Parents outraged as school insists on teaching kids isiNdebele

A concerned parent is demanding answers from the Mpumalanga education department after his child came home with a different home language textbook.

The concerned parent from Delmas spoke to The Citizen about his unhappiness over the sudden change in home languages from Rietkol Primary School.

“Last week, my son in Grade three came home with an isiNdebele textbook, although he has been doing isiZulu as his home language since Grade one,” the man, who didn’t want to be named, said.

The school called for a meeting in the same week after it received complaints about the sudden change in languages.

“We were told the change in home languages was due to the isiZulu teacher no longer being at the school as she retired last term,” he said.

“They said it would not be possible for Grade three pupils to finish off the year learning isiZulu because it would be phased out and isiNdebele would be mandatory from next year.”

The parent claimed the school told him the decision of changing home languages was influenced by the chieftaincy in the area.

“As a parent, I would have appreciated to be called and notified about the decision of the language change and not have the decision imposed on my child,” he said.

“Such a decision will affect his academics as he has no background in the language and will affect me as well when I help him with homework because I am not familiar with the language.”

The parent said the school continued to teach isiNdebele despite the grievances and concerns from parents.

Head of communications in the Mpumalanga education department Jasper Zwane said the department had reached out to the school and awaited a response.

“We have requested a report from the school. We would be in a position to respond appropriately upon receipt of the report,” Zwane said.