Date: 26/07/2003
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government
Title: Jajula: Anniversary of Bylettes, Eastern Cape
SPEECH BY THE EASTERN CAPE MEC FOR EDUCATION, MS JAJULA, AT BYLETTES ON THE SCHOOL'S 10th ANNIVERSARY, 26 July 2003
Master of Ceremonies, Councillors here present, the District Manager, Chairperson of the School Governing Body, Social partners, Honoured Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am pleased and honoured to have been invited to come and be part of this important educational event, an event in which the school and the community are celebrating 10 years of excellent educational service not only to this community but to the province and the country at large.
When this school was established the idea might have been to set up a small centre of learning for the children of the farm workers and surrounding areas who had no access to education because of the distance between farms and the nearest schools. No sooner had your school taken off, and largely due to the dedication and good work of the educators of this place, had Bylettes become a force to reckon with and a distinguished school at that.
Bylettes has always been associated with progress and development. As we have all heard, the school started from humble beginnings to fame and popularity. Of all the schools in formerly disadvantaged communities it rates among the best. Of all the schools in the farming communities it is the best.
Bylettes is one of those schools that have always attracted everybody's attention and it is strange that a farm school could get so much attention from the farming community, the church, the government and the overseas communities. Post matric students from different communities over South Africa and overseas countries have been sent to Bylettes for a period of a year or more by such groups as student partnership worldwide and others to be part of Bylettes school population. This was in response to the school's quest for breaking the walls that isolated it from the rest of the world. Sooner than was expected and to everybody's surprise Bylettes became a global school attracting learners 2 from all over the country, no wonder this big fuss of celebrating it's tenth (10 th ) anniversary.
Schools differ from one another not so much as a result of differences in structure and locality but because of the way in which they demonstrate and articulate government policy. The articulation of policy in regard to education should be clear, unambiguous and firmly rooted in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and its Laws and Legislation. Moreover, such policy must be practical and implementable, and respond to the needs and interests of the country's citizens, all of whom are direct or indirect stakeholders in the education system. This policy must provide an informed basis for a partnership between the state and its provision of public education, and wider civil society including those learners, parents and educators who are its principal clients. Hence the Department insists on schools having their own policy and development plans. The school is known for its discipline, tone and healthy educational environment which is manifest in the devotion and dedication by learners and educators. The school is famous for its matric results, hitting the most desired target of 100% matric pass. Some of the surrounding high schools have invited the Principal, Mr Pongoma, to assist in their seminars on improving matric results which efforts have been rewarded with positive results. The idea of partnerships and clustering or twinning of schools for growth and development is not a new idea in this area.
The advent of Curriculum 2005 has posed a very critical challenge for educators because it introduced a system of education which represents a radical departure from systems and procedures in which some of us were nurtured and trained and, in fact, in which some of us had accumulated a wealth of experience. This created a situation where all of us were called upon to be aware of the new era while is ushered by the new government and to wake up to the reality that things are not the same and they can never be the same anymore. Now we are even talking of the New Curriculum Statement. It is obvious that the greatest challenge facing us is reorientation and re-skilling of our practitioners in education in all walks of life educationally speaking. While acknowledging the efforts 3 taken to re-orientate and equip the educators to be able to face the new challenge, one still has to contend with the question whether these efforts on their own are sufficient to turn around the whole educational situation. It seems to me there is more to it for educators and practitioners in education than to be mere recipients of training.
Remember that the new trends affect each element/component of the educational situation. There are new roles for all of us. The learner that one deals with has a completely new activity; he is different from the passive listener or even good listener of yesteryear; the educator is miles away from the talkative and almost autocratic master of the classroom situation. Surely we will not facilitate educational transformation by remaining passive recipients of the new texts, training, workbooks etc. We have to work on our mindsets, attitudes, view of life and conceptual framework. The roles and responsibilities of the Key Stakeholders in education must change if we are to make any success of the new educational trends.
* The Principal cannot be the same old headmaster of the dark ages. There has to be redefinition of his roles and responsibilities
* The educator has been the focal point of training and re-skilling. Shouldn't we encourage our educators to redirect their own efforts of upgrading their qualifications to be relevant to the new challenge in education and educational practice
* The School Management Team. What should this unit of the school really be doing. Is there any paradigm shift in their thinking, planning and operations
* The School Governing Body. This body has a diversity of functions some of which impact directly on the professional development and performance of the educators.
The department of education is here today to reaffirm the good work coming from this school, to congratulate the learners, the staff and the parents, and all those that have made it possible for Bylettes to be where it is today. We have come to share in the celebration of the difficult ten (10) years of hard labour, blood, sweat and tears but all culminating in 4 pride and glory," Hard work breeds success" (the schools' motto). We are here to pledge support for all our schools with the little that we have, to associate with all those that put their hand to the plough, and to urge them never to give up in spite of all the atrocities. I am happy to be the bearer of the good news and to announce that a sum of R2.6 million has been put aside by the department for the building and renovation of Bylettes. Within a month from today the building contractors will be on this site to begin their work. This is done in the hope that Bylettes will produce leaders of tomorrow and that Bylettes will turn things around here out of which will emerge a flourishing community.
Well done and congratulations, Bylettes.
I thank you.
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.ecprov.gov.za)
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government
Title: Jajula: Anniversary of Bylettes, Eastern Cape
SPEECH BY THE EASTERN CAPE MEC FOR EDUCATION, MS JAJULA, AT BYLETTES ON THE SCHOOL'S 10th ANNIVERSARY, 26 July 2003
Master of Ceremonies, Councillors here present, the District Manager, Chairperson of the School Governing Body, Social partners, Honoured Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am pleased and honoured to have been invited to come and be part of this important educational event, an event in which the school and the community are celebrating 10 years of excellent educational service not only to this community but to the province and the country at large.
When this school was established the idea might have been to set up a small centre of learning for the children of the farm workers and surrounding areas who had no access to education because of the distance between farms and the nearest schools. No sooner had your school taken off, and largely due to the dedication and good work of the educators of this place, had Bylettes become a force to reckon with and a distinguished school at that.
Bylettes has always been associated with progress and development. As we have all heard, the school started from humble beginnings to fame and popularity. Of all the schools in formerly disadvantaged communities it rates among the best. Of all the schools in the farming communities it is the best.
Bylettes is one of those schools that have always attracted everybody's attention and it is strange that a farm school could get so much attention from the farming community, the church, the government and the overseas communities. Post matric students from different communities over South Africa and overseas countries have been sent to Bylettes for a period of a year or more by such groups as student partnership worldwide and others to be part of Bylettes school population. This was in response to the school's quest for breaking the walls that isolated it from the rest of the world. Sooner than was expected and to everybody's surprise Bylettes became a global school attracting learners 2 from all over the country, no wonder this big fuss of celebrating it's tenth (10 th ) anniversary.
Schools differ from one another not so much as a result of differences in structure and locality but because of the way in which they demonstrate and articulate government policy. The articulation of policy in regard to education should be clear, unambiguous and firmly rooted in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and its Laws and Legislation. Moreover, such policy must be practical and implementable, and respond to the needs and interests of the country's citizens, all of whom are direct or indirect stakeholders in the education system. This policy must provide an informed basis for a partnership between the state and its provision of public education, and wider civil society including those learners, parents and educators who are its principal clients. Hence the Department insists on schools having their own policy and development plans. The school is known for its discipline, tone and healthy educational environment which is manifest in the devotion and dedication by learners and educators. The school is famous for its matric results, hitting the most desired target of 100% matric pass. Some of the surrounding high schools have invited the Principal, Mr Pongoma, to assist in their seminars on improving matric results which efforts have been rewarded with positive results. The idea of partnerships and clustering or twinning of schools for growth and development is not a new idea in this area.
The advent of Curriculum 2005 has posed a very critical challenge for educators because it introduced a system of education which represents a radical departure from systems and procedures in which some of us were nurtured and trained and, in fact, in which some of us had accumulated a wealth of experience. This created a situation where all of us were called upon to be aware of the new era while is ushered by the new government and to wake up to the reality that things are not the same and they can never be the same anymore. Now we are even talking of the New Curriculum Statement. It is obvious that the greatest challenge facing us is reorientation and re-skilling of our practitioners in education in all walks of life educationally speaking. While acknowledging the efforts 3 taken to re-orientate and equip the educators to be able to face the new challenge, one still has to contend with the question whether these efforts on their own are sufficient to turn around the whole educational situation. It seems to me there is more to it for educators and practitioners in education than to be mere recipients of training.
Remember that the new trends affect each element/component of the educational situation. There are new roles for all of us. The learner that one deals with has a completely new activity; he is different from the passive listener or even good listener of yesteryear; the educator is miles away from the talkative and almost autocratic master of the classroom situation. Surely we will not facilitate educational transformation by remaining passive recipients of the new texts, training, workbooks etc. We have to work on our mindsets, attitudes, view of life and conceptual framework. The roles and responsibilities of the Key Stakeholders in education must change if we are to make any success of the new educational trends.
* The Principal cannot be the same old headmaster of the dark ages. There has to be redefinition of his roles and responsibilities
* The educator has been the focal point of training and re-skilling. Shouldn't we encourage our educators to redirect their own efforts of upgrading their qualifications to be relevant to the new challenge in education and educational practice
* The School Management Team. What should this unit of the school really be doing. Is there any paradigm shift in their thinking, planning and operations
* The School Governing Body. This body has a diversity of functions some of which impact directly on the professional development and performance of the educators.
The department of education is here today to reaffirm the good work coming from this school, to congratulate the learners, the staff and the parents, and all those that have made it possible for Bylettes to be where it is today. We have come to share in the celebration of the difficult ten (10) years of hard labour, blood, sweat and tears but all culminating in 4 pride and glory," Hard work breeds success" (the schools' motto). We are here to pledge support for all our schools with the little that we have, to associate with all those that put their hand to the plough, and to urge them never to give up in spite of all the atrocities. I am happy to be the bearer of the good news and to announce that a sum of R2.6 million has been put aside by the department for the building and renovation of Bylettes. Within a month from today the building contractors will be on this site to begin their work. This is done in the hope that Bylettes will produce leaders of tomorrow and that Bylettes will turn things around here out of which will emerge a flourishing community.
Well done and congratulations, Bylettes.
I thank you.
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.ecprov.gov.za)
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