Zulu

We are proud to announce that Glenwood High School offers IsiZulu from grade 8 to Grade 12. At grade 8 level, IsiZulu is compulsory for all students. On entering Grade 10, pupils are given a choice of choosing Afrikaans or IsiZulu.

Previously we always had two classes going up from Grade 10 to Grade 12.
But since 2008 the pupils were hesitant to take IsiZulu as they were discouraged by the standard of the external matric final papers. Subsequently IsiZulu is not as popular a choice for non-mother tongue learners as before. Although we have teachers who are qualified to teach pure second language learners, we can only help them to a point. At the end of the day, the external Grade 9 and Grade 12 papers are set by people who are only catering for the needs of mother tongue learners. The expectations of the Department of Education of our Grade 10 to 12 learners are simply ridiculous. There is so much expected of them and not enough time to prepare them for that level. As of last year pupils were required to write 3 papers. Namely: Comprehension and Language, Literature and Creative Writing.

No one takes cognizance that some of our Grade 8’s have not been taught IsiZulu at all or had been poorly taught by inexperienced teachers. When they come to high school we have to start to teach them skills and knowledge which they should have already been taught. In this way our pupils are disadvantaged. The ever-challenging Common Tasks for Assessment (CTA) is another challenge which our Grade pupils face. Every year the CTA seems to be set at a level that is beyond the comprehension of most of the pupils. The time allocation does to allow us to prepare our pupils fully for the tasks. This poses a problem as we have to teach them content which we would have only taught in Grade 10. The CTA is another clear indication to pupils about the complexity and difficulty of the language.

At Senior Prize-giving there are 3 awards which are awarded. First we have the award for the pupil who gets the highest mark in IsiZulu in his matric year. Last year this was won by Ndumiso Mncube. Next we have the Bilingual Prize. This is awarded to the pupil who gets the highest combined mark in English and IsiZulu. Last year this award was won by Njabulo Mlaba. Lastly we have the Beverly Muller Excellence Award. This is awarded to the pupil who has shown consistent standards of excellence from Grade 10 to grade 12. A pupil who has shown consistent diligence, commitment and enthusiasm in the subject. Last year this award was won by Himal Ramji.

In terms of staff news, we have Mr. M Dlamini who is a teacher-in-training from John Dube High School. He is an asset to the department. He portrays great dedication, reliability and efficiency. Glenwood is happy to have him join our staff.