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Date
: 06/11/2003
Source: The Presidency
Title: J Zuma: National Teaching Awards
ADDRESS BY DEPUTY PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA AT THE NATIONAL TEACHING
AWARDS CEREMONY, Presidential Guesthouse, Pretoria, 6 November
2003
Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmal,
Deputy Minister, Mr Mosibudi Mangena,
MECs and Provincial Heads of Departments,
Recipients of the Awards,
Distinguished Guests,
It is not everyday that we meet to honour our unsung heroes and
heroines of the noble profession, teaching. I am therefore greatly
honoured to be once again part of this event to recognise,
acknowledge and honour teachers in seven categories of
excellence.
The awards have since their inception continued to celebrate and
promote excellence in the teaching profession by providing
communities throughout South Africa with an opportunity to
recognize and honour talented, dedicated, innovative, inspiring and
effective teachers.
The whole South African nation this evening says "thank you" for
your outstanding work in promoting excellence in the teaching
profession.
We are honouring teachers this evening because we are certainly
aware of the fact that teachers are the agents of change not only
in the classrooms but also in the wider society, as they shape the
outlook of our children. In that way, they are making a direct
contribution to the vital national task of nation building.
We believe that South Africa possesses a special breed of educators
who have managed to produce results under the most trying
circumstances.
As we honour this present generation of educators, we are reminded
of all others who have contributed immensely towards building a new
South African nation, many of them during some of the worst times
of our history.
These professionals have shown us that dedication; steadfastness
and selflessness are attributes that make a great nation. Many of
our educators continue to display this dedication on a daily basis
and certainly all the recipients today continue to show us
precisely these attributes.
The teachers we honour today, from Early Childhood Development to
Primary and Secondary School levels, from Special Needs Teaching to
Lifetime Achievement, have all gone an extra mile towards uplifting
the social and economic advancement of our country.
Individually and collectively, they have taken to heart the task of
educating our children for a better future.
Ladies and gentlemen, as we celebrate a decade of democracy in
April next year, we are proud of the achievements we have made in
transforming and restructuring our education landscape.
We have also made significant progress towards a National Framework
for Teacher Education.
This education framework will ensure that we constantly improve the
knowledge, skills and attitudes of our teachers so that in line
with the Revised National Curriculum Statement, they continue to be
the vehicle for educational and social transformation.
As agents of social transformation, we believe the teachers are at
the forefront of the battle to remedy the social ills of our
nation. We therefore urge the teachers to join our national
campaign of the 16 Days of Activism Against Violence on Women and
Children. Through this campaign, we want to promote a sense of
respect for human dignity and disdain for any abuse of women and
children.
Let us make all our schools and communities violence free, and
build the caring society we all want to achieve.
We also honour our educators today, at a time when NEPAD has
identified education as one of its key instruments in mobilising
the human capital of Africa. We believe the national Skills
Development Act, as well as the establishment of the Sector
Education and Training Authorities will go a long way in developing
and harnessing skills for Africa's human capital.
It is therefore important that we lay strong emphasis on teachers
to strengthen the foundation for learning and knowledge. But
clearly, teachers alone can never achieve this feat.
We therefore reiterate our call to parents, learners and
communities to continue working with teachers in the governance of
schools. And this year, as a result of the call, more than 200 000
"public representatives" were elected to office in the School
Governing Body elections, the largest election in the country by
far. We must congratulate all communities for this
achievement.
We have also called on the private sector to lend a hand in
delivering quality education for all. And the response has been
overwhelming.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation, for instance, has built schools in
the most impoverished of our provinces, through private sector
funding. This once again we take as an important national
contribution that our former President is making.
Distinguished Guests, this is not to say there are no more
challenges ahead of us, many abound. In 1994 and 1999, the people
of South Africa gave this government a mandate to eradicate
poverty.
We are fully aware of this responsibility, hence the various
programmes we have in place for the alleviation of poverty. We
therefore call on teachers, parents and community members to ensure
the full implementation of the National School Feeding Scheme,
approved by Cabinet for next year, for the benefit of all our
children. This programme has the potential of making a difference
in the lives of many children, especially those from
poverty-stricken families.
In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, let me congratulate all the
recipients tonight for making a difference and showing that South
Africa is indeed a nation of achievers.
We hope that the coming generation of teachers will emulate their
achievements.
I thank you.
Enquiries: Lakela Kaunda at 0827822575 or Zanele Mngadi at
0827819332
Issued by The Presidency, 6 November 2003
Source: SAPA
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