ARTICLE: DO ONE THING FOR DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION ON 21 MAY
2015-05-20
In 2002 the United Nations declared 21 May World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.
In 2002 the United Nations declared 21 May World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.
Language of instruction is a key issue at the heart of debate in most multilingual countries.
Current developments on the campuses of NWU, Stellenbosch and UCT are raising core questions, not only about the future of our universities, but also about the nature of our multicultural society.
International Mother Language Day, proclaimed in 1999 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), is the occasion to celebrate linguistic diversity.
According to “Rapport” of 30 November 2014, the Minister of Higher Education, Dr Blade Nzimande, has threatened to withdraw the registration of the private university, Akademia, if its language of tuition remains exclusively Afrikaans.
The current crisis in the Ukraine points to one of the central challenges of the new millennium: the need to ensure the peaceful coexistence of diverse ethnic, religious and linguistic communities within the same country.
According to a statement made by the Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande, during his budget debate earlier this week, “… we no longer have Afrikaans or Zulu or Tswana universities. All our universities are South African universities and must serve all the people of this country.”
According to media reports, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is getting ready to introduce indigenous language courts “in an attempt to speed up justice” and “make courts more accessible”.
A pilot project for indigenous language courts was run in 2009, but was stopped after an assessment by the Department. The Department stated last month that it was reopening the project.
According to the Department, the objective is to introduce and promote the use of indigenous languages in a few courts, then to expand to other courts.
International Mother Language Day (IMLD) – on 21 February each year – celebrates language diversity, variety and multilingualism throughout the world.