A Day in the Life of the University of Pretoria. 12 October 1992

On this "Day in the life of the University of Pretoria" the UP Council implemented a flexible language policy.

While classes were originally presented in English at the Transvaal University College (the predecessor of UP) in 1932, it was decided that Afrikaans would become the main language of instruction at the University. Under the new policy that was implemented on 12 October 1992,  Afrikaans remained the official language of tuition at UP, but the Executive was empowered to give permission for students to be taught in English if the need arose, provided that this was justified by their numbers in a particular course or class, as well as being financially viable. Although Afrikaans was accepted as the dominant language of tuition at UP, English was gradually implemented in those faculties in which the diversity of the student population and the registration of international students had already become the norm at undergraduate level. In 1997, English was introduced as a second language of instruction and in 2007, Sepedi was also be incorporated into the institution’s branding and official communiqués.

The University of Pretoria Archives (UPA) preserves the history of the University of Pretoria. The UPA has an extensive photo collection and clipping collection. Please contact us on [email protected] to share your memories of Tukkies or to access our collection.