The DBE officially launched its Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education (MTbBE) Strategy during the International Mother Tongue Day celebrations on 21 February 2024. This milestone affirms the Department’s commitment to enhancing learning through the use of learners’ home languages, while continuing to promote bilingual proficiency.
Following the launch, the Deputy Director-General for Transformation Programmes, together with supporting DBE directorates, began provincial visits to engage and inform stakeholders about the implementation of the MTbBE Strategy. Central to this initiative is the role of the National Language Unit (NLU), which has been tasked with promoting and facilitating the use of African languages as Languages of Learning, Teaching, and Assessment (LoLTA), particularly in non-language subjects beyond Grade 3.
The DBE’s phased implementation approach begins with two critical subjects, Mathematics and Natural Sciences and Technology. The rollout will continue annually by cohort until learners reach Grade 7, spanning a five-year plan. Upon completion, the impact will be reviewed, with a view to expanding MTbBE to more subjects.
To this end, a workshop is being held at the Birchwood Hotel and OR Tambo Conference Centre from 1 to 9 July 2025. Ms Dikeledi Mathebe, Chief Education Specialist for the Test Development Unit in the National Assessment Directorate, explained that the MTbBE workshop is focused on training teachers to develop high-quality test items. The purpose of this workshop is to train teachers on setting good quality items and to guide them on interpreting difficulty levels as well as cognitive levels. By the end of the workshop, teachers will have developed quality exemplar question papers for MTbBE and year-end assessments in MTbBE in all African languages. Ms Mathebe also emphasized the importance of addressing the historic disadvantage where learners were forced to switch from African languages to English in Grade 4. Now, we are enabling learners to access African languages in subjects such as Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
In an attempt to improve learning outcomes, the 2025 implementation will include a Grade 4 National Assessment linked to the rollout of the MTbBE strategy. This will promote learners responding to end of the year examinations using the MTbBE translanguaging approach.
To support the strategy, provinces nominated qualified candidates for appointments as chief examiners, examiners, and moderators. These experts will serve four-year terms and play a key role in developing and quality-assuring assessment materials.
Dr Mark Chetty, Director for National Assessments, stated that the Department will launch its first MTbBE national assessment in 2025, starting with Mathematics and Natural Sciences and Technology. These assessments, developed by experts from across the country, aim to help learners showcase their skills and understanding in their home languages. He further indicated that the MTbBE Strategy represents a transformative step toward equitable, inclusive, and effective education that recognizes and values the linguistic diversity of South African learners.