NATIONAL NEWS - Afrikaans as a language of instruction in Gauteng is getting put under more pressure following a government decision to exclude a choice of language from the new school online application system.

Well over 100 000 applications were lodged online yesterday.

The deputy chief executive of the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas), Jaco Deacon, said Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi was “pouring petrol on a flammable situation” and contributing to creating chaos among schools in the province.

“This is educationally irresponsible and will create expectations that cannot be met. It is also going to create problems for schools and parents with the incremental introduction of African languages in schools next year, as it is important for schools to know which additional African language they are going to teach,” Deacon told The Citizen.

Figures released last month by the Gauteng department of education showed that it had converted 119 schools that were either Afrikaans-medium or dual-medium to English-medium. Many of these schools were in coloured areas around the province, where Afrikaans is a dominant language and culture.

Earlier this year, the department lost a court challenge after it attempted to force an Afrikaans-medium school – Hoërskool Overvaal in Vereeniging – to accept 55 English-speaking pupils even though the school said it did not have the facilities to accommodate them.

Deacon said Lesufi is a politician and his mandate is to change every single school into an English-medium one.

Read more on the Caxton publication, The Citizen.