Higher Education Sector Support (HESSP)

Background and Rationale | Capacity Building & Support | Connecting people, projects and possibilities | Funding Opportunity | Resources | Partners | Contact us

Background and Rationale

The South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) is intensifying its efforts to support the higher education sector in advancing the implementation of the Language Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions. Following the successful completion of the national language resources audit in 2023, SADiLaR has introduced a comprehensive Higher Education Support Programme (HESSP) aimed at building capacity, enhancing project execution, and fostering resource and infrastructure development across South African universities.

The HESSP is a targeted, national intervention designed by SADiLaR to directly address the most pressing challenges identified in the 2023 National Language Resources Audit. This programme addresses sector-wide gaps in human capacity, institutional infrastructure, and linguistic expertise that hinder the sustainable implementation of the Language Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions—a cornerstone of South Africa’s commitment to equitable access, epistemic justice, and academic success. At its core, the HESSP is a collaborative capacity-building initiative designed to equip universities with the knowledge, tools, and shared digital resources necessary to manage multilingualism effectively.

The design of SADiLaR’s Higher Education Sector Support Programme (HESSP) is directly informed by the eight most urgent challenges identified in the 2023 National Language Resources Audit. These areas represent sector-wide priorities essential for the successful implementation of the LanguagePolicy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions.

The HESSP is structured to respond to 8 strategic areas:

Expertise and support in language planning and management
Monitoring and reporting on language policy implementation
Co-ownership and co-responsibility through collaboration and shared funding
Academic language development and literacy
Training in multilingual pedagogies
Terminology development and dissemination
Addressing the hegemony of English in academic contexts
Improving the conversational-level language proficiency of university staff

While these eight urgent matters require a collective sectoral response, several fall squarely within SADiLaR’s national mandate and areas of expertise. In response, SADiLaR has aligned its Higher Education Sector Support Programme with three key strategic objectives – each designed to directly address the areas where we can make the most impact in terms of human capacity development, academic language development in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), and terminology development and dissemination. The full HESSP programme outline is available here.

Capacity Building & Support

The HESSP is SADiLaR’s strategic initiative dedicated to advancing multilingualism across South African higher education institutions. HESSP supports universities in recognising, strengthening, and integrating South Africa’s rich linguistic diversity into academic life—across teaching, learning, research, and institutional policy.

At the heart of the HESSP programme is a commitment to capacity development, with a particular focus on language planning and management within universities. Through tailored workshops and training opportunities, HESSP equips language practitioners, academics, and institutional leaders with the skills and knowledge needed to develop, implement, and sustain effective multilingual policies and practices.

These offerings are grounded in the eight focus areas identified in the 2023 national language resources audit, which provide a framework for advancing multilingualism, developing language resources, and promoting linguistic inclusivity in higher education.

HESSP workshops are customisable to meet the specific needs and goals of individual institutions and communities. In addition to support on language planning and management, academic language development, and terminology development, training may include aspects such as the creation and use of digital language resources, strategies for multilingual teaching and assessment, and approaches to embedding African languages in academic contexts.

All workshops are delivered in line with the SADiLaR Workshop Code of Conduct, ensuring an inclusive, respectful, and collaborative environment for learning and exchange.

Institutions interested in exploring how HESSP can support their multilingualism and language planning goals are encouraged to get in touch: tobie.vandyk@nwu.ac.za

Connecting people, projects and possibilities

As a national research infrastructure, SADiLaR’s plays a catalytic role in advancing collaboration and innovation in the fields of language development, advancing multilingualism, and digital humanities.

HESSP supports institutions, researchers, and language practitioners by helping them navigate opportunities for collaborative research, strategic partnerships, and funding access. Our team connects stakeholders with the right expertise, digital infrastructure, and national networks to co-create sustainable, high-impact projects aligned with national priorities.

Whether you’re planning multilingualism initiatives, developing digital language resources, or seeking to strengthen your institution’s role in the digital research landscape, SADiLaR provides tailored guidance and access to collaborative platforms.

By building and fostering interdisciplinary networks, SADiLaR empowers communities to share resources, exchange knowledge, and develop solutions that are both locally grounded and internationally relevant.

Institutions interested in exploring how HESSP can support their multilingualism and language planning goals are encouraged to get in touch with hessp@sadilar.org

Funding Opportunity

Through the Higher Education Sector Support Programme (HESSP), SADiLaR offers funding and collaboration opportunities designed to support language planning and management, and to advance multilingualism in South African universities. This support extends across both digital and traditional practices, recognising the importance of integrating African languages into academic life in meaningful and sustainable ways.

HESSP provides access to financial assistance, strategic partnerships, and training opportunities tailored to the needs of higher education institutions. Whether developing institutional language policies, creating multilingual teaching resources, or building digital language infrastructure, the programme helps universities align their efforts with national priorities in language development and inclusive education.

In collaboration with initiatives such as ESCALATOR, HESSP also supports capacity building for researchers, language practitioners, and academic staff working at the intersection of language, digital humanities, and higher education transformation. For more on funding and sponsorship opportunities, visit our Sponsorship and Evaluation Process Guideline.

Resources

Terminologies/ Glossaries

UP-CText-NWU-Department of Arts and Culture: Multilingual word lists and glossaries exist for hundreds of subject disciplines. The most recent is a multilingual academic word list. To access this wordlist and other resources, please visit the SADiLaR Repository: https://repo.sadilar.org

UP-UCT (Department of Higher Education): Multilingual glossaries for 16 subject fields plus an Academic Word List. This wordlist is available here: http://oertb.tlterm.com/

LwimiLinks: SADiLaR’s platform for multilingual terminology and other useful language resources. Institutions are invited to contact SADiLaR with relevant term lists and projects for the benefit of the language communities in need of technical terminology. https://lwimilinks.sadilar.org/

Language Planning and Management

Language Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions – This is the policy instrument that the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation gazetted in October 2020, to provide a framework for the development and strengthening of indigenous languages as languages of scholarship, teaching, and learning, and communication at South Africa’s public higher education institutions.

USAf National Language Resources Audit 2023 – This report documents the findings of a comprehensive language resources audit conducted by the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) as supported by the Board of Universities South Africa (USAf) and the Community of Practice for the teaching and learning of African Languages (CoPAL), a sub-committee of USAf.

Academic Language developments

Write It: An educational video series by ICELDA that teaches academic writing skills. The series includes handouts and online tasks and is available in all South African official languages and Sign Language to support students who may lack access to writing resources. Students can access and watch these videos here.

Over the last 20 years, ICELDA has developed and designed solutions for apparently intractable language problems for universities, universities of technology, and private education institutions. ICELDA offers language development services, including the design of language courses and resources for specific purposes

AI Workshops / Tools

Research Publications

SADiLaR has Digital Humanities researchers with expertise in most of the official languages of South Africa. The team aims to support research and development in the domains of language technologies and language-related studies, and beyond in the humanities and social sciences. https://sadilar.org/en/our-research/

Partners

SADiLaR operates within a national ecosystem of collaboration, recognising that no single entity can transform the linguistic landscape alone. These foundational partnerships enable us to amplify resources and drive systemic change in working towards a higher education system where language is not a barrier, but serves as a bridge to opportunity, identity, andexcellence. HESPP works in partnership with:

DSTI (science, technology and innovation leadership)
DHET (advancing multilingualism, capacity development, language planning and management)
DBE (language learning and progression across the education pipeline)
DSAC (language and cultural heritage)
PanSALB (language rights, recognition and advocacy)
USAf, particularly through CoPAL (university sector coordination and implementation)
All public universities (our primary institutional partners)
The private sector (technology development, research, and innovation partners)