THE LANGUAGE QUESTION IN NAMIBIAN SCHOOLS

Abstract

Namibia, a country in southwest Africa with only 1.5 million inhabitants, officially has thirteen languages as languages of instruction in the first grades of schooling. Three of these are European, and ten African. Of the three European languages, two are connected with the colonial history of Namibia. Namibia was colonized by the Germans from 1884 to 1914 and German is still an important business language in Namibia and the language one hears most frequently among shop-keepers in Windhoek. The South African colonization, which was supposed to be a Trusteeship, lasted until 1990. In this period Afrikaans (a variety of Dutch) became the main official language and the language of instruction from grade 4 upwards. This article deals with the period after Independence and focuses especially on the Namibian languages of African origin. The role of English, a European language without a colonial history in Namibia, and now the official language, is also discussed. How much is the furthering of this language to the detriment of the Namibian languages? The article contains a description of the Namibian languages, the language policy and the status of the languages in Namibian schools. The article builds on a larger consultancy report written by the author.