Afrikaans schools, discriminatory?

Voicy said:
Sly, I agree with your 2nd point to an extent.

You should not be forced to take a specific 2nd language, but I definitely think it's beneficial to take one of your own choice as long as either your 1st or 2nd language is English.

So go to school, learn in a language of your choice and take English - or ... learn in English and take a 2nd language of your choice.

There's no valid reason to expect people to learn Afrikaans against their will. Having said that, you're only putting yourself at a disadvantage for not taking English. Even some of my relatives who are Afrikaans and cannot speak English are severely disadvantaged compared to others.
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No no no no!!! English must be compulsory for all high school students. What I am trying to put across is that students must take English (which is compulsory, or should be compulsory) from Grade 10 onwards. The students must be given a choice to take 5 non-language subjects if they wish or they can take Afrikaans as a second language and 4 other non-language subjects. This only applies to model C school that currently make it compulsory for students to take Afrikaans. If a black students is given a choice to take 5 subjects that are not languages and goes on and chooses Afrikaans in addition to English then I do not have a problem with that. I just have a problem with students being "forced" to take Afrikaans from Grade 10 onwards in a school whose medium of instruction is English.
 
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Sly21C said:
No no no no!!! English must be compulsory for all high school students. What I am trying to put across is that students must take English (which is compulsory, or should be compulsory) from Grade 10 onwards. The students must be given a choice to take 5 non-language subjects if they wish or they can take Afrikaans as a second language and 4 other non-language subjects. This only applies to model C school that currently make it compulsory for students to take Afrikaans. If a black students is given a choice to take 5 subjects that are not languages and goes on and chooses Afrikaans, then I do not have a problem with that. I just have a problem with students being "forced" to take Afrikaans from Grade 10 onwards in a school whose medium of instruction is English.
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Oh so the fact that they make another language compulsory. Not just Afrikaans. IF you choose English and zulu you are stuck with it till grade 12 because they are compulsary after you chose them.
Does it still work that way?
 
Sly21C said:
... I just have a problem with students being "forced" to take Afrikaans from Grade 10 onwards in a school whose medium of instruction is English...
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If that is your concern then I'll agree with you. Your previous posts sounded as though you'd like to ban Afrikaans as a primary instruction medium, and that I can't agree with.
 
Sly21C said:
No no no no!!! English must be compulsory for all high school students. What I am trying to put across is that students must take English (which is compulsory, or should be compulsory) from Grade 10 onwards. The students must be given a choice to take 5 non-language subjects if they wish or they can take Afrikaans as a second language and 4 other non-language subjects. This only applies to model C school that currently make it compulsory for students to take Afrikaans. If a black students is given a choice to take 5 subjects that are not languages and goes on and chooses Afrikaans in addition to English then I do not have a problem with that. I just have a problem with students being "forced" to take Afrikaans from Grade 10 onwards in a school whose medium of instruction is English.
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Students are forced to take Afrikaans as a second subject because that is what has been decided by the Governing Body of the school. If you want that to change, you are more than welcome to petition the school to change it's policies because they are not set in stone, believe me. If however you are not successful in this bid, it's not the schools fault the majority of parents want it to be like that. Welcome to democracy, take your child elsewhere.
 
DJ... said:
Model C and public schools should stick with the majority mother tongue based on demographics of their area. It should not be English or gtfo as this would hamper education in underprivileged areas and the same should apply to all schools.
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I think that's a real challenge for some areas where languages are fairly evenly distributed. Also, what happens to minorities in those areas?
 
English is the international language (some might argue love is), it's also the business language in SA. Therefor in a country like ours with so many official languages it would only make sense to teach in English from beginning to end. Yes sure ,English people will benefit, so what. Your children will benefit too through working, thinking and arguing in English as to prepare them for adult life.

My daughter is growing up in an Afrikaans home, yet she's been in an English class since grade 1.In the beginning she struggled a bit, but now she's coping very well and her school marks shows it. Next year she'll be in grade 6.
 
Is it still compulsory to have 2 languages at the end of grade 12?
Children used to bypass that by taking extra subjects.
 
S7wede said:
Students are forced to take Afrikaans as a second subject because that is what has been decided by the Governing Body of the school. If you want that to change, you are more than welcome to petition the school to change it's policies because they are not set in stone, believe me. If however you are not successful in this bid, it's not the schools fault the majority of parents want it to be like that. Welcome to democracy, take your child elsewhere.
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You better believe that I will raise this issue, it is totally unfair and it is something I will disagree with in its totality. What you are telling me is that because the majority of South Africans are black that they can choose to ban Afrikaans as one of the official language? That would be very unfair wouldn't it? The same way I will vehemently oppose the majority of South Africans banning Afrikaans as an official language is the same way I am opposing school governing bodies "forcing" students to take up Afrikaans as a second language.
 
Sly21C said:
No no no no!!! English must be compulsory for all high school students. What I am trying to put across is that students must take English (which is compulsory, or should be compulsory) from Grade 10 onwards. The students must be given a choice to take 5 non-language subjects if they wish or they can take Afrikaans as a second language and 4 other non-language subjects. This only applies to model C school that currently make it compulsory for students to take Afrikaans. If a black students is given a choice to take 5 subjects that are not languages and goes on and chooses Afrikaans in addition to English then I do not have a problem with that. I just have a problem with students being "forced" to take Afrikaans from Grade 10 onwards in a school whose medium of instruction is English.
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In a country with 11 languages, it doesn't make sense to know only one, the schools should just implement more languages then, other than Afrikaans.
 
Fully disagree with the OP. Schooling should be left up to the parents and communities in which they live.
The less government interference the better.

The Education of my children is actually my responsibility, not the governments.
Leave it to the Government and they will turn out a lot of neat little clones with the political ideology that matches the State.

I'm not interested in that thanks.
The more control that the parents (first) and the communities (second) have over the kids, the better.
Free speech, unhindered education FTW!!!
 
Sly21C said:
You better believe that I will raise this issue, it is totally unfair and it is something I will disagree with in its totality. What you are telling me is that because the majority of South Africans are black that they can choose to ban Afrikaans as one of the official language? That would be very unfair wouldn't it? The same way I will vehemently oppose the majority of South Africans banning Afrikaans as an official language is the same way I am opposing school governing bodies "forcing" students to take up Afrikaans as a second language.
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Where are they forced? I still do not understand the forcing part.
( serious question )
 
Garyvdh said:
Fully disagree with the OP. Schooling should be left up to the parents and communities in which they live.
The less government interference the better.

The Education of my children is actually my responsibility, not the governments.
Leave it to the Government and they will turn out a lot of neat little clones with the political ideology that matches the State.

I'm not interested in that thanks.
The more control that the parents (first) and the communities (second) have over the kids, the better.
Free speech, unhindered education FTW!!!
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What's quite interesting is that the majority of the parents who attend governing body meetings at the school my kids go to are politicians who have little or no time to do homework with their child... those and wannabe politicians... people who want some sort of power but aren't interested in the children themselves. It's high time ordinary mothers and fathers attend these meetings and vote for their governing bodies...
it's no use complaining about decisions being made at the school if you don't take part.
 
Mila said:
Oh so the fact that they make another language compulsory. Not just Afrikaans. IF you choose English and zulu you are stuck with it till grade 12 because they are compulsary after you chose them.
Does it still work that way?
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I don't have a problem with Afrikaans, I have a problem with students being "forced" to take up Afrikaans as a second language. if students are given a choice and choose Afrikaans or choose Zulu or choose French then I have zero problem with that.
 
Sly21C said:
I don't have a problem with Afrikaans, I have a problem with students being "forced" to take up Afrikaans as a second language. if students are given a choice and choose Afrikaans or choose Zulu or choose French then I have zero problem with that.
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So you want more diversity in languages, then it is simple the school governing body should ask for more languages therefore parents must attend those meetings. Most schools nowadays offer more options than just Afrikaans.
 
Sly,

Can we then agree on the following scenario:

If child goes to an English medium school, he must take a 2nd language, but has the choice of which (incl. german/french/mandarin/etc.)

If the child goes to a non English medium school (one of the 10 official languages), he must take English as a 2nd language. No debate.

However, if he goes to an English medium school, he/she must accept that the choice of 2nd languages available to him depends largely on his/her location and demographics. (As an example: It would be unfair to expect a rural school in the Southern Cape to employ a Pedi teacher for a single student.)

Therefore, government doesn't dictate all students must learn Afrikaans/Zulu/etc. They are free to choose a 2nd language of their preference, subject to availability. So I can take Zulu as a 2nd language and you can take German as a 2nd language if we're in the same school and those classes are offered. If only one 2nd language is offered (chosen by gov. body) then you're out of luck and free to study another one at a different institution.

Am I on the right track here?
 
Nicodeamus said:
In a country with 11 languages, it doesn't make sense to know only one, the schools should just implement more languages then, other than Afrikaans.
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Students can choose to study 10 languages in high school if that is possible and if that is their choice, what I am stressing is that students must be given a choice, not told to learn Afrikaans just because some governing body voted to have that policy.
 
marine1 said:
You kidding? You have a problem with an Afrikaans school but have no issue with a blacks only organisation?
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You're missing his point, marine1.

If you equate this debate to the BMF etc. it's like saying government forces EVERYONE to belong to the BMF. That's not the case here. The argument is forcing Afr. down their throats.

In summary. I'd also be bleak if I was a Zulu speaking black person and I'm forced to learn Afrikaans at school. For what?
 
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