Advancing the use of African languages in education
First language learning capacity building in South African higher education institutions
BAQONDE is a collaborative project between European and South African Higher Education Institutions to facilitate and promote the use of indigenous African languages as a medium of instruction in tertiary education.
Four South African universities (North-West University, University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of the Western Cape and Rhodes University) and three European universities (Trinity College Dublin, University of Groningen and University of Salamanca) led by the latter have put together a realistic plan to create, develop and sustain an effective strategy to ensure the implementation of the recently approved Language Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in South Africa which prioritizes the development of African languages as medium of education. With this in mind, BAQONDE is a catalyst for actions that will build capacity among lecturers and students in South African tertiary education. Core initiatives of the project partners include the establishment of an inter-institutional network of African Language Development Units (ALDUs) and the progressive creation of multidisciplinary materials in African (Bantu) languages. These initiatives will be extended to other HEIs, and outreach activities at primary and secondary levels should ultimately create sector-wide synergies around African languages – capacity-building for their teaching, their intellectualisation and their embrace and use.
Our Partners
This consortium comprises the following seven universities with remarkable experience and expertise in managing bilingualism or multilingualism in academic contexts.







leading universities
South African indigenous languages
African Language Development Units (ALDUs)
High-level Project aims
Latest News
Here you will find an overview of selected current news about BAQONDE.

BAQONDE makes its appearance at CoPAL
On November 11th, 2021, the Coordinator of the BAQONDE Project, Pedro Alvarez-Mosquera, participated in CoPAL’s (Community of Practice for the Teaching & Learning of African Languages) most recent meeting, organized by USAf (Universities South Africa), the representative body of the 26 public universities in the country.

BAQONDE will feature at the upcoming North West University’s Language Awareness Week
The mandate of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Learning at the NWU includes the facilitation of cross-curricular events that affirm the values espoused by the university, as well as create opportunities to host and facilitate critical and courageous conversations about important social issues concerning language.

Rhodes University celebrates International Mother Language Day
Rhodes University, a member of BAQONDE, joined the world in celebrating the 21st anniversary of the International Mother Language Day webinar on 21 February 2021. This commemorative event, organized by African Language Studies Section…
In The Press
Keep up to date with our presence in the media
La USAL promueve el uso de las lenguas indígenas en Sudáfrica mediante el proyecto ‘Baqonde’
The University of Salamanca promotes the use of indigenous African languages in higher education in South Africa with the BAQONDE project
BAQONDE, boosting the use of African languages in education: an interview with Bassey Antia
SA universities, international institutions partner on project to preserve African languages
Universities collaborate to promote indigenous languages
Baqonde: multilingual teaching in higher education in South Africa
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Please, feel free to contact us in case you have any questions, proposals of collaboration or if you need more information.
Click below for list of contacts of project members