AfriForum Youth celebrates 90th anniversary of Afrikaans as an official language
AfriForum Youth celebrated the 90th anniversary of Afrikaans as an official language on seven university campuses by launching green balloons up in the air. Each campus simultaneously released 90 balloons to commemorate 8 May 1925, the date on Parlement declared Afrikaans an official language of South Africa.
“We are happy to see students from Tuks, Maties, Pukke, Kovsies and the Grootfontein Agricultural College celebrating this historical milestone with us. Afrikaans students feel strongly about their language and we will continue to fight to keep mother tongue education in schools and universities in South Africa,” says Monique Du Randt, spokesperson for AfriForum Youth.
Afrikaans as a language of education is increasingly under threat. It has become the norm at various universities that courses are offered exclusively in English despite the big demand from Afrikaans students to study in their mother tongue. AfriForum Youth wants to encourage universities, as well as publishers of academic books and guides, to continue lecturing and publishing in Afrikaans so that the language can expand and keep on developing.
Du Randt says the Youth is proud of Afrikaans which has fully developed into a world class language over the years. Afrikaans is one of four languages that developed successfully in all language functions in the previous century.
