DA welcomes initiative to allow EC matrics to write exams in isiXhosa

22 September 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes reports that the Department of Education is piloting a programme in the Eastern Cape that allows matric learners there to complete their examinations in isiXhosa.

The DA has always supported mother tongue education. If successfully executed this should be hugely beneficial to the isiXhosa matrics in the province and bodes well for the development of all 11 official South African languages into business and sciences languages.

The benefits of mother tongue education are proven and all children in South Africa should be given this option. Mother tongue education would go a long way in eradicating the gaps that still exist in education in the country today.

We call on the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, to provide more detail of the intended programme before the Parliamentary portfolio committee on Basic Education. Should this pilot be successful, it should be implemented across all nine provinces and piloted for different grades.

Issued by Desiree van der Walt, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Basic Education, 22 September 2020