Exclusion of Sesotho Language Teaching in Eastern Cape Universities: A Need for Curriculum Restructuring in Initial Teacher Education

This article provides a critical overview of the linguistic neglect of the Southern Sesotho language and investigates the reasons for the exclusion of the Sesotho language in the Eastern Cape universities Faculty of Education programmes, which has resulted in a linguistically discriminatory curriculum. Eastern Cape universities do not cater to Sesotho in their curriculum, which is a cause for concern that seeks curriculum restructuring by Higher Education Institutions in the province. The Eastern Cape Department of Education comprises Sesotho learners in their system, but the Sesotho language is not offered in the universities in this province. This marginalizes the Sesotho language and its people in the province to a larger extent. Qualitative document analysis and interviews were used to review the curriculum of the four universities in the province. Interviews were conducted with four Executive Deans from the four universities in the province. The language policies of the four universities were analyzed. The results of this study revealed that Sesotho, as a previously marginalized language, is still marginalized even to date in Eastern Cape universities. The university curriculum must be restructured to accommodate all students.