We can’t force schools to teach indigenous languages - Steenkamp

Education ministry executive director Sanet Steenkamp has shot down Professor Job Amupanda’s claims that private schools are neglecting teaching indigenous languages to opt for Afrikaans and foreign languages.In a recent letter to President Nangolo Mbumba, Amupanda proposed the implementation of a policy requiring all private schools to teach indigenous languages. Additionally, he suggested that the education ministry develop and adopt - within two years - a multilingual approach to language teaching that recognises and values indigenous languages.“Many Namibian parents choose to send their children to private schools, which often do not teach indigenous languages. This perpetuates the colonial legacy and disconnects Namibians from their languages and cultures. It leads to a desire to emulate the colonisers - a disconnect detrimental to achieving true postcolonial objectives,” Amupanda wrote.No exclusionIn response, Steenkamp said Amupanda ought to do research, as the constitution does not allow for discrimination when it comes to which languages schools should implement. She said all curricula are approved by the examination and assessment boards, adding that the ministry strictly adheres to the constitution and Basic Education Act.While she acknowledged that no school should be exclusionary in its approach to language teaching, the ministry cannot make schools cater exclusively to a certain group of learners. “We can’t force schools to teach indigenous languages. We live in a multilingual world and languages like Portuguese and French have been very successful in our country,” she said.She added that private schools present different curricula to the ministry and it approves them, as the constitution stipulates that every learner has the right to be taught in their respective language.“The developed curriculum already allows for the use of all 12 indigenous languages until grade 12 on the Advanced Subsidiary [AS] level and he [Amupanda] knows that. The only language that has not been developed beyond grade four is Ju|’hoansi. The languages we have in our country, which we cannot even find teachers for, are Afrikaans, Setswana and sometimes Otjiherero,” Steenkamp noted.Get your facts rightSteenkamp further urged members of the public to first approach the ministry to get their facts right. “Just yesterday, when minister Anna Nghipondoka and I sat in a ‘Transforming Education’ summit here in France, Namibia was among the first countries praised for teaching learners in their mother tongue.”She added that Namibia’s curriculum is one of the most progressive in Africa, including the prioritisation of mother-tongue teaching.“We have made great strides in Namibia, not only on the level of mother-tongue teaching, but in other progressive areas in our curriculum as well. We have never shied away from confrontations and we welcome Professor Amupanda to provide what he thinks should be strategies that should be employed in public and private schools.”

We can’t force schools to teach indigenous languages - Steenkamp

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-12

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We can’t force schools to teach indigenous languages - Steenkamp

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-12

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