Glynis Cox Millett-Clay writes:
Why is the word “learner” replacing “student”, “pupil”, “scholar” or, for the young ones just starting school, “beginner”?
This, in my opinion, is not good English.
These days, the word “learner” is used all the time, even if the person left school years ago – like the story about Jackie Christians who matriculated in 2003 (16 years ago she was a student or scholar at St Dunstan’s, not a learner).
It seems that the Pied Piper has struck the newspaper pages and all follow like rats!
“It was the first time for the Grade One beginners” is better English than “The Grade One learners”.
Guys, please, keep our English language at the high standard it has always been.
Just saying.
Editor’s note: Following the fact that journalists working at Caxton Local Newspapers were all using several different ways to describe school children in reporting, a decision was made in 2016 to standardise the use of the word “learner”. National group editor Irma Green explained that the term “pupil” is not used in the South African education environment any longer and hasn’t been for years. “At the Caxton Cadet School we teach our students to use the term learner. At branch level, we were using different styles and needed to conform. Learner is the correct terminology,” she said. “Our decision was backed by the Gauteng Department of Education, which confirmed that they use ‘learner’ to refer to school children up to Grade 12.”
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