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Programmes » MTbBE

Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education (MTbBE)

The DBE, through its Transformation Programme Branch, has put together a Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education (MTbBE) programme to transform the landscape of education from the General Education and Training (GET) to the Further Education and Training (FET) bands. The MTbBE programme will, in 2025, extend mother tongue instruction beyond Grade 3 into Grade 4.

What is MTbBE?

MTbBE focuses on language use, decoloniality and translanguaging perspectives using the Home Language of learners as resources. It’s an overarching framework that English and Afrikaans learners use from ECD to Higher Education, giving them an advantage over African language learners.  MTbBE is an equalizer for all children in the system. 

It is not a focus on one language; it is an intentional focus on using the language resources that children bring from home to school as a basis to learn, while learning other languages. This is the distinct difference between Mother Tongue Education and Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education. The aim is bilingualism. Mother Tongue education is not a silver bullet, it is not a magic nor automatic. For MTbBE to succeed, it needs deliberate, conscious and consistent support.

Why MTbBE?

The discontinuation of Mother Tongue Education for African language learners transitioning to English in Grades 4 for Quintile 1-3 schools is early and is NOT supported by local and international research. What has become obvious in the South African assessment data is that when achievement of children who learn and are assessed in their home language (mostly speakers of English and Afrikaans) is compared with those who have to learn and be assessed in a second language (usually English for 78% of learners) there is a significant gap in achievement. This is manifested post-Foundation Phase, with the change in the Language of Teaching and Learning in Grade 4. The gap is between 32% for African language speakers and 69% for speakers of English and Afrikaans. What this means is that for the majority of African students, they are so far behind by Grade 6 that it is unlikely that they will catch up with the speakers of English and Afrikaans. They are the most vulnerable in terms of future employment, health and poverty. This group will always be stuck in the cycle of the triple burden of inequality, poverty and unemployment.

How will the MTbBE be implemented?

The MTbBE rollout is about extending the ‘use’ of African official language(s) as Languages of Teaching, Learning and Assessment (LOLTA) beyond Gr 3. The DBE will roll out a Late-Exit Model starting with Grades 4 in 2025 incrementally adding an extra grade each year for the duration of primary schooling. The two subjects targeted will be Mathematics, and Natural Science and Technology for the first phase.  

National Office
Address: 222 Struben Street, Pretoria
Call Centre: 0800 202 933 | callcentre@dbe.gov.za
Switchboard: 012 357 3000

Certification
certification@dbe.gov.za
012 357 4511/3

Government Departments
Provincial Departments of Education
Government Services

 

National Office
Address: 222 Struben Street, Pretoria
Call Centre: 0800 202 933 | callcentre@dbe.gov.za
Switchboard: 012 357 3000

Certification
certification@dbe.gov.za
012 357 4511/3

Government Departments
Provincial Departments of Education
Government Services

 

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