reasonable alternatives, including single medium institutions, taking into account (a) equity; (b) practicability and (c) the need to redress the results of past racially discriminatory laws and practices."