South Africa's basic education minister, Siviwe Gwarube, recently highlighted the expansion of Mother Tongue-Based Bilingual Education (MTbBE) to grade 5 pupils. This policy aims to strengthen the use of pupils' home languages as languages of learning and teaching while maintaining a pathway to proficiency in English. The policy's intention is to enable children to learn in a language they understand intuitively, which makes educational sense, especially in a country where reading comprehension remains a national crisis.
Education researchers, including Prof Kobus Maree, have long recognised the importance of developing literacy in a child's familiar language as a foundation for acquiring proficiency in another language. However, language policy alone cannot transform educational outcomes. Success depends on several fundamentals, including properly trained and proficient teachers, quality learning materials, adequate instructional time, and systematic teaching of vocabulary, reading fluency, and comprehension.
There are encouraging signs that the policy is having a positive impact. Informal observations among schools in and around KuGompo City suggest that some teachers are seeing greater pupil participation and less anxiety in classrooms. Teachers accompanying pupils to mathematics and science Olympiads have reported that questions presented in isiXhosa enable pupils to engage with greater confidence. Some parents are also becoming more involved in homework when learning materials are accessible in the home language.
Despite these gains, formidable obstacles remain. Many practising teachers were never formally trained in bilingual or multilingual pedagogy, which can make it difficult for them to prepare lessons that move naturally between isiXhosa and English without allowing one language to dominate. In numeracy, for example, teachers and pupils can encounter difficulties with mathematical terminology and the reading of numbers in isiXhosa.
The challenge is compounded by the fact that scientific terminology in many African languages is still developing and requires systematic standardisation and dissemination. Furthermore, schools need textbooks, readers, dictionaries, workbooks, and teacher-support material that are not merely translated but are contextually appropriate and pedagogically sound. However, poorly resourced schools often have to carry the additional burden of photocopying bulk materials.
Teacher morale presents another concern. Research and reports by organisations, including the SA Democratic Teachers' Union, the SA Teachers' Union, and the Teacher Democratic Dividend project at Stellenbosch University, have highlighted serious challenges affecting educators, including inadequate resources, infrastructure, and working conditions. A demoralised teacher operating in an under-resourced classroom cannot simply be expected to deliver a sophisticated bilingual education model through policy instruction.
The Eastern Cape illustrates the catastrophe that can occur when a policy is not adequately supported. The province has faced persistent educational funding and infrastructure challenges. Against this background, the introduction of MTbBE requires not only political commitment but sustained investment, monitoring, and accountability. The policy's success will ultimately be measured not by policy documents or Heritage Day speeches but by whether children read with comprehension, understand mathematics and science, and leave school equipped to compete on equal terms.
Key points
- The policy's success depends on properly trained teachers and quality learning materials.
- The implementation of MTbBE is challenged by a lack of resources and infrastructure in some schools.
- The policy must be accompanied by sustained investment, monitoring, and accountability to ensure its success.
