AfriForum condemns full implementation of English at UP
AfriForum Youth says it has received complaints from
students at the University of Pretoria (UP) concerning the implementation of
English as the only medium of teaching from this year.
As the University prepares to start with its academic programme for the year, the youth wing of the lobby group has condemned the announcement by Vice-Chancellor, Tawana Kupe, that UP classes will resume in English only.
AfriForum's Ohann Fourie says the court ruling of 2016 stated that English would be slowly phased in, allowing students who have started in Afrikaans to complete their qualifications in the language.
"That is not happening. Students are coming to AfriForum and complaining about this," says Fourie.
He adds the lobby group is currently collecting more complaints from students and plans to have a meeting to address these concerns.
"We will ask them if there is some way of accommodating these students that started in Afrikaans so that they can finish in Afrikaans."
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However, UP has dismissed these claims by AfriForum, saying students who registered before 2019 will finish their qualifications in Afrikaans - if they chose to do so.
"Only students who started this year, January 2019, will have English as a language of tuition," says UP spokesperson, Rikus Deport.
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