#GelykeKanse-persverklaring: Fondsinsameling vir Afrikaans | LitNet
Die jaar 2016 kan Afrikaans se noodlotjaar word as daar nie dringende en doelgerigte aksie kom om die aanslae teen Afrikaans as onderrigtaal aan universiteite die hoof te bied nie.
Hoewel 'n paar universiteite in Suid-Afrika voorheen Afrikaans as voertaal gebruik het, het die een na die ander die afgelope ruk verengels. Onlangs het die Universiteit Stellenbosch ‘n beleid aanvaar wat Afrikaans en Afrikaanse studente as minderwaardig behandel en Engels tot die oorheersende doseertaal en administratiewe taal verhef.
Jannie van der Westhuizen, Rektor van Paul Roos Gimnasium, het uit die US Raad bedank omdat die beleid gelyke status vir Afrikaans en Engels kategories verwerp en selfs nie eens die huidige aanbod van Afrikaans wil waarborg nie.
Die uitfasering van Afrikaans gebeur ondanks die feit dat daar reeds in die Wes-Kaap – die bakermat van Afrikaans, met 'n meerderheid Afrikaanssprekendes – drie ander Engelse universiteite bestaan.
Die skade wat die US se taalbeleid na verwagting aan Afrikaanse skole gaan doen, kan vernietigend wees. Daar sal toenemend 'n aandrang wees dat Afrikaans reeds op hoërskoolvlak deur Engels as voertaal vervang moet word aangesien die US nie meer 'n volle Afrikaanse aanbod maak nie.
Daar is al oor en oral bewys dat die beste skoling moedertaal-onderrig is. Opvoeding in die moedertaal anker die kind in sy gemeenskap, en bied hom of haar 'n vertroude wegspringplek in die proses van volwassewording. Moedertaal staan dus sentraal in gemeenskapsontwikkeling. Dit beteken nie dat kennis van ander tale waardeloos is nie; net dat moedertaal van kardinale belang is.
Moedertaal-onderwys verg moedertaal-vaardige onderwysers. Hierdie vaardigheid ontwikkel hulle in hul opleiding by ons universiteite en kolleges. Hierdie argument is net so geldig vir talle ander beroepe, soos die opleiding van medici, wat hul pasiënte moet verstaan, regsgeleerdes in hul praktyk en in die howe, handelaars in sakeondernemings en so meer.
As verengelsing voortduur, sal ons skole nie meer in-moedertaal-opgeleide onderwysers kry en sal die studerende jeug nie meer in hul moedertaal onderrig kan word nie. ‘n Effektiewe mono-kultuur sal die samelewing verswak en laat agteruitgaan. Die meerderheid moedertaal-sprekers in Suid-Afrika - mense wat ander tale as Engels gebruik - sal op hierdie manier afgedruk word in 'n situasie van tweedeklas burgerskap. 'n Baanbrekerstudie van Unesco oor moedertaal-onderrig in Afrika het juis bevind dat die gebruik van die voormalige koloniale tale slegs die elite baat en die oorgrote deel van Afrika se bevolkings benadeel. Dit is een van die vernaamste oorsake wat ontwikkeling in Afrika strem.
Ons het ‘n kragtige saak vir moedertaalonderwys, gerugsteun deur talle deskundige voorleggings.
In die geval van die US, wat selfs sy stigtingsvoorwaardes verwerp, is dit gebiedend dat sy nuwe taalbeleid deur die howe ongeldig verklaar moet word. Om hierdie rede het ons die beweging GelykeKanse gestig, waarvan die lede pas ‘n grondwet aanvaar het.
Ons eerste mikpunt is om R1 miljoen in te samel om deur middel van 'n hofuitspraak die US te dwing om gelyke behandeling aan Afrikaans en Engels as voertaal en kommunikasietaal te gee. Ons werf ook fondse vir die groter taak om die opleiding te verseker van onderwysers wat doeltreffend in Afrikaans-medium kan skoolhou en om behoeftige kinders te help wat in Afrikaans verder wil studeer.
Hiervoor het ons jou steun nodig sowel as die steun van honderde oud-Maties asook alle ander goedgesindes vir ons fondsinsameling, ‘n veldtog wat landwyd en internasionaal gevoer word. Dit geskied onder die vleuels van GivenGain, met sy Suid-Afrikaanse hoofkantoor op Stellenbosch, wat vir die doel die Stellenbosch-Antwerpen Trust gestig het.
Daar is drie groepe van skenkers:
KLINKERS - ‘n Klub van Honderd, wat reeds begin het om elkeen R10 000 by te dra. Hoekom KLINKERS? Omdat A,E,I,O,U staan vir: Afrikaans, Erfenis, Inklusief, Omgeetaal, Uniek.
KONSONANTE - ‘n Groep van Tienduisend, wat R1 000 elk of R100 per maand vir ’n jaar bydra.
STAATMAKERS - skenkings van R250 of R500 of eie keuses.
Alle bydraes is welkom vir hierdie besondere verdienstelike saak. Enige persoon kan ook onder die drie kategorieë “anoniem” skenk. Die bankbesonderhede is:
Naam: Stb Antwerpen Trust
Donateurs kan ook vinnig en maklik hul skenkings aanlyn opstel op die bankveilige GivenGain-donasieblad, vanuit hul SA bankrekening of kredietkaart.
Loodskomitee: Willa Boezak, Danie Marais, Abraham H de Vries, Abraham Phillips, Ebbe Dommisse, Hermann Gilliomee, Rhoda Kadalie, Danie Rossouw, Philip Spies.*
*Onder die bekendes wat GelykeKanse se beswaarskrif onderteken het, tel Nobelpryswenner J M Coetzee, Breyten Breytenbach, oud-pres F W de Klerk, premier Helen Zille, lord Robin Renwick, Flip Smit, Dele Olojede, regter Fritz Brand, Sonja Loots, John Miles, Ampie Coetzee, Tony Leon, Emo Adams, Sarina, Tan Twan Eng, Dominique Enthoven, Theuns Eloff, R W Johnson, Rolanda Marais, Anton Goosen, Brendan Peyper, Dave Pepler, Marié Heese, John Cartwright, Sarah Theron, Albert Maritz, Dorothea van Zyl, Dan Sleigh, Deon Geldenhuys, Dine van Zyl, Francis Galloway, Frans Marx, Clive Keegan, Laurinda Hofmeyr, Danie van Wyk, David Welsh, Herman Binge, John Kane-Berman, Eloïse Wessels, Paul Colditz, Douglas Gibson, Dave Dalling, Theo du Plessis, Tertius Kapp, Elsa Joubert, Charles J Fourie, Pieter Louw. (Sien lys van meer as 4 000 name by http://gelykekanse.com/.)
Fundraising for Afrikaans
The year 2016 will be seen as a fateful period for Afrikaans, if there is no urgent and purposeful action to confront the onslaught against Afrikaans as teaching language at universities.
Although a few universities in South Africa previously used Afrikaans as medium of instruction, one after the other has become anglicised of late. Recently Stellenbosch University accepted a policy which treats Afrikaans and Afrikaans students as inferior, thereby elevating English to the dominant language for lecturing and administration.
Mr Jannie van der Westhuizen, Rector of Paul Roos Gymnasium, resigned from the SU Council because the policy of equal status for Afrikaans and English had been categorically rejected, and not even the current offering of Afrikaans was guaranteed.
The phasing out of Afrikaans is occurring despite that fact that there are already three other English universities in the Western Cape - the cradle of Afrikaans, where Afrikaans speakers make up the majority.
The damage the SU language policy is expected to inflict on Afrikaans schools could be devastating. There will be an increased insistence that Afrikaans should be replaced by English as language of instruction at high school level, as SU will nog longer have a full Afrikaans offering.
It has been repeatedly proven that the best schooling is through mother-tongue instruction. Education in the mother tongue anchors the child in his community, and offers him, or her, a familiar springboard in the process of becoming an adult. Mother-tongue instruction is thus central to community development. This does not mean that knowledge of other languages has no value; only that the mother tongue is of cardinal importance.
Mother-tongue education requires teachers who are skilled in the mother tongue. These skills are developed during training at our universities and colleges. This argument is just as valid for all other professions, such as the training of medical doctors who must comprehend their patients, legal practitioners in their practices and in the courts, traders in their businesses, and so on.
If Anglicisation continues, our school will no longer have teachers trained in their mother tongue, and students will no longer be instructed in their mother tongue. An effective mono-culture will weaken society and lead to its deterioration. The majority of mother-tongue speakers in South Africa – people using languages other than English – will in this way be oppressed to a level of second class citizenship. A pioneering study by Unesco, on mother-tongue education in Africa, has in fact found that the use of former colonial languages had only benefited the elite, while by far the great bulk of Africa’s population had been disadvantaged. This is one of the most important reasons why development in Africa is severely constrained.
We have a strong case for mother-tongue education, supported by many expert submissions.
In the case of SU, which has even rejected its own founding conditions, it is imperative that its new language policy be declared invalid by the courts. For this reason we have founded the movement GelykeKanse (EqualOpportunities), whose members recently approved its constitution.
Our first aim is to collect R1 million to force SU by means of a court verdict to treat Afrikaans and English equitably as instruction media and communication languages. We are also raising funds for the greater task of ensuring training for teachers who can teach effectively through the medium of Afrikaans and to help needy children who wish to study further in Afrikaans.
For this we require your support as well as the support of hundreds of Matie Alumni and other supporters for our fundraising, a campaign which will be waged nationally and internationally. It is taking place under the auspices of Givengain, with its South African head office in Stellenbosch, founded for this purpose by the Stellenbosch-Antwerpen Trust.
There are three groups of donors:
KLINKERS (VOWELS) – a Club of One Hundred, who donate R10 ,000 each. Why VOWELS? Because A, E, I, O, U stand for Afrikaans, Erfenis (Heritage), Inclusive, Omgeetaal (Caring Language), Unique.
KONSONANTE (CONSONANTS) – a Group of Ten Thousand, who each contribute R1,000 or R100 per month for a year.
STAATMAKERS (STALWARTS) – donations of R250 or R500 or own choice.
All contributions are welcome for this very deserving cause. Anyone can also donate “anonymously” in any of the three categories. The banking details are:
Name: Stb Antwerpen Trust
Cheque account: 40-7258-3303
Steering committee: Willa Boezak, Danie Marais, Abraham H de Vries, Abraham Phillips, Ebbe Dommisse, Hermann Gilliomee, Rhoda Kadalie, Danie Rossouw, Philip Spies.*
*Among the celebrities who have signed the petition by GelykeKanse are Nobel Prize winner J M Coetzee, Breyten Breytenbach, former president F W de Klerk, premier Helen Zille, Lord Robin Renwick, Flip Smit, Dele Olojede, Justice Fritz Brand, Sonja Loots, John Miles, Ampie Coetzee, Tony Leon, Eno Adams, Sarina, Tan Twan Eng, Dominique Enthoven, Theuns Eloff, R W Johnson, Rolanda Marais, Anton Goosen, Brendan Peyper, Dave Pepler, Marié Heese, John Cartwright, Sarah Theron, Albert Maritz, Dorothea van Zyl, Dan Sleigh, Deon Geldenhuys, Dine van Zyl, Francis Galloway, Frans Marx, Clive Keegan, Laurinda Hofmeyr, Danie van Wyk, David Welsh, Herman Binge, John Kane-Berman, Eloïse Wessels, Paul Colditz, Douglas Gibson, Dave Dalling, Theo du Plessis, Tertius Kapp, Elsa Joubert, Charles J Fourie, Pieter Louw.
2016-10-20 at 11:02
Sal ook graag Johan Rupert en Christo Wiese se name hier wil sien.