In this investigation of education, conducted in South West Africa/Namibia, it was found that the medium of instruction was one of the basic causes of the teaching and educational problems experienced at schools. In South West Africa/Namibia, several languages, including English and Afrikaans as official languages, are involved in the medium-of-instruction issue and children are exposed to several languages in the first few years of school. Other findings include these: (1) the child's native language appears to be the appropriate medium of instruction during the first 3 to 5 years; (2) the changeover to a foreign language as the medium of instruction should occur over a period of time and according to academic subject; and (3) when deciding on a policy regarding the medium of instruction, several factors should be determined, including which language makes communication in the occupational world possible, the foreign language used most in a specific region, and the foreign language that is understood and spoken best by people in a specific region. (MSE)