Koers : Bulletin for Christian Scholarship (Aug 2003)
Die medium van onderrig aan Suid-Afrikaanse universiteite: die geval van Afrikaans
Abstract
The medium of instruction at South African universities: The case of Afrikaans In this article the focus is on the diminished role of Afrikaans as medium of instruction at South African universities. The tendency world-wide is that governments regard universities as national assets and therefore continuously encroach on what is idealistically termed “academic freedom”. In South Africa the ideologically-driven government has targeted education as a strategic terrain and has published several white papers and promulgated as many labour laws with the stress on “redress”, “access”, “equal opportunities”, “recognition of prior learning” and a “uniform qualification system”. All these measures are aimed to create one uniform education system and the use of Afrikaans as medium of instruction is clearly seen as detrimental to this august ideal.
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