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Notes for the Week of 10/26/2020, ) - Coggle Diagram
Notes for the Week of 10/26/2020
South African Students Protesting Afrikaans
Stellenbosch University used to be for white students only
Afrikaans was the language of the apartheid, therefore Black students at the University do not think that it should be the language that the University uses to teach
South African law is supposed to lead to an equal distribution of English and Afrikaans but many students do not feel that the University is actually striking this balance
FeesMustFall
Rehad Desai left South Africa as a child due to his political activist father being threatened, and didn't return for 23 years
After the fall of apartheid Desai continued his graduate studies at Wits University and experienced culture shock at its elitism and inherent whiteness
years after his graduation, student protests culminated in a three day occupation of the school with demands for equity and an Africanisationof curriculum and culture
for Desai, this protest was a direct mirror to his own activism as a young adult and showed the need for a 'rigorous re-examination of the entire foundations [of the new] South Africa'
more specifically, students were protesting the rise of tuition fees and the outsourcing of staff, meaning that long time employees of the university were losing their jobs and benefits just to cut costs
the university was in denial about its racially exclusive culture, "it was the typical postcolonial thing, keeping standards at all costs"
Afrikaans being phased out in South Africa
Stellenbosch University could possibly drop Afrikaans as the language of instruction and teach in English (This is a trend that is spreading throughout South African universities).
“Language should be used in a way that is oriented towards engagement with knowledge in a diverse society and to ensure equitable access to learning and teaching opportunities for all students,” Stellenbosch University management said
The Afrikaans language is widely used in the country: it is the third most commonly spoken of South Africa’s 11 official languages
One issue is the cost and resources for universities like the University of the Free State to offer every course twice, once in English and once in Afrikaans.
In the past, it was the Afrikaaners expressing their desire to free themselves from the domination of British colonization and therefore from being forced to speak English.
Dropping Afrikaans means that, psychologically and symbolically, the walls of apartheid are still crumbling 21 years after racial segregation was officially removed from the statute books.
Afrikaans is still one of the country’s national languages today and it is the language of 13.5% of the South African population today. So while its removal as a medium of instruction at some universities may be symbolic, it will be interesting to watch what the future holds for the world youngest language.
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