The following item from the South African news service BuaNews may be of interest. It deals with South African languages in higher education... DZO
http://www.buanews.gov.za/view.php?ID=06090511151002&coll=buanew06 Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System --------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 05 Sep 2006 Title: Discussions on indigenous languages still underway --------------------------------------------------------------- By Themba Gadebe, tel: (012) 314-2267 Education Minister Naledi Pandor says discussions regarding the use of indigenous languages in higher education institutions are still taking place. The minister was responding to a newspaper report on "multilingualism in higher education institutions" which, according to the Department, suggested that not enough consultations were being made in this regard. Referring to a weekend article in the Rapport headlined: "State, academics criticised about own languages", Ms Pandor said she had met with vice chancellors on a number of occasions to discuss the use of indigenous languages at higher education level. "Following the conclusion of the Ministerial Committee into the promotion of indigenous languages as mediums of instruction in universities, I have held formal and informal discussions with vice-chancellors on the importance of promoting multilingualism rather than bilingualism in universities," she said. By promoting multilingualism, Government seeks to develop all languages so that they can be used as languages of learning and teaching. Last year, Ms Pandor received a framework report on the development of indigenous African languages for use in higher education. The report recommended the establishment of "a well-coordinated, long-range national plan to provide adequate resources and support for indigenous African languages" to prevent further decline of the languages. It said this could be achieved if the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) and the Department of Arts and Culture's National Language Services (NLS) were supported, maintained and monitored. The Minister said they had focused on the revitalisation of the teaching of indigenous languages in universities, to increase the number of students taking them, and also to increase the pool of teachers with the necessary depth of understanding to teach in these languages. Meanwhile, Minister Pandor has endorsed community engagement as a core value at universities. Addressing a conference in Cape Town on Monday in this regard, the minister said a life-long commitment to effective community engagement should be instilled in students while they were still at university. "As I am sure you will agree the concept of community service is very diverse - including medical community service as internships, community service in legal aid clinics on our campuses, and other less exalted social work kinds of community service. "If we are to do justice to this idea, we need to focus on a particular strategic objective to produce graduates who are well rounded and thoroughly grounded." Minister Pandor noted that there were more community service programmes than ever before at universities, having been assisted by the Joint Education Trust to expand their number and the Council on Higher Education's mandate to assure their quality. - BuaNews **************************** Disclaimer ****************************** Copyright: In accordance with Title 17, United States Code Section 107, this material is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material posted to this list for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Content: The sender does not vouch for the veracity nor the accuracy of the contents of this message, which are the sole responsibility of the copyright owner. Also, the sender does not necessarily agree or disagree with any opinions that are expressed in this message. *********************************************************************** Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanLanguages/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanLanguages/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
