Three of the many Afrikaans language books on the shelves at the primary school.
Stacks and stacks of Afrikaans textbooks culled from the textbook library.
The Afrikaners and the British make up most of the white population in South Africa. Afrikaans, the language spoken by the Afrikaners, was largely the language of instruction in schools (in theory) until 4-5 years ago. It was also the required first-additional language required in all schools, including rural schools, until recently. One’s native language (e.g., Zulu, Sepedi, Setswana, etc.) is referred to as the home-language.
English is now the “official” language throughout the country, per the Dept of Education. Classes in grades 4 and higher are being instructed in English (again, in theory). District and national exams are printed in English, as are textbooks and most correspondence. Beginning this year, English is being more formally introduced into the lower grades.
The Afrikaan language books are obsolete unless Afrikaans is the home language of a certain percent of the learners … not very common in most rural villages where the population is generally all black.
In the primary school where I work, the old Afrikaan language books take up a lot of shelf space and are gathering a lot of dust. John and I spent a day pulling these books from the shelves in hopes of convincing the principal to toss them. The odds are that she will want to keep them for reasons I will never understand. There are many other readers and textbooks being saved which are ancient and which were dropped from the curriculum years ago. A large shed has been constructed for storing these old and unused books. I think a big bonfire next winter when it gets really cold would at least put some of these old materials to better use.
We also have a lot of old books just piled wherever and getting eatten by bugs – ruined. I suggested keeping a few for the, hopefully, future library and giving the rest to the kids who have no books @ home. The kids are who the books are meant to benefit. Who knows some kids may want to learn Afrikaans. My host niece does.
Was told the DOE knows they have those books and they must be at the school in case the DOE comes to check. Doing anything with them would get them in some sort of trouble with the DOE they feel. Maybe we could ask the DOE if their is a time limit on how long they have to keep the books. And ask if it would be allowed to give away older ones not being used in class.
I have been told that schools can get rid of books after a certain period of time, although I think the school officials are not willing to take a chance. Giving the books away is, indeed, a much better option than a bonfire (although I might think differently when the temps are in the 30s and 20s next July!).