Chapter 6
In: Paradise Lost
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Abstract
More than two decades after the end of apartheid, the South African higher education system continues to maintain features of a racialised past characterised by the institutionalisation of English and Afrikaans as the main languages of learning and teaching (LOLT) in higher education, and the minimal use of the other nine official languages in the country. This is despite global acknowledgement of the value of mother tongue education in the current knowledge economy where the production and application of new knowledge are essential. In this chapter, we explore the experiences of adults who have been part of the South African higher education system to get their perspectives on the racialisation of language choice in selected South African universities. The chapter also provides insights into how the contemporary hegemony of English and Afrikaans in the South African higher education system continue to be a reproduction and reinforcement of racial inequalities perpetuated by the apartheid system. The chapter establishes that African languages continue to play a peripheral role and are restricted to being merely learnt as a subject (L1 or L2), not as an official medium of instruction and assessment. This creates inequalities since speakers of English and Afrikaans are systemically placed in an advantageous position where they have more potential to succeed academically and to have more chances to participate in the labour market at a later stage, compared to their counterparts. We argue that the vicious socio-economic inequalities that threaten our society can best be addressed by having an equitable higher education system. South Africa cannot afford to be grappling with apartheid-era mechanisms that fail to extend the benefits of democratisation to many in the higher education system. It is imperative that efforts be made to deracialise, not just the university physical spaces but also the pedagogies.