Chair, I fully agree with the statement that was made by the member with regard to the importance of mother tongue instruction in education. We have lots of evidence in our education system to confirm that indeed mother tongue instruction - especially in the foundation phase - is quite crucial to the academic performance of our learners. We are committed as a department; you will recall that the language policy in Education advocates for that.
Some of the constraints, especially with African languages, relate to the question of the availability of resources and to the availability of personnel to teach in these languages. It however also relates to the resources of the department - whether it allows us to implement the policy in its entirety with regard to other logistics. For instance, in the case of Afrikaans-speaking schools, one might use half the capacity that is available because one wants a single medium in school and then compromise other financial considerations. One has to balance the resource allocations and efficiencies with the language policy.
In terms of the statement, we are in full agreement. I don't think there's a debate on that matter. I think it is very important for the department to gradually implement its policy on languages. The long and short of it is that the policy has not been fully implemented. It is important to ensure that we implement the policy.
In areas where we find resistance in terms of language of instruction, especially in the African communities, it is very important - and I have mentioned this to the officials - that we educate our people about the academic value of teaching in African languages for all the reasons we have given. I think because of other perceptions in our communities that English enables people to access the economy and also because of all these other myths that they believe about the value of English, there is a need for us to de-school our people and make sure that they appreciate and understand the value of mother tongue instruction and the fact that English is not necessarily the key to the world. English is just another language like other languages. People study in Portuguese and are still able to travel all over the world. This is a process we have to go through. We have started with the work and we will give you more information as and when you ask for it. We agree with your sentiments.