Week 4: Should English and Afrikaans be given equal status as mediums of instruction at SU, or should Afrikaans be removed as a medium of instruction?


Er...

In my honest opinion, English and Afrikaans should definitely be given equal status as mediums of instruction.

Correction: In my honest opinion, ALL South African languages should be given equal status as mediums of instruction.

But of course, that's just me being an idealist.

There are hardly any universities that offer Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. If I were a mother tongue speaker of Afrikaans, I would definitely apply to a university at which I could learn in my mother tongue.

For many Afrikaans-speaking people, that university is Stellenbosch University.

These days, there are many debates surrounding the medium of instruction in classrooms and whether or not African languages should be introduced as mediums of instruction.

Removing Afrikaans as a medium of instruction at SU would be completely hypocritical.

Yes, it's true that many students of colour at SU are at a serious disadvantage as they have little or no knowledge of Afrikaans.

But then again, there are many Afrikaans-speaking people who are in the same boat as they are. They struggle with English, and SU offers them the opportunity to study in a language they understand.

Afrikaans.

It's not fair. I get that. But how are we supposed to achieve inclusivity if we're always excluding others?

I know that right now, non-English and Afrikaans speakers are those being excluded, but exclusion goes both ways.

For some, Afrikaans is the language of the oppressor. For others, it's all they've ever known. Why are we always so intent on punishing many, for the crimes committed by a few?

We as students of SU need to realise that an army is stronger as a whole, than as separate parts. We can all get what we want, once we realise that we all actually want the same thing.

Freedom.

I long for the day when we'll start seeing each other as fellow human beings in need of help.

Until then, I'll keep my ideals to myself.