Fifty years after the Soweto uprising, South Africa's sudden Grade 4 shift to English instruction creates an academic cliff, proving mother-tongue education remains vital for mathematical comprehension.

On a bitterly cold morning on 16 June 1976, schoolchildren in Soweto took to the streets. Not simply against apartheid, but against an education system that imposed Afrikaans as the language of instruction, erasing the linguistic heritage of millions of South African children, in the service of white minority rule.

The placards they carried said it all: "Away with Afrikaans". "We are being certified but not educated". And my favourite, "If we must do Afrikaans, Vorster must do Zulu".

The schoolchildren of 1976 understood something we are still grappling with today: language and learning are inseparable. Fifty years later, we are still failing too many children through the medium of language, not through prejudiced legislation, but through weak policy implementation and a belief that English should be introduced as early as possible to children who speak it as a second language.

Is this what the class of 1976 stood and died for?

The cliff at Grade 4

South African policy rightly promotes mother-tongue learning in the Foundation Phase. In practice, many learners experience a dramatic shift at Grade 4 when English becomes the primary language of learning and teaching. For millions of children, this is not a language...