A report drafted by representatives of San communities in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa described the educational marginalization members of this indigenous group face.
The report, the Declaration on San Indigenous Languages in Education, was released at the close of a three-day conference in Windhoek, Namibia, from August 31 to September 2.
The conference, organized by the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA), brought together speakers of the Ju languages, Juhoansi and !Xun; speakers of the Khoe languages, Naro, Khwedam, Anikhwedam, Khoekhoegowab, and Haiom; and people working with elderly speakers of the Nu language.
Conference participants concluded that the absence of San languages in schools, along with sometimes hostile environments for learning and a notable lack of parental involvement cause San children to drop out of school at an early age. The conference also recognized that the exclusion of San elders and their knowledge from formal schooling undermines San children’s ability to succeed.
Participants drew attention to specialized environmental knowledge held by San elders that could be used to promote science and other subjects at schools (anatomy, biology, botany, zoology, medicine, as well as human sciences, including the sociology of conflict management).
The WIMSA report also reveals that San parents feel disempowered because they have been excluded from the educational system. Many cannot read or write, and struggle to communicate with teachers about the discrimination their children experience.
Among other solutions, the report proposed that the San promote policy dialogues with their respective countries, take the initiative to pilot new language education programs, and build alliances with other marginalized language communities.
Members of the conference made recommendations to the governments of the region, including that the Namibian government recognize Khwedam as an official language, that the Botswanan government formally recognize the San and their languages, and that the South African government increase the implementation of San and Khoe languages in its educational system.
