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The following is a keynote speech presented by Prof  Dr Andree-Jeanne Tötemeyer at the 9th Annual Conference of the University of Namibia, Oshakati Campus on Research of Namibia’s Language Policy and its Effects on Accessing Higher Education, October 15-16, 2009. It gives a really good overview of the history and current language policy for education in Namibia. (Seen on New Era )

An Oshikombo is not an Oshikombo, it is a goat: Multilingualism and the language policy for Namibian schools

Language in a multilingual country like Namibia is no simple matter. Nobody in countries like Britain, Germany or Italy would even think about whether the medium of instruction in schools should be any other language but English, German and Italian, respectively.

The multilingual reality in Namibia

The language scene in Namibia is so radically different that it requires much more effort to find a solution that will enable citizens to communicate with one another and will allow children of different ethnicities and mother tongues to learn effectively in a highly competitive world. There are 14 written languages in Namibia with a standardised orthography. In addition, there are also about 16 oral languages for which no orthography exists.

Allow me to elaborate on the language situation as it has been developing in Namibia since 1990. At the time of independence in 1990, there were two official languages in the territory: Afrikaans and English. English was, however, not used extensively before 1990 with the result that the implementation of English as the medium of instruction in the government schools of the Oshiwambo speaking north during the 1980’s was unsuccessful (Harlech-Jones, 1990: 198-200).

Already during the early 19th century, Afrikaans (Cape Dutch) became the dominant lingua franca in south and central Namibia and by the 1950s the majority of the population could communicate in Afrikaans. Even the Finnish Mission decided on Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in 1925.

In contrast to Anglophone African countries, English was never a colonial language in Namibia. However, English is now the only official language in Namibia as decided by the government 19 years ago.

The main reason given for this decision was that English is a world language and that it would be difficult to choose any one of the Namibian languages as the official language of the country.

Afrikaans was unacceptable to the new leaders since it was seen as the language of oppression.

Even though only a very small minority of the population could speak, read and write English in 1990, it was believed that English would be a unifying force that would promote national integration, unity and intercultural understanding.

However, progress towards proficiency in English has been very slow since then. The Namibian National Census of 2001 (Republic of Namibia. 2001 Population and Housing Census, 2003: 47-48) reveals that English is the home language of only 1.9% of the population. This may have improved slightly since then.

The position of languages in the school system and other related issues

At the time of independence in 1990 learners were receiving instruction through the mother tongue for the first three years of school, whereafter Afrikaans medium instruction was phased in. English was also taught as a subject throughout all schools as was done in South Africa, but was hardly spoken in the country at large.

As stated, English medium instruction was instituted by the newly elected government in January 1991 with the option of, during the first three years of schooling, mother tongue instruction or otherwise instruction in a second language spoken locally.

Those schools opting for mother tongue instruction had to offer English as a single subject during the first three years, whereafter compulsory English-medium instruction in all subjects was phased in in Grade 4.
Some schools however, did not opt for either the three years mother tongue instruction or the Namibian indigenous or second language option and taught in English only from Grade 1 upwards.

The sudden transition from Afrikaans-medium to English-medium instruction in Namibian schools was problematic. Not only learners but also most teachers were struggling with English. Both groups were suffering from anxiety about learning and teaching through the medium of English (Chamberlain, 1993; Melber, 1985. 15).

Within a couple of years after the abrupt switch to English medium education, it became clear that teachers and many learners were not enjoying education in the schools. Already in 1992-1993 both groups were manifesting frustration with having to communicate in a language the majority could not speak and/or understand well; discipline in Namibian schools had deteriorated to an alarming level. Some learners had become so rebellious and aggressive that teachers were afraid of them.

A survey in 1993 by field workers of the Florida State University found that 60% of the surveyed Namibian teachers were not able to teach effectively in English. Another 25% of the teachers could not communicate in English at all, i.e. only 15% were able to teach effectively in English while 85% were not able (Kotzé, 1994: 11).
According to the new education system, it is not possible for a learner to either pass or fail any exam, but if most of his/her subjects are rated as ungraded, s/he has actually failed.

In 1993 the results of the first public examinations at the end of Grade 10 written in English, were devastating. Only 15% of Cambridge O Levels (Grade 10) learners in actual fact passed at the end of 1993 (Kotzé, 1994: 1-2). Parents were shocked and could not understand why their children who had been promoted from Grades 1 to 9, many without being required to repeat any grade, were not allowed to progress to Grade 11. Teachers received the main blame for the outcome.

In 1999 Namibian psychologist Dr Shaun Whittaker warned that sudden immersion in a language unfamiliar to children has failed in every single African country that tried to implement it. To expect primary school children to become fluent in English within three to four years is unrealistic (Allgemeine Zeitung, 1999:4). Dr Whittaker advocated mother tongue instruction during all primary school years with English as a subject. He further advised that English as the medium of instruction could be phased in gradually in the secondary school to the stage that half of the subjects could be offered in the mother tongue and half in English (Allgemeine Zeitung, 1999:4).

In 2000, Dr Becky Ndjoze-Ojo, then Deputy Director Language Centre, University of Namibia, now Deputy Minister of Education also warned as follows: “Namibia cannot with one language promote indigenous development especially, when that language is not indigenous. We as a nation need to promote and preserve our …. indigenous languages” (Ndjoze-Ojo, 2000: 81).

In 2001, more than half of Namibian Grade 10 learners “failed”, resulting in enormous numbers of teenagers being out of school. They are not allowed to repeat Grade 10 in school but only through the difficult mode of distance learning with Namcol. Those who “failed” Grade 12 are also not allowed to repeat Grade 12 in school.

According to a UNICEF survey on reading skills of Grade 6 learners in Africa in 2003, only 7.6% of all Namibian Grade 6 learners could read English well, while another 25.9% possessed minimum reading competency. Two-thirds of Namibian Grade 6 learners could not read English. It is even possible that many of them could not read at all, since not all schools had opted for mother tongue instruction during the first three years of schooling.

In the same survey, UNICEF established that in Kenya where only 69% of all Kenyan children attend primary school, almost two thirds of Grade 6 learners could read well and another 20% could read with minimum competency. One difference to Namibia is that in Kenyan primary schools, the medium of instruction is mainly in the national language Kisuaheli (Menges, 2003: 1-2; Legal Assistance Centre Issue 15, 2004 July: 11-12). This African language is spoken by more than 50 million people in East Africa.

Namibia came third on the UNESCO list for gender parity in African schools during the 2005 Education for All Schools Survey, but average Namibian statistics may be misleading. Whereas gender parity is the case in some regions, in the historically most disadvantaged regions such as Kavango, Caprivi and Kunene, it is not.

Gender disparity in Kavango is similar to Nigeria, Ghana and Congo Republic with only 39% girls as compared to 61% boys in Grades 11 and 12 (Laubscher, 2005: 3).

In 1993/94, 86% of all school-age children attended school and in 2005 UNESCO, based on its survey Education for All, considered Namibia as one of the leaders in Africa as far as school attendance is concerned (Laubscher, 2005: 3). School attendance in Namibia is on a downward trend, however.

According to a survey conducted by the Institute for Public Policy Research in 2009 (Allgemeine Zeitung, 2009: 1), only 81% of all school-age children are presently attending school. In 2006 the Second Millennium Development Goals Report Namibia (p.11) indicated that in that year, 10 000 learners dropped out of school.

The effect of the language policy on senior secondary and tertiary education

By 2004 only 41% of Grade 10 learners graduated to Grade 11. Of boys of that age, 60% were not in senior secondary school. The Institute for Public Policy Research (Booysen, 2004: 8) found that 80% of the learners from the Karas and Hardap regions who wrote the International General Certificate for Secondary Education (IGCSE) Grade 12 examination in 2003 did not meet the minimum qualifications for admission to the civil service and only 11% qualified for admission to local tertiary institutions. The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate evaluates more than 2 million students from 165 countries.

Their finding was that Namibian IGCSE candidates achieved far worse symbols in 2003 than the average for all other countries, the majority being African countries.

The University of Namibia offers a four-year bachelors degree using the first year as a bridging year to improve competency in English and to bring several other subjects up to university first year level. I have lectured to these students for many years, the cream of the Namibian senior secondary school leavers, and can testify to the poor English writing proficiency of the majority.

The effect of this state of affairs is a serious impediment to the development of higher education in Namibia. The number of students who gain access to higher education is too small and the majority is not equipped for competitive and independent study and research.

The effect of poor secondary school exam results on the country at large

My greatest concern is the thousands of young people walking the streets after not being successful in the Grade 10 examinations. What use does a results certificate with ungraded ratings have? What prospects do these young people have of making a proper living? Their future does not look promising but rather bleak.

I will not suggest any recommendations at this stage, but will in conclusion ask a number of questions which we could or rather should consider during our deliberations:

1. Are we not making unfair demands on Namibian learners and their teachers with the language policy for Namibian schools?

2. Do we realise how difficult it is for primary school learners to cope with a language of instruction they do not understand, their parents do not understand and particularly in the rural areas where 60% of the population is domiciled, is hardly spoken outside the schools?

3. Do we realise how difficult it is for a learner who was not promoted to Grade 11, to successfully repeat Grade 10 through the distance learning mode? This particularly when his/her main problem for “failure” in the first place was poor comprehension of and writing skills in English?

4. We know that there are teachers whose qualifications are not up to standard but is it fair to blame mainly the teachers for poor examination results and the lacking discipline in schools? Why is absenteeism of teachers a problem? Have these teachers maybe lost all enthusiasm for the profession because they cannot cope properly with English and the new curriculum?

5. Is it fair to blame only the learners for disobedience and absenteeism in the schools? Do some of them not perhaps behave this way out of desperation because they feel misunderstood and frustrated due to their incompetence in English?

6. Are we taking cognisance of the desperate psychological climate in many schools and also among unsuccessful school leavers?

7. Is the language policy not reinforcing inequalities and the perpetuation and creation of minority elites who get the jobs because they are fluent in English?

8. Why are our efforts to improve proficiency in English in the schools not successful?

9. Why are some parents and educators ashamed of their mother tongue and culture, considering them as being inferior to English?

According to Louw (1998: 23) in a survey of language preferences of Namibian school leavers, percentages of school leavers who wanted their children to be taught in the mother tongue as their first language were 100% of German speakers, 49% of Afrikaans speakers and only 17.4% of Khoekhoegowab speakers. Forty-one (41) % of the latter group denied their mother tongue and insisted that they were English speaking, 47% of Otjiherero speakers did the same.

In comparison, 75% of all parents in Holland want their children to be instructed in the mother tongue for their whole school career; generally mother tongue education is accepted worldwide, as a sine qua non, but not in Africa.

In a letter published in the New Era of August 19, 2005, N. K. Mbaeva, teacher of history and Otjiherero at a Windhoek secondary school, complains that “where kids are taught to speak a second language at the expense of the mother tongue, (it) creates a semi-lingual society …. They don’t speak any language properly … Africans, for how long are we going to regard everything African as second best? … Our self-image, our culture and our identity are tarnished as we regard our own language as inferior to English … Learners who have gone through English medium from pre-school up to Grade 12 are still illiterate! … The official language in a multilingual society must not be promoted at the expense of national languages … a nation without a culture is like a tree without roots … We don’t have roots – therefore we do not acquire knowledge. A tree gets minerals and water through its roots.”

Conclusion

I conclude with only two broad conditions for learning; there are many more specific ones:

1. A child has to understand what he/she is supposed to learn and if a child doesn’t understand the language of the learning materials he/she can’t learn. If a rural Oshindonga or Oshikwanyama speaking child sees a picture of a goat in his school reader and enthusiastically declares that this is an “oshikombo”, only to be told that this is wrong, the animal is a “goat,” are we not confusing the child and confounding his learning?

2. A child has to be enthusiastic about and enjoy learning, otherwise he/she will not have the necessary drive to enquire for more. If learners struggle to master an unknown language and to express themselves in it, how can they enjoy learning?

Instead of joy, anxiety sets in. Learning can only flourish where the education system enables learners to taste achievement, enables them to gain understanding of themselves, other people and the world they are living in, in a happy and relaxed school environment. This is presently not the climate in most Namibian schools. The various cultures do not fit into the system at all.

Learners not only have problems to cope with the study materials, learners of different cultures are also not being enabled to learn from one another in a dialogue that helps them gain confidence in their own identity and develop understanding of the cultures of other Namibians.

I will close with two quotations, the first from Mahatma Ghandi: “I want the winds of all cultures to circulate freely around my house, but I don’t want to be blown over by any one of them.” The second quotation is from Carpenter (as quoted by Calvert, 1992: 24): “To neglect a language is to sabotage a culture.”

References

Allgemeine Zeitung, 2009: Städtische Dienste verlieren Wettlauf durch Zuzug. 20. Mai: 1.
Booysen, Dani, 2004: Onderwys se silwer rand taan. Republikein 11 November: 8-9
Calvert, PJ, 1992: The irrelevance of public libraries in the South Pacific. Sites: a journal for radical perspectives on culture Summer 25: 24-38.

Chamberlain, Dick, 1993: The impact of the language policy for schools in Namibia. Namibia: Ministry of Education and Culture, October 1993.

Chamberlain, R, A Diallo and E J John, 1981: Toward a language policy for Namibia. Lusaka: United Nations Institute for Namibia.

Dierks, Klaus, 2003: Chronologie der namibischen Geschichte von der vorgeschichtlichen Zeit zum unabhängigen Namibia (2000). Zweite erweiterte Auflage. Windhoek: Namibia Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft, 2003. ISBN 99916-40-39-8.

Kotzé, Carol, 1994: Bad English is killing education. Tempo 13th March: 11
Kotzé, Carol, 1994: Uitslae dui op ramp vir leerling in Namibië. Tempo 13th March: 1-2
Laubscher, Nicolette, 2005: Namibië derde in Afrika. Republikein 20 Junie: 3.
Legal Assistance Centre, 2004: Gender disparities in education. Issue 15 July: 11 and Quality education for all? Issue 15 July: 12

Mbaeva, N K, 2005: Our language barrier in learning (We are killing our roots). New Era 19th August: 9.
Melber, Henning, 1985: Ein sprachloses Volk stirbt einen lautlosen Tod: Fremdherrschaft, Befreiungskampf und Dekolonisation – Probleme der Sprachpolitik für ein unabhängiges Namibia, Osnabrücker Beiträge zur Sprachteorie (Sprachkonkurenz und gesellschaftliche Planung: das Erbe des Kolonialismus), September (31.
Menges, Werner, 2003: Schools not up to the mark. Namibian 12 December:1-2.

Menges, Werner. 2003: Only one in 14 in Grade 6 pupils are literate, says Unicef. Namibian 16 December:1-2.
Ndjoze-Ojo, Becky, 2000: Can one language achieve indigenous development? Pp. 79-81 in Education in perspective: Namibia’s first decade: a commemorative book to mark Namibia’s tenth anniversary edited by Earle Taylor. Windhoek: Government of the Republic of Namibia. Ministry of Higher Education, Vocational Training, Science and Technology, 2000. ISBN 0-86976-526-4.

Whittaker, Shaun, 1999: Zwischen hemmender und kreativer Vielsprachigkeit. [Summary of an English paper in German by Eberhard Hoffmann], Allgemeine Zeitung Freitag 18. Juni 1: 4.

• This is a keynote speech presented at the 9th Annual Conference of the University of Namibia, Oshakati Campus on Research of Namibia’s Language Policy and its Effects on Accessing Higher Education, October 15-16, 2009.

Suggested Books

• Discrimination Through Language in Africa?: Perspectives on the Namibian Experience (Contributions to the Sociology of Language)

• An Introduction to Language Policy: Theory and Method (Language and Social Change)

• Language Policies in Education: Critical Issues

• Namibia, 3rd: The Bradt Travel Guide