Date: 13/03/2003
Source: The Presidency
Title: J Zuma: Most Improved Schools Awards
ADDRESS BY DEPUTY PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA ON THE OCCASION OF THE MOST IMPROVED SCHOOLS AWARDS CEREMONY, Presidential Guest House, Pretoria, 13 March 2003
Director of Ceremonies,
Minister of Education, Prof Kader Asmal,
Deputy Minister of Education, Mosibudi Mangena,
Provincial MECs for Education present,
Representatives of Provincial Government,
Recipients of Awards,
Educators and Parents,
Our Sponsors,
Distinguished Guests,
Tonight is indeed a special occasion for parents and guardians, learners, educators and all our partners in education, as we salute the recipients of the Most Improved Schools Awards.
We are filled with pride and joy as we recognise and acknowledge schools that are performing well and have achieved good results and those that are showing consistent improvement.
The purpose of these awards, as has been explained, is also the critical one of identifying possible role models in a manner that will benefit all learners, and to recognise schools that are creating a physically and psychologically safe learning environment. Our winners tonight have satisfied all requirements in these categories and have certainly done us proud.
Ladies and gentlemen, next year, we will be celebrating our first decade of freedom, and as we do so, we will be looking back with pride at what we have achieved in all spheres.
South Africa has moved from being a pariah state before 1994, to becoming a thriving, vibrant, successful and stable democracy, rich in its diversity and with a clear vision of improving the quality of life of all its inhabitants. We are not shy to say that we are one of the most envied countries in the world due to the manner in which we solve our problems, and work together to build our country.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is no doubt that sustained development in Africa is dependent on the success of its education systems. For nowhere in the world has sustained development been attained without a firm basis laid by a well-developed and fully functional system of education.
We therefore face the challenge of continuously improving the education of our children. We have to ensure access to education for each child, whether they are in rural or urban areas and regardless of their gender. We also need to encourage children to excel in what they are doing, as evidenced in the wards to be handed out this evening.
This ceremony also provides us with the opportunity to acknowledge the achievements of our schools in mathematics, science and technology. We have indeed witnessed a great improvement in these subjects. This indicates that the mathematics, science and technology strategy, Dinaledi, is impacting positively on the 102 focus schools. We have already observed an improvement in the performance of schools involved in the Dinaledi project.
This provides us with a lot of optimism because we need to ensure that we are not left behind in the international technological revolution. We are serious in our goals of producing learners who are first in the world in mathematics, science and technology, and teachers who are able to assist them to be the best in what they do.
Promoting mathematics and science is critical to the development of our human resource capacity and in ensuring economic growth and improving our international competitiveness.
South Africa is measuring up to this challenge. Recently nine students from the Simons Town School for Marine Studies left for the Antarctica to hone their skills in navigation and seamanship, among them a female student. This is an opportunity and first for South African students. This expedition will definitely pave a way for these students to study marine engineering.
We are also aware that in order to achieve our goals, we need to take care of our teachers and provide good working conditions for them. Government therefore takes the issue of teacher development and rewarding of excellence seriously. The Department of Education is negotiating with teacher unions to implement the new proposed new post and salary structure for educators to be implemented with effect from 1 April 2003.
This framework creates a possibility for teachers to remain in teaching and learning activities throughout their careers. Educators will be able to progress from the lowest to the highest positions without becoming managers.
Teachers will receive annual notch increments when showing satisfactory performance, and will receive rewards and incentives for their performances. The first notch system will be implemented on the 1st of July 2003. Teachers will also be given incentives to work in rural areas and for teaching certain scarce subjects. This will be implemented in 2004.
You would also be aware that the government takes the issue of gender equality seriously. Likewise, our education system promotes the participation of female learners particularly in critical subjects such as mathematics and science.
Another divide we need to bridge is that between rural and urban schools. We are impressed by progress and improvement in many rural schools, and we believe there is a need to ensure representation of these schools in performance assessment initiatives such as the one this evening, to encourage those teachers and learners as well.
Ladies and gentlemen, improving the quality of life of our people also includes issues of nation building and promotion of the values that are enshrined in our Constitution, to ensure the moral regeneration of our society.
The Manifesto on Values, Education and Democracy being implemented in our schools recognises that values, which transcend language and culture, are an important ingredient of building our nation.
Our children need to become aware of values of respect, equality, honesty, integrity, ubuntu and others. Inculcating a sense of values at school is intended to help young people achieve higher levels of moral judgment. This would produce out of them, good responsible and accountable citizens.
I would like to therefore emphasise the responsibility that we all face, of moulding children to become responsible South African citizens, who love their country and are willing to do everything to make it succeed.
Ladies and Gentlemen, let me take this opportunity to congratulate all the schools, which have been nominated to receive these prestigious awards.
We realise the enormous sacrifices from all parties involved, learners, teachers, parents and School Governing Bodies in striving to sustain improved and quality of education in our schools. This is not an easy feat; it shows courage, pride and dedication in your work. Congratulations to all of you for an outstanding job.
We also thank the panel for performing such sterling work. Your work was not easy but you performed it with such grace and dedication. In the midst of your busy schedules you answered the call of service to your country. Again thank you.
This occasion would not have happened, this year being the third year running, without the generous support of our sponsors: Multichoice; Telkom; Siemens; Naspers; SABC and Phambili Information Technologies. We thank you for believing in the country's education system, our children and teachers. We truly value your support.
Let me reiterate that we are paying so much attention to education because we believe that our freedom as a nation would be incomplete without education, and that our vision of prosperity and sustainable development would also not materialise if we fail to invest in education.
The strong partnership between government and the business community is therefore a good indicator that we are in agreement about the importance of education in building the country's human resource capacity.
We have achieved a lot as a nation because we always pull together when there is a national task. Investing our human and material resources in education is one such national responsibility.
Once again, congratulations to all our winners and thank you to all who made this event possible. Congratulations to Minister Asmal and the Department of Education for continuing to execute their tasks in a manner that will enable this country to meet its goals of meeting the challenges of the 21st century in education.
I thank you.
Issued by The Presidency
13 March 2003
Source: The Presidency
Title: J Zuma: Most Improved Schools Awards
ADDRESS BY DEPUTY PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA ON THE OCCASION OF THE MOST IMPROVED SCHOOLS AWARDS CEREMONY, Presidential Guest House, Pretoria, 13 March 2003
Director of Ceremonies,
Minister of Education, Prof Kader Asmal,
Deputy Minister of Education, Mosibudi Mangena,
Provincial MECs for Education present,
Representatives of Provincial Government,
Recipients of Awards,
Educators and Parents,
Our Sponsors,
Distinguished Guests,
Tonight is indeed a special occasion for parents and guardians, learners, educators and all our partners in education, as we salute the recipients of the Most Improved Schools Awards.
We are filled with pride and joy as we recognise and acknowledge schools that are performing well and have achieved good results and those that are showing consistent improvement.
The purpose of these awards, as has been explained, is also the critical one of identifying possible role models in a manner that will benefit all learners, and to recognise schools that are creating a physically and psychologically safe learning environment. Our winners tonight have satisfied all requirements in these categories and have certainly done us proud.
Ladies and gentlemen, next year, we will be celebrating our first decade of freedom, and as we do so, we will be looking back with pride at what we have achieved in all spheres.
South Africa has moved from being a pariah state before 1994, to becoming a thriving, vibrant, successful and stable democracy, rich in its diversity and with a clear vision of improving the quality of life of all its inhabitants. We are not shy to say that we are one of the most envied countries in the world due to the manner in which we solve our problems, and work together to build our country.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is no doubt that sustained development in Africa is dependent on the success of its education systems. For nowhere in the world has sustained development been attained without a firm basis laid by a well-developed and fully functional system of education.
We therefore face the challenge of continuously improving the education of our children. We have to ensure access to education for each child, whether they are in rural or urban areas and regardless of their gender. We also need to encourage children to excel in what they are doing, as evidenced in the wards to be handed out this evening.
This ceremony also provides us with the opportunity to acknowledge the achievements of our schools in mathematics, science and technology. We have indeed witnessed a great improvement in these subjects. This indicates that the mathematics, science and technology strategy, Dinaledi, is impacting positively on the 102 focus schools. We have already observed an improvement in the performance of schools involved in the Dinaledi project.
This provides us with a lot of optimism because we need to ensure that we are not left behind in the international technological revolution. We are serious in our goals of producing learners who are first in the world in mathematics, science and technology, and teachers who are able to assist them to be the best in what they do.
Promoting mathematics and science is critical to the development of our human resource capacity and in ensuring economic growth and improving our international competitiveness.
South Africa is measuring up to this challenge. Recently nine students from the Simons Town School for Marine Studies left for the Antarctica to hone their skills in navigation and seamanship, among them a female student. This is an opportunity and first for South African students. This expedition will definitely pave a way for these students to study marine engineering.
We are also aware that in order to achieve our goals, we need to take care of our teachers and provide good working conditions for them. Government therefore takes the issue of teacher development and rewarding of excellence seriously. The Department of Education is negotiating with teacher unions to implement the new proposed new post and salary structure for educators to be implemented with effect from 1 April 2003.
This framework creates a possibility for teachers to remain in teaching and learning activities throughout their careers. Educators will be able to progress from the lowest to the highest positions without becoming managers.
Teachers will receive annual notch increments when showing satisfactory performance, and will receive rewards and incentives for their performances. The first notch system will be implemented on the 1st of July 2003. Teachers will also be given incentives to work in rural areas and for teaching certain scarce subjects. This will be implemented in 2004.
You would also be aware that the government takes the issue of gender equality seriously. Likewise, our education system promotes the participation of female learners particularly in critical subjects such as mathematics and science.
Another divide we need to bridge is that between rural and urban schools. We are impressed by progress and improvement in many rural schools, and we believe there is a need to ensure representation of these schools in performance assessment initiatives such as the one this evening, to encourage those teachers and learners as well.
Ladies and gentlemen, improving the quality of life of our people also includes issues of nation building and promotion of the values that are enshrined in our Constitution, to ensure the moral regeneration of our society.
The Manifesto on Values, Education and Democracy being implemented in our schools recognises that values, which transcend language and culture, are an important ingredient of building our nation.
Our children need to become aware of values of respect, equality, honesty, integrity, ubuntu and others. Inculcating a sense of values at school is intended to help young people achieve higher levels of moral judgment. This would produce out of them, good responsible and accountable citizens.
I would like to therefore emphasise the responsibility that we all face, of moulding children to become responsible South African citizens, who love their country and are willing to do everything to make it succeed.
Ladies and Gentlemen, let me take this opportunity to congratulate all the schools, which have been nominated to receive these prestigious awards.
We realise the enormous sacrifices from all parties involved, learners, teachers, parents and School Governing Bodies in striving to sustain improved and quality of education in our schools. This is not an easy feat; it shows courage, pride and dedication in your work. Congratulations to all of you for an outstanding job.
We also thank the panel for performing such sterling work. Your work was not easy but you performed it with such grace and dedication. In the midst of your busy schedules you answered the call of service to your country. Again thank you.
This occasion would not have happened, this year being the third year running, without the generous support of our sponsors: Multichoice; Telkom; Siemens; Naspers; SABC and Phambili Information Technologies. We thank you for believing in the country's education system, our children and teachers. We truly value your support.
Let me reiterate that we are paying so much attention to education because we believe that our freedom as a nation would be incomplete without education, and that our vision of prosperity and sustainable development would also not materialise if we fail to invest in education.
The strong partnership between government and the business community is therefore a good indicator that we are in agreement about the importance of education in building the country's human resource capacity.
We have achieved a lot as a nation because we always pull together when there is a national task. Investing our human and material resources in education is one such national responsibility.
Once again, congratulations to all our winners and thank you to all who made this event possible. Congratulations to Minister Asmal and the Department of Education for continuing to execute their tasks in a manner that will enable this country to meet its goals of meeting the challenges of the 21st century in education.
I thank you.
Issued by The Presidency
13 March 2003
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