San Language Development for Education in Namibia: Progress and Challenges

Abstract

After Namibian independence, the government introduced an education system aimed at providing equal education to all and fostering the establishment of a nonracial society. The formulation of the language policy was one of major initiatives of the democratically elected government of Namibia after independence. The goal of this policy is to foster the language identity of the children through the use of the mother tongue as the medium of instruction during the formative years of schooling, so that they can develop the skills of reading, writing, and concept formation using their mother tongue. However, most San students have no opportunity for mother-tongue education. Although 3 languages have developed orthographies, only 1 (Ju|'hoansi) is regarded as sufficiently developed to be adequately utilized as a medium of instruction in the formal education system; the others, !Xung and Khwedam, are still in the process of being developed for educational use. This article provides a background for all 3 languages and the general issues of language and education that confront the San in Namibia, and describes current government programs designed to improve access to mother-tongue education for San communities.

Notes

¹This is according to the 1991 population census; since that time, no official statistics have been made available indicating the number of people for specific ethnic groups within Namibia.

²The standardized San orthography is based on the practical orthography of Ju|'hoansi as designed by Patrick Dickens (1994). Currently, an initiative was started by the Center for Advanced Studies of African Societies, whereby the harmonization and standardization of the orthographies of Khoe and San languages in southern Africa are looked at.

³These languages are related and mutually intelligible to a certain degree.