Date: 17/02/2003
Source: Ministry of Education
Title: Asmal: Debate on State of the Nation Address, NA
SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION, PROFESSOR KADER ASMAL, MP, ON THE OCCASION OF THE STATE OF THE NATION DEBATE, House of Assembly - Parliament, Cape Town, 17 February 2003
Madam Speaker
Those who are destined to remain permanently in opposition in this House will do so because they are not able or prepared to recognise the difficulty, the challenges and complexities concerning governance. They simplify, where they ought to recognise the magnitude of the task before us. They want instant solutions. They beat a drum - BOOM, BOOM, and expect immediate results. They oppose, where they ought, in the public good, to work together to deal with the enormity of the challenges we face.
The Leader of the Opposition is reported as having said over the weekend that the President "slighted into insignificance" the issue of HIV/AIDS. In his speech the President indicated that we would continue implementing the government's comprehensive strategy on HIV/AIDS. If Mr Leon still does not know about that strategy - which I find difficult to believe, even for Mr Leon - I will happily give him the government web site details where he can read up on government policy and whilst he is doing so he should look at how often the Government, the Cabinet, Ministers and the provinces have dealt with the issue over the last year. Hundreds, if not thousands, of times.
And they seek to politicise matters that go to the heart of our existence, such as HIV/AIDS, as they succumb to the temptation to hijack the legitimate sense of anxiety, concern and impatience that millions of South Africans feel in the face of this terrible tragedy.
The President also indicated that we will continue with implementing the decisions of the Constitutional Court. We will implement the Court's decision, not begrudgingly nor defensively - not simply because we have to - but because we are committed to fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic to the fullest that our resources will allow.
For the record, let me reiterate that Government has dealt with its position in April last year in which it unequivocally accepted the causal link between HIV and AIDS and that promoting awareness and life skills and HIV/AIDS education forms the core of our approach. Government has also committed itself to a treatment regime, which will be progressively realised within available resources especially in relation to the mother to child transmission of HIV.
Our view on antiretroviral treatments was made clear in a Cabinet statement last October. Government remains committed to creating conditions that would make it feasible and effective to use antiretroviral in the public health sector. It therefore continues to work for the lowering of the cost of these drugs, to intensify the campaign to ensure that patients observe treatment advice given to them by doctors and to strengthen the health system. There have been discussions between the Treasury and the Health Department on the issue and we should hear further on the matter in the near future.
But we cannot make commitments that we can't keep - in this respect we have a constitutional responsibility to the people of this country to ensure that we do not create expectations around such crucial issues unless we are sure that we can fulfil these expectations. For our part, as government, we must certainly act with vigour and commitment in the face of the HIV/AIDS challenge, but we must also act with responsibility. It is for this reason, and no other, that we have not been able to sign-off yet on a comprehensive and extensive treatment agreement at Nedlac - not because we are dragging our heels, but because we must approach such agreements seriously and responsibly. If we are to commit ourselves to something, we must be sure that we can deliver.
Government's poverty alleviation programmes and nutritional interventions are also essential parts of the fight against HIV/AIDS, including in education where the Government has agreed that funding for the School Nutrition Scheme must be increased to benefit all children in primary school, a programme that will be run from within the education departments from 2004.
Likewise clean water supply; decent housing, assisting in the creation of employment and access to social infrastructure and education all decrease the vulnerability of individuals and communities to infections and ill-health.
In this respect the Minister of Social Development has announced two important additional initiatives, first, the development of a uniform policy and standard of service for those infected by HIV/AIDS, especially those disabled by HIV/AIDS, and secondly a campaign to identify children affected by HIV/AIDS, including child-headed households so as to improve service delivery and to make services more accessible.
We are confident that our polices on HIV/AIDS prevention are on the right track, something that has been borne out by the recent HSRC report on the matter. We know also that young people and many older people too are now better informed about the disease as a result of educational campaigns, many of them conducted at schools around the country.
Madam Speaker, such campaigns cost money and form part and parcel of our annual budget. Even the Opposition has praised the Government's macro-economic policy, a forward-looking policy. However, our policy is based on the fact that you cannot leave it to market forces to effectively deal with social issues. They forget this in their attachment to the Chicago School of economics where the rich become richer and the devil takes the hindmost. Last year's budget therefore effected a pattern of increases in real terms in government spending on health, social development (particularly in respect of child support grants) and especially in relation to education. This is a bold interventionist position against a backdrop where other governments are regrettably cutting back on social expenditure.
In his State of the Nation speech on Friday the President declared that we have "a continuing task to push back the frontiers of poverty". In the context specifically of education and training we have done much to ensure that resources are targeted at the poor. For example, the equitable share formula, for instance, which determines the allocation to provinces, favours the poorer, rural provinces like the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo. The Norms and Standards for School Funding, in respect of non-personnel expenditure, are also strongly biased towards redress, with seven times more money going to the poorest schools.
Madam Speaker, a major concern that we've had to address over the last four or five years relates to the cost and financing of education, particularly at a school level. I have this last week received a draft report, which goes into the cost of education in a great deal of detail.
As a result of the findings contained in the report and the recommendations made, I will, in the very near future, be proposing far-reaching changes in the area of financing of education. These will be to the benefit of all stakeholders, including parents, and will deal with further alleviating the disparity that exists in certain areas.
I hope that we will be able to provide relief in the form of further conditional grants to the provinces for poorer schools and deal with expenditures related to among others, the cost of school uniforms, transport and the payment of fees. I will deal with my proposals in greater detail in my budget speech during the current session of Parliament.
One area where they are still great disparities is that of infrastructure. With our comprehensive School Register of Needs we have accurate information on where the most pressing needs are. As a result, and through targeted interventions, we are able to channel resources to those areas, which need them most. Hundreds of classrooms and schools have been built across the country - and not just by Mr Nelson Mandela -using increased direct government funding as well as development assistance.
The Treasury will allocate ring-fenced amounts of funding for infrastructure development and has made provision in the MTEF for sufficient amounts that we can aim to eliminate the backlogs in order that children neither have to study under trees nor in unsafe conditions. (In addition the Treasury recognised the importance of allocating funds for school maintenance. We have introduced a planning officer at a national level to assist with the process of school rehabilitation.)
Let me announce to this House that although Conditional Grants are made to the provinces for specifically designated purposes for use in those provinces, and although the provinces are responsible for the expenditure of those funds, I will hold myself accountable for those funds both in the manner in which they are spent and any funds that remain unspent. I can assure you that this year the expenditure patterns will be very different from the past few years. These funds are simply meant to provide for infrastructural and other schooling needs most often as a form of relief for to provinces for poor and struggling areas and as a rule there should be no excuse for funds not being spent.
Our efforts in severely disadvantaged areas are already bearing fruit - there are many schools in townships, informal settlements and rural areas, which are performing admirably well. Every year we celebrate more and more of their achievements. At the start the current school year I visited Eqinisweni Secondary School in Ivory Park in Gauteng where there is a genuine enthusiasm for education. This school had a matric pass rate of 93% in 2001 and, not to be outdone in 2002, improved that pass rate to 97% in 2002. It is no wonder that the matric enrolment increased at this school from 92 students in 2001 to 201 in 2002. The secret of this school's success is committed teachers, active parent participation in the running of the school and a high level of community involvement.
Madam Speaker, over the last year we have made good progress with the implementation of outcomes based education, particularly the revised Curriculum 2004, at the General Education level, in other words Grades R to 9. (We are committed to outcomes based education because we believe that it is the best method of teaching and perhaps the only way of involving children, especially in poorer schools, in collective activity.)
We are well on our way to fulfilling our commitment to 10 years of compulsory education with the phasing in of Grade R, the reception year. In some schools such as the school I visited last week in Manenburg, a poor area not far from here, the school has already introduced pre-school facilities for children not old enough to enter Grade R.
We are also making valuable progress with the revision of the school curriculum in the further education band, Grades 10 to 12. We will in the months ahead announce the implementation strategy for this level. (I know that the transition from general education to further education has been a matter of concern. In order to deal with this we will put in place proper guidelines to ensure the smooth functioning of curriculum during the transition phases. This will also include adequate teacher training and orientation and the preparation of appropriate learning support materials.)
Under apartheid, schools for black children with special needs and disabilities were virtually non-existent. Of course this particularly affected the poorest of the poor. This year sees the establishment of 30 'full service schools' - schools where all the barriers to learning have been removed, and where children with special needs and disabilities can learn together with other children, as full members of our diverse nation.
The number of poorly performing secondary schools has declined dramatically, from over 1000 three years ago to fewer than 200 in the last year. We have quadrupled the amount spent of textbooks and other learning support material over the last three years and ensured, in the main, that this material is delivered to schools in time for the beginning of the school year, and, I am happy to say, most schools are ready to teach from day one. Compare this to only a few years ago, when far too many schools took 2 to 3 weeks to get going!
Indeed, at the opening of Parliament on Friday a member of the Opposition in this House expressed her surprise to me on having found during her visits to schools on the East Rand on opening day this year, that schools had started on time and that the school books were all there. Whilst it was a revelation to her I was not surprised because we have been working hard to ensure that schools function properly as a matter of routine in all areas.
Of course there are some horror stories in relation to infrastructure and learning materials shortfalls. But such occurrences are fewer and further apart each year. I need only remind Members that there are over 27 000 public schools in South Africa and the bulk of them have turned the corner leaving behind the misery, alienation and sometimes corruption, of the past.
Madam Speaker, parents, the community generally consider the health of the education system by the examination results achieved. I believe there are many other factors that also determine the quality of our education system. Nevertheless, examination results are better, with an increase in the matriculation pass rate from less than 50% to nearly 70% in three years, and also with significant improvements in some key subject areas like maths and science. Our maths and science focus schools, the 102 Dinaledi schools, which are all located in poorer areas within the targeted development nodes, produced much improved results in the fields of maths and science.
Good news, indeed, is that female learners in particular are participating in and succeeding at school. Significantly more girls than boys passed matric with distinction. In an act of celebration, on 7 March we will be launching the Girls Education Movement, and so become part of the international movement to encourage and support girls at school. I hope that many of the honourable members will be with us at this launch.
Madam Speaker, one of our government strategies to fight poverty is to reduce the number of unemployable people - we can only do this through an intensive campaign to raise the skills level amongst the masses of our people. As the President pointed out we must attend to the proper functioning and effectiveness of such programmes as the Umsobomvu Fund and the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs). In this regard you will know that the old apartheid based apprenticeship scheme has been replaced by a system of learnerships which are so sought after that they are oversubscribed.
An Expanded Public Works Programme will provide valuable training for those who have been left on the fringes of our society through inadequate education and skill levels. Of course it is important that the private sector commits itself to maintaining and increasing the amounts spent on training. Often when times are economically hard it is the training budgets that are cut first. With the favourable economic outlook for this year we expect that a greater emphasis will be put on training and development of employees especially for those entering the job market for the first time and we urge the private sector to provide training and opportunities for unemployed people.
Madam Speaker, at other levels also we are seeking to address the problem of scarce skills together with my colleague, the Minister of Labour. Higher education is also a key element in the delivery of the government's Human Resource Development Strategy. The current restructuring process will enable the development of a national system, better equipped to respond to the county's high level human resource needs. Over the last year the downward trend in enrolment of students at higher education institutions has both stabilised and reversed.
The institutional restructuring agenda is but one part of a broader agenda to enhance equity, efficiency and effectiveness of the system. Our National Student Financial Aid Scheme is designed to hold out a hand, not of compassion but of opportunity, to the poorest in our society. As a consequence during 2002 more than 98 000 university and technikon students, all from zero or low-income backgrounds, benefited from funding to the tune of R828 million from the scheme. This is in addition to the thousands more who benefited from other forms of financial assistance such as provincial and private sector bursaries and scholarships.
We are delivering educational services to the nation, and these services are improving and expanding. Many of these are not yet as good as we would like them to be, or as good as our people, who have suffered for so long, deserve. But these same people are not simply waiting for these services - many of them are actively engaged to ensure that value is added to every cent, which the government spends. The mothers who cover books for the children, so that they may be protected. The grandmothers who cook a meal for the children, so that they can learn. The teacher who is part of the community - using her wisdom to build that community. The principal in Pretoria who has established a market garden so she could provide a cooked meal for her pupils. And the brother who cuts the grass at the school, fixes a window, or secures the gate. For them, service is something they do, not something they receive in the spirit of Tirisano and Vukuzenzele.
The President said on Friday that the lives of South Africans are changing for the better; that "the tide has turned". This is true of education and the social sector as a whole. I have outlined a little how the tide has turned. Of course some things take longer, and some changes by their very nature will be incremental rather than rapid. So I end by quoting the Nigerian writer, Ben Okri, They are only exhausted who think
That they have arrived
At the final destination,
The end of their road,
With all of dreams achieved,
And with no new dreams to hold
In celebrating our achievements today, we are therefore also mindful of the fact that we have not, in Okri's words, as yet arrived at our final destination - while much has been achieved, we cannot afford to abandon our dreams as set out in the Freedom Charter. And we will continue on our chosen path with or without the support and participation of the Opposition.
Issued by Ministry of Education
17 February 2003
Source: Ministry of Education
Title: Asmal: Debate on State of the Nation Address, NA
SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION, PROFESSOR KADER ASMAL, MP, ON THE OCCASION OF THE STATE OF THE NATION DEBATE, House of Assembly - Parliament, Cape Town, 17 February 2003
Madam Speaker
Those who are destined to remain permanently in opposition in this House will do so because they are not able or prepared to recognise the difficulty, the challenges and complexities concerning governance. They simplify, where they ought to recognise the magnitude of the task before us. They want instant solutions. They beat a drum - BOOM, BOOM, and expect immediate results. They oppose, where they ought, in the public good, to work together to deal with the enormity of the challenges we face.
The Leader of the Opposition is reported as having said over the weekend that the President "slighted into insignificance" the issue of HIV/AIDS. In his speech the President indicated that we would continue implementing the government's comprehensive strategy on HIV/AIDS. If Mr Leon still does not know about that strategy - which I find difficult to believe, even for Mr Leon - I will happily give him the government web site details where he can read up on government policy and whilst he is doing so he should look at how often the Government, the Cabinet, Ministers and the provinces have dealt with the issue over the last year. Hundreds, if not thousands, of times.
And they seek to politicise matters that go to the heart of our existence, such as HIV/AIDS, as they succumb to the temptation to hijack the legitimate sense of anxiety, concern and impatience that millions of South Africans feel in the face of this terrible tragedy.
The President also indicated that we will continue with implementing the decisions of the Constitutional Court. We will implement the Court's decision, not begrudgingly nor defensively - not simply because we have to - but because we are committed to fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic to the fullest that our resources will allow.
For the record, let me reiterate that Government has dealt with its position in April last year in which it unequivocally accepted the causal link between HIV and AIDS and that promoting awareness and life skills and HIV/AIDS education forms the core of our approach. Government has also committed itself to a treatment regime, which will be progressively realised within available resources especially in relation to the mother to child transmission of HIV.
Our view on antiretroviral treatments was made clear in a Cabinet statement last October. Government remains committed to creating conditions that would make it feasible and effective to use antiretroviral in the public health sector. It therefore continues to work for the lowering of the cost of these drugs, to intensify the campaign to ensure that patients observe treatment advice given to them by doctors and to strengthen the health system. There have been discussions between the Treasury and the Health Department on the issue and we should hear further on the matter in the near future.
But we cannot make commitments that we can't keep - in this respect we have a constitutional responsibility to the people of this country to ensure that we do not create expectations around such crucial issues unless we are sure that we can fulfil these expectations. For our part, as government, we must certainly act with vigour and commitment in the face of the HIV/AIDS challenge, but we must also act with responsibility. It is for this reason, and no other, that we have not been able to sign-off yet on a comprehensive and extensive treatment agreement at Nedlac - not because we are dragging our heels, but because we must approach such agreements seriously and responsibly. If we are to commit ourselves to something, we must be sure that we can deliver.
Government's poverty alleviation programmes and nutritional interventions are also essential parts of the fight against HIV/AIDS, including in education where the Government has agreed that funding for the School Nutrition Scheme must be increased to benefit all children in primary school, a programme that will be run from within the education departments from 2004.
Likewise clean water supply; decent housing, assisting in the creation of employment and access to social infrastructure and education all decrease the vulnerability of individuals and communities to infections and ill-health.
In this respect the Minister of Social Development has announced two important additional initiatives, first, the development of a uniform policy and standard of service for those infected by HIV/AIDS, especially those disabled by HIV/AIDS, and secondly a campaign to identify children affected by HIV/AIDS, including child-headed households so as to improve service delivery and to make services more accessible.
We are confident that our polices on HIV/AIDS prevention are on the right track, something that has been borne out by the recent HSRC report on the matter. We know also that young people and many older people too are now better informed about the disease as a result of educational campaigns, many of them conducted at schools around the country.
Madam Speaker, such campaigns cost money and form part and parcel of our annual budget. Even the Opposition has praised the Government's macro-economic policy, a forward-looking policy. However, our policy is based on the fact that you cannot leave it to market forces to effectively deal with social issues. They forget this in their attachment to the Chicago School of economics where the rich become richer and the devil takes the hindmost. Last year's budget therefore effected a pattern of increases in real terms in government spending on health, social development (particularly in respect of child support grants) and especially in relation to education. This is a bold interventionist position against a backdrop where other governments are regrettably cutting back on social expenditure.
In his State of the Nation speech on Friday the President declared that we have "a continuing task to push back the frontiers of poverty". In the context specifically of education and training we have done much to ensure that resources are targeted at the poor. For example, the equitable share formula, for instance, which determines the allocation to provinces, favours the poorer, rural provinces like the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo. The Norms and Standards for School Funding, in respect of non-personnel expenditure, are also strongly biased towards redress, with seven times more money going to the poorest schools.
Madam Speaker, a major concern that we've had to address over the last four or five years relates to the cost and financing of education, particularly at a school level. I have this last week received a draft report, which goes into the cost of education in a great deal of detail.
As a result of the findings contained in the report and the recommendations made, I will, in the very near future, be proposing far-reaching changes in the area of financing of education. These will be to the benefit of all stakeholders, including parents, and will deal with further alleviating the disparity that exists in certain areas.
I hope that we will be able to provide relief in the form of further conditional grants to the provinces for poorer schools and deal with expenditures related to among others, the cost of school uniforms, transport and the payment of fees. I will deal with my proposals in greater detail in my budget speech during the current session of Parliament.
One area where they are still great disparities is that of infrastructure. With our comprehensive School Register of Needs we have accurate information on where the most pressing needs are. As a result, and through targeted interventions, we are able to channel resources to those areas, which need them most. Hundreds of classrooms and schools have been built across the country - and not just by Mr Nelson Mandela -using increased direct government funding as well as development assistance.
The Treasury will allocate ring-fenced amounts of funding for infrastructure development and has made provision in the MTEF for sufficient amounts that we can aim to eliminate the backlogs in order that children neither have to study under trees nor in unsafe conditions. (In addition the Treasury recognised the importance of allocating funds for school maintenance. We have introduced a planning officer at a national level to assist with the process of school rehabilitation.)
Let me announce to this House that although Conditional Grants are made to the provinces for specifically designated purposes for use in those provinces, and although the provinces are responsible for the expenditure of those funds, I will hold myself accountable for those funds both in the manner in which they are spent and any funds that remain unspent. I can assure you that this year the expenditure patterns will be very different from the past few years. These funds are simply meant to provide for infrastructural and other schooling needs most often as a form of relief for to provinces for poor and struggling areas and as a rule there should be no excuse for funds not being spent.
Our efforts in severely disadvantaged areas are already bearing fruit - there are many schools in townships, informal settlements and rural areas, which are performing admirably well. Every year we celebrate more and more of their achievements. At the start the current school year I visited Eqinisweni Secondary School in Ivory Park in Gauteng where there is a genuine enthusiasm for education. This school had a matric pass rate of 93% in 2001 and, not to be outdone in 2002, improved that pass rate to 97% in 2002. It is no wonder that the matric enrolment increased at this school from 92 students in 2001 to 201 in 2002. The secret of this school's success is committed teachers, active parent participation in the running of the school and a high level of community involvement.
Madam Speaker, over the last year we have made good progress with the implementation of outcomes based education, particularly the revised Curriculum 2004, at the General Education level, in other words Grades R to 9. (We are committed to outcomes based education because we believe that it is the best method of teaching and perhaps the only way of involving children, especially in poorer schools, in collective activity.)
We are well on our way to fulfilling our commitment to 10 years of compulsory education with the phasing in of Grade R, the reception year. In some schools such as the school I visited last week in Manenburg, a poor area not far from here, the school has already introduced pre-school facilities for children not old enough to enter Grade R.
We are also making valuable progress with the revision of the school curriculum in the further education band, Grades 10 to 12. We will in the months ahead announce the implementation strategy for this level. (I know that the transition from general education to further education has been a matter of concern. In order to deal with this we will put in place proper guidelines to ensure the smooth functioning of curriculum during the transition phases. This will also include adequate teacher training and orientation and the preparation of appropriate learning support materials.)
Under apartheid, schools for black children with special needs and disabilities were virtually non-existent. Of course this particularly affected the poorest of the poor. This year sees the establishment of 30 'full service schools' - schools where all the barriers to learning have been removed, and where children with special needs and disabilities can learn together with other children, as full members of our diverse nation.
The number of poorly performing secondary schools has declined dramatically, from over 1000 three years ago to fewer than 200 in the last year. We have quadrupled the amount spent of textbooks and other learning support material over the last three years and ensured, in the main, that this material is delivered to schools in time for the beginning of the school year, and, I am happy to say, most schools are ready to teach from day one. Compare this to only a few years ago, when far too many schools took 2 to 3 weeks to get going!
Indeed, at the opening of Parliament on Friday a member of the Opposition in this House expressed her surprise to me on having found during her visits to schools on the East Rand on opening day this year, that schools had started on time and that the school books were all there. Whilst it was a revelation to her I was not surprised because we have been working hard to ensure that schools function properly as a matter of routine in all areas.
Of course there are some horror stories in relation to infrastructure and learning materials shortfalls. But such occurrences are fewer and further apart each year. I need only remind Members that there are over 27 000 public schools in South Africa and the bulk of them have turned the corner leaving behind the misery, alienation and sometimes corruption, of the past.
Madam Speaker, parents, the community generally consider the health of the education system by the examination results achieved. I believe there are many other factors that also determine the quality of our education system. Nevertheless, examination results are better, with an increase in the matriculation pass rate from less than 50% to nearly 70% in three years, and also with significant improvements in some key subject areas like maths and science. Our maths and science focus schools, the 102 Dinaledi schools, which are all located in poorer areas within the targeted development nodes, produced much improved results in the fields of maths and science.
Good news, indeed, is that female learners in particular are participating in and succeeding at school. Significantly more girls than boys passed matric with distinction. In an act of celebration, on 7 March we will be launching the Girls Education Movement, and so become part of the international movement to encourage and support girls at school. I hope that many of the honourable members will be with us at this launch.
Madam Speaker, one of our government strategies to fight poverty is to reduce the number of unemployable people - we can only do this through an intensive campaign to raise the skills level amongst the masses of our people. As the President pointed out we must attend to the proper functioning and effectiveness of such programmes as the Umsobomvu Fund and the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs). In this regard you will know that the old apartheid based apprenticeship scheme has been replaced by a system of learnerships which are so sought after that they are oversubscribed.
An Expanded Public Works Programme will provide valuable training for those who have been left on the fringes of our society through inadequate education and skill levels. Of course it is important that the private sector commits itself to maintaining and increasing the amounts spent on training. Often when times are economically hard it is the training budgets that are cut first. With the favourable economic outlook for this year we expect that a greater emphasis will be put on training and development of employees especially for those entering the job market for the first time and we urge the private sector to provide training and opportunities for unemployed people.
Madam Speaker, at other levels also we are seeking to address the problem of scarce skills together with my colleague, the Minister of Labour. Higher education is also a key element in the delivery of the government's Human Resource Development Strategy. The current restructuring process will enable the development of a national system, better equipped to respond to the county's high level human resource needs. Over the last year the downward trend in enrolment of students at higher education institutions has both stabilised and reversed.
The institutional restructuring agenda is but one part of a broader agenda to enhance equity, efficiency and effectiveness of the system. Our National Student Financial Aid Scheme is designed to hold out a hand, not of compassion but of opportunity, to the poorest in our society. As a consequence during 2002 more than 98 000 university and technikon students, all from zero or low-income backgrounds, benefited from funding to the tune of R828 million from the scheme. This is in addition to the thousands more who benefited from other forms of financial assistance such as provincial and private sector bursaries and scholarships.
We are delivering educational services to the nation, and these services are improving and expanding. Many of these are not yet as good as we would like them to be, or as good as our people, who have suffered for so long, deserve. But these same people are not simply waiting for these services - many of them are actively engaged to ensure that value is added to every cent, which the government spends. The mothers who cover books for the children, so that they may be protected. The grandmothers who cook a meal for the children, so that they can learn. The teacher who is part of the community - using her wisdom to build that community. The principal in Pretoria who has established a market garden so she could provide a cooked meal for her pupils. And the brother who cuts the grass at the school, fixes a window, or secures the gate. For them, service is something they do, not something they receive in the spirit of Tirisano and Vukuzenzele.
The President said on Friday that the lives of South Africans are changing for the better; that "the tide has turned". This is true of education and the social sector as a whole. I have outlined a little how the tide has turned. Of course some things take longer, and some changes by their very nature will be incremental rather than rapid. So I end by quoting the Nigerian writer, Ben Okri, They are only exhausted who think
That they have arrived
At the final destination,
The end of their road,
With all of dreams achieved,
And with no new dreams to hold
In celebrating our achievements today, we are therefore also mindful of the fact that we have not, in Okri's words, as yet arrived at our final destination - while much has been achieved, we cannot afford to abandon our dreams as set out in the Freedom Charter. And we will continue on our chosen path with or without the support and participation of the Opposition.
Issued by Ministry of Education
17 February 2003
Advertisement
EMAIL THIS ARTICLE SAVE THIS ARTICLE FEEDBACK
To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
