Matric home language policy welcomed, but there will be challenges

A move by the provincial education department to allow matric pupils to answer exam questions in their home language from 2020 has been welcomed by experts, but with reservations.

Education MEC Fundile Gade made the announcement on Thursday.

The decision will have far-reaching implications for isiXhosa and Sotho speakers in the province.

Mary Metcalfe, director of Education Change, a programme to improve learning outcomes, said broadening options to use the first language as a medium of teaching and assessment would have benefits.

“This needs to be supported by a comprehensive strategy of making learning material available in the chosen languages,” Metcalfe said.

The former director-general of the department of higher education & training said the initiative would have interesting implications for the process of national senior certificate (NSC) results.

“I am sure the Eastern Cape education department will be in discussion with [regulating body] Umalusi regarding this before it is implemented,” she said.

“There may also be implications for those learners proceeding to universities in terms of confidence in the current medium of instruction at the higher education institution and the validity of the standardisation process, given that university entrance is a competitive process.”

The University of the Witwatersrand’s Dr Craig Pournara, who is the director for mathematics and science education, described  the move as an “interesting development”.

“While many will welcome this initiative as a move towards decolonisation, we need to consider carefully what opportunities it opens up and whether the system is ready for it,” Pournara said.

“Many learners struggle with maths and science, and may well benefit from learning these subjects in their own language, but there is more to it than this.”

Pournara gave an example of what he meant.

“Consider Ntsiki who writes maths and science in grade 12 in isiXhosa and passes well.

“She gets accepted for a BSc at NMU [Nelson Mandela University] or Rhodes.

“What happens when she struggles with maths lectures, tutorials, online materials and assessments that are given in English at these universities?”

Pournara also questioned the existence of study materials written in isiXhosa.

“There are many pieces to this puzzle and too many of them are not yet in place to make this initiative viable in the near future.

“If we are serious about opening access to maths and science by changing language policies, we need to pilot these initiatives in the lower grades first.”

Professor Marissa Rollnick  of Wits’s school of education said: “As educators, we strive to push for learning for understanding, rather than memorisation.

“If a learner can use their own language to explain their understanding, they may be able to demonstrate understanding rather than memorisation.

“A potential concern is terminology, but I assume they will be able to use the English terms for technical terms.

“I also say there will be the potential for African languages to grow as they are used to express more abstract ideas.”

Provincial Sadtu secretary Chris Mdingi said  the department needed to train teachers to be better equipped to deal with the new strategy, citing that, in developed countries, pupils were taught in their mother tongue.

“It’s going to be problematic.

“Not all teachers are trained in languages.

“It would be much better if they intend to train teachers and they don’t start on a big scale,” Mdingi said.