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Mother tongue irrelevant

Why is the Minister of Education Naledi Pandor so adamant that black kids should learn their mother tongue when they will be growing up with and meeting people from across Africa?

Why is the Minister of Education Naledi Pandor so adamant that black kids should learn their mother tongue when they will be growing up with and meeting people from across Africa?

The best Pandor could do was to at least allow our kids to be taught French, Portuguese, as well as other African languages such as Shona, Kiswahili, etc. These are the languages they will need if the mission of the African Union is to create a united Africa.

For my son to learn isiZulu to perfection will not make him fluent in that language but he will struggle with Afrikaans, English and other languages.

Pandor herself never learnt an African language because she comes from exile, where she studied in English and now she thinks she knows what is right for "our people".

The same thing happened with Kader Asmal. It was under him that Yizo Yizo was granted the status of an educational drama. Today our black kids are acting out exactly what that drama showed - rapes, drugs, teenage pregnancies and hijackings. The Prof found it educational enough for the SABC to flight it during family time. He too knew what "our people needed".

David Lucas, Rosebank

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