Tamil textbooks a first for SA
From left: Dr M Ponnavaikko (vice-chancellor Bharath University in Chennai), Nadas Pillay (vice president of the SATF), Kisten Chinnappen, Chitra Kala, Marie Pillay-Ramaya (President South African Tamil Federation) and P Vasantha with a school bag of the textbooks. From left: Dr M Ponnavaikko (vice-chancellor Bharath University in Chennai), Nadas Pillay (vice president of the SATF), Kisten Chinnappen, Chitra Kala, Marie Pillay-Ramaya (President South African Tamil Federation) and P Vasantha with a school bag of the textbooks.
Durban - In a first for South Africa, a set of prescribed Tamil language textbooks from Grades 1 to 12 was launched at the Merebank Tamil School Society Hall on Saturday.
The textbooks, according to the president of the South African Tamil Federation, Marie Pillay-Ramaya, will be freely available and distributed from next year to state and private schools that teach the language.
“It will be issued and returned at the end of the year - like the return policies of other textbooks issued by state schools,” said Pillay-Ramaya.
The textbooks, which are written entirely in Tamil, with no English transliteration, have the full blessing of the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga.
In a message of support, she said the effort was a great achievement.
“It is not only a great achievement but a national asset to have developed our own resources in the form of South Africa’s first Tamil textbooks from Grades 1 to 12 that are CAPS aligned.”
Motshekga added children would now have an opportunity to learn the language and gain exposure to Tamil culture and heritage.
The textbooks were made possible courtesy of Dr Mickey Chetty, president of the International Movement for Tamil Culture - South Africa, Dr M Ponnavaikko, the vice-chancellor of Bharath University, in Chennai, and the South African Tamil Federation Education Board.
Pillay-Ramaya added the books were specifically designed for South African pupils and were assessed and validated by local and international educationalists, professionals and language die-hards as well as experts from Bharath University under the guidance of Ponnavaikko.
When asked how the idea came about, Pillay-Ramaya said: “The Department of Education had asked the South African Tamil Federation for Tamil textbooks for students since their launch of Curriculum 2005 during the office of the late Professor Kader Asmal.
“Our advancements thereafter gave rise to a sequence of discussions, research and development to produce a set of standardised textbooks to be launched according to the present curriculum.
“There has never been any textbook that Tamil South African students have used to study Tamil, except for a sequence of Tamil Primers and other publications, which were used in the early years for primary education and the scripted syllabi issued by the South African Tamil Federation Education Board.”
He said while the preparation of the textbooks was a giant step in furthering the study of Tamil in the country, sound teaching, through teacher upgrades and accreditation qualifications, would be a major pre-requisite for the success of Tamil education and unlocking the riches of an ancient heritage.
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