AfriForum, as well as concerned parents of the pupils of Ermelo High School, have launched an extensive joint campaign of protest to demand from Government that this school has to remain Afrikaans; that the suspension of the school's principal, Mr Koos Kruger, has to be revoked; and that Government must negotiate in good faith with the school's governing body in order to find solutions for this dispute.
This follows after 80% of the parents who had participated in a SMS survey organised by AfriForum last week, indicated that protest action has to take place.
As part of the campaign, a petition form has already been published on the web site www.afriforum.co.za, by means of which members of the general public are able to express their disappointment at the education authorities' "disregard for Afrikaans".
People from all over South Africa can become involved by signing the petition electronically, or downloading and signing it physically. The campaign will also focus on collecting funds towards the costs of the school's court case against the State, set to take place in the Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein. A cell phone function has already been created by means of which the public can donate R10 towards the school's legal expenses by sending the word ERMELO by SMS to 38655.
A protest march is also being considered as part of the campaign. A final decision in this regard will be taken as soon as the result of the disciplinary hearing of the principal of Ermelo High School is known. Kruger's hearing will take place this coming Wednesday (30 January) at the offices of the Department of Education of Mpumalanga in Ermelo.
According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, this campaign has been born as a result of the parents' dissatisfaction with the fact that the education authorities have "reduced their children to political pawns".
AfriForum's opinion that the education authorities are specifically targeting Afrikaans schools, according to Kriel is substantiated by the fact that nationally not one example can be found of the Minister or education authorities stepping in to change the language policy of a single-medium English secondary school.
Kriel emphasised that AfriForum and the parents of Ermelo High School's pupils have the greatest possible sympathy with the masses of children in the country who do not have access to good education. "The argument about access has however been abused as a handy excuse only in
order to strip Ermelo High School of its status as Afrikaans school, as sufficient facilities exist in the school's vicinity to accommodate learners who prefer English as medium of education," Kriel said.
According to Kriel, the authorities have created an artificial demand for English education in order to promote an anti-Afrikaans agenda.
Kriel mentioned that numerous examples can be found which prove that the transition to a double-medium system is the first step towards a single-medium English institution, especially in view of the demographic realities of South Africa. The fact that a mere 19 of the 150 graduate courses of the University of Pretoria are still available in Afrikaans, according to Kriel is a striking example in this regard.
"The demand for single-medium Afrikaans institutions therefore cannot be reduced to an effort to keep speakers of other languages out of schools at all," Kriel stated.
Statement issued by Solidarity and Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, January 29 2008, www.afriforum.co.za
