Date: 25/09/2003
Source: Deputy Ministry of Education
Title: Mangena: Annual Association for Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa
SPEECH BY THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF EDUCATION, MR M MANGENA AT THE ANNUAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF BLACK ACCOUNTANTS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA, Cape Town International Convention Centre, 25 September 2003
President of ABASA, Mr Futhi Mtoba
Chairman and Former President, Mr Biziwe Skosana
Chairperson of the Western Cape Region, Mr Ernest Carlese
Honoured guests
Ladies and gentlemen
The building of our democracy requires that government work closely with civil society. I am therefore gratified by the active interest you have shown in making our democracy work, and further your desire for our education system to support your profession.
This month on 12 September, we remembered a day that will live forever in our consciousness - that is the murder of Bantu Biko in detention. It is the genius, hard work and sacrifices of people like Steve that we have reached this point in our history; that we can have a gathering like this and discuss at this level. You will recall Steven Biko's words that "we have set on a quest for true humanity, and somewhere on the distant horizon we can see the glittering prize. Let us march with courage and determination, drawing strength from our common plight and brotherhood". I hope these words will resonate with us today as we seek to transform our education system so that it addresses the needs of our people.
Biko dreamt, worked and fought for a better future for all black people in this country. He had realised as a student in the black medical campus of the University of Natal that, no matter one's education level, no matter one's civility and irrespective of one's intelligence and ability, the system in South Africa was designed for black people to remain inferior. Bantu education and its extension to higher education was meant to ensure that the apartheid system succeeds and that black graduates remain uncritically obedient to the law and subservient to others.
It is therefore our responsibility to ensure that the current generation of young people does not go through the same or similar experiences that the likes of Steve Biko went through. The transformation of our society and in particular the education system should ensure that opportunities are made for those who were previously denied.
More than 79% (35.92 million out of total population of 44.8 million) of the population of South Africa is Black and it is disheartening to learn that there are only 337 African chartered accountants, 1048 from the Indian community and 226 from the Coloured community, bringing the total number of Black chartered accountants to 1611 in a total number of 20 000 chartered accountants in this country. Surely there is a huge discrepancy there that we need to collectively address.
Next year, we celebrate ten years of freedom and democracy. During the past decade we have been systematically dismantling one of apartheid's most successful creations, racist education.
Our vision of a transformed education system is that it must be democratic, non-racial and non-sexist. It should also promote equity of access and fair chances of success to all who seek to realise their potential through higher education. It must succeed to meet, through well-planned and coordinated teaching, learning and research programmes, national development needs, including the high-skilled employment needs presented by a growing economy operating in a global environment.
It must be able to support a democratic ethos and a culture of human rights, conducive to critical discourse and creative thinking, cultural tolerance, and a common commitment to our country and continent.
The strategies to realise and achieve this vision are articulated in a range of policies and programmes, ranging from a schooling system that is functional and producing more mathematics and science graduates as envisaged in our Dinaledi programme, through to the National Plan for Higher Education, and some of its initiatives such as the restructuring of the higher education landscape.
Dinaledi, and its moto, "Creating Tomorrow's Stars Today", captures the mood of government and civil society organisations such as Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa (ABASA), as we continue with the transformation of our society. We must give young people the opportunity to shine, to be brilliant role models, and for us to be role models to them.
Our challenge is to inspire children with excitement and fascination in those areas such as mathematics and science, and related disciplines of accounting and commerce, that have been too long regarded as being the preserve of some. The key to most previously marginal areas of study for Blacks is a good pass in Mathematics at Matric.
The ABASA school awareness program that seeks to educate our youth about opportunities in the field of accounting is a practical example of how we can work together for a common goal. I am hopeful that you will consider working closely with my department and other organisations with similar objectives. The Thuthuka programme of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants is also another example of what we can do together.
In 2001, at the launch of the Mathematics and Science Strategy of the Ministry of Education, I stated, "figures relating to the participation and attainment of our learners in mathematics and science are both alarming and depressing. These figures show that participation rates in mathematics and science at Higher Grade, as reflected in matric results in the years 1997 to 2000, is around 20%. The pass rate in these crucial subjects consistently falls below 5% of the total number of students writing matric in these four years."
Some members of our society use these figures as indicators of the decline of our country. While they are certainly alarming, they are not beyond correction.
However, in addition to our undoubted success in providing access to learners in our schooling system, the quality of the schooling system has demonstrated constant improvement. An appraisal of the 2002 Senior Certificate results provides evidence that our public education system has indeed turned the corner. Gone are the days when you would hear of perpetual leaks of Matric papers. All grade 12 learners now write preparatory exams in June and September.
The 2002 examination results have shown a significant improvement. An improvement in the pass rate from 61.7% to 68.9% (an increase of 7.2%) is a remarkable achievement. The number of under performing schools has also decreased dramatically from 472 in 2001 to 242 in 2002, which indicates a decrease of 230 schools in 2002.
In 2001 the number of candidates who passed with endorsement was 15.1%. In 2002 it was 16.9%. In 2001, 46.7% candidates passed Mathematics and in 2002 this percentage increased to 56.1%.
There has also been an increase in the percentage of candidates who passed with endorsement from 15.1% in 2001 to 16.9% in 2002. This, coupled with the improvement in mathematics and science pass rates, should assist in the objectives of ABASA.
Chairperson, our vision for transforming the education system also extends to higher education. The National Plan for Higher Education provides a road map of what should happen in order to meet the equity, quality and social development imperatives of South Africa in the 21st Century.
The Council on Higher Education in their report to the Ministry make a powerful case for higher education. "Higher education, and in particular public higher education, has immense potential to contribute to the consolidation of democracy and social justice, and the growth and development of the economy. The enhancement of democracy lays the basis for greater participation in economic and social life more generally. Higher levels of employment and work contribute to political and social stability and the capacity of citizens to exercise and enforce democratic rights and participate effectively in decision-making. The overall well-being of nations is vitally dependent on the contribution of higher education to the social, cultural, political and economic development of its citizens."
The National Plan for Higher Education identifies five key policy goals and strategic objectives necessary for achieving the overall goal of the transformation of the higher education system. These are:
* To increase access and to produce graduates with the skills and competencies necessary to meet the human resource needs of the country.
* To promote equity of access and outcomes and to redress past inequalities through ensuring that student and staff profiles reflect the demographic composition of South African society.
* To ensure diversity in the institutional landscape of the higher education system through mission and programme differentiation to meet national and regional skills and knowledge needs.
* To build high-level research capacity, including sustaining current research strength and to promote research linked to national development needs.
* To restructure and consolidate the institutional landscape of the higher education system to transcend the fragmentation, inequalities and inefficiencies of the apartheid past and to enable the establishment of South African institutions consistent with the vision and values of a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society.
While we plan for the future, we need to acknowledge what we have achieved since 1994. The enrolment of Black students in higher education between 1993 and 1999 increased from 249 000 to 414 000. Similarly, there has been an increase in the enrolment of women students, with the headcount enrolment at our universities increasing by 44% (89 000) between 1993 and 1999. The challenge though is to increase the representation of Black students and women in academic programs that offer scarce skills such as accounting.
As we go forward, we intend to increase the participation rate in higher education, that is, the percentage of 20 to 24 year-olds enrolled, from 15% to 20% over the next ten to fifteen years. We concomitantly also intend to shift the balance in enrolments from 49% to 40% in the humanities; 26% to 30% in business and commerce; and 25% to 30% in science, engineering and technology.
Chairperson, let me conclude by complimenting you on the establishment of the ABASA bursary scheme, to assist our young people to study accounting at higher education institutions.
You may not be aware, but as a mechanism of increasing participation of students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds, government established the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). NSFAS seeks to ensure that academically deserving, but financially needy students are able to receive higher education, enabling them to meet their own and South Africa's development needs. During the 2002 academic year, NSFAS assisted 86,151 students with 99,873 awards worth over R733 million. NSFAS has assisted over 311,028 students with awards worth in excess of R3.7 billion since its inception. 98% of the recipients are black.
NSFAS works in partnership with the financial aid bureaus in all public higher education institutions, ensuring that it keeps its administrative and management costs to the minimum.
I regret to say there are few private sector organisations that are currently participating through this scheme. NSFAS offers a free service to the South African business community, with donors able to stipulate the course of study, gender, academic parameters, institution and year of study of the students they wish to support. ABASA and your constituent member organisations may wish to consider entering into a partnership with the NSFAS as we all have the same objectives.
Our future as a nation depends on the priority we give to the development of new knowledge and the investment in human capital. If we do this correctly, there is no reason why we should feel inferior and unable to compete with the rest of the world.
I wish you well in your deliberations.
I thank you.
Issued by: Deputy Ministry of Education
25 September 2003
Source: Deputy Ministry of Education
Title: Mangena: Annual Association for Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa
SPEECH BY THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF EDUCATION, MR M MANGENA AT THE ANNUAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF BLACK ACCOUNTANTS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA, Cape Town International Convention Centre, 25 September 2003
President of ABASA, Mr Futhi Mtoba
Chairman and Former President, Mr Biziwe Skosana
Chairperson of the Western Cape Region, Mr Ernest Carlese
Honoured guests
Ladies and gentlemen
The building of our democracy requires that government work closely with civil society. I am therefore gratified by the active interest you have shown in making our democracy work, and further your desire for our education system to support your profession.
This month on 12 September, we remembered a day that will live forever in our consciousness - that is the murder of Bantu Biko in detention. It is the genius, hard work and sacrifices of people like Steve that we have reached this point in our history; that we can have a gathering like this and discuss at this level. You will recall Steven Biko's words that "we have set on a quest for true humanity, and somewhere on the distant horizon we can see the glittering prize. Let us march with courage and determination, drawing strength from our common plight and brotherhood". I hope these words will resonate with us today as we seek to transform our education system so that it addresses the needs of our people.
Biko dreamt, worked and fought for a better future for all black people in this country. He had realised as a student in the black medical campus of the University of Natal that, no matter one's education level, no matter one's civility and irrespective of one's intelligence and ability, the system in South Africa was designed for black people to remain inferior. Bantu education and its extension to higher education was meant to ensure that the apartheid system succeeds and that black graduates remain uncritically obedient to the law and subservient to others.
It is therefore our responsibility to ensure that the current generation of young people does not go through the same or similar experiences that the likes of Steve Biko went through. The transformation of our society and in particular the education system should ensure that opportunities are made for those who were previously denied.
More than 79% (35.92 million out of total population of 44.8 million) of the population of South Africa is Black and it is disheartening to learn that there are only 337 African chartered accountants, 1048 from the Indian community and 226 from the Coloured community, bringing the total number of Black chartered accountants to 1611 in a total number of 20 000 chartered accountants in this country. Surely there is a huge discrepancy there that we need to collectively address.
Next year, we celebrate ten years of freedom and democracy. During the past decade we have been systematically dismantling one of apartheid's most successful creations, racist education.
Our vision of a transformed education system is that it must be democratic, non-racial and non-sexist. It should also promote equity of access and fair chances of success to all who seek to realise their potential through higher education. It must succeed to meet, through well-planned and coordinated teaching, learning and research programmes, national development needs, including the high-skilled employment needs presented by a growing economy operating in a global environment.
It must be able to support a democratic ethos and a culture of human rights, conducive to critical discourse and creative thinking, cultural tolerance, and a common commitment to our country and continent.
The strategies to realise and achieve this vision are articulated in a range of policies and programmes, ranging from a schooling system that is functional and producing more mathematics and science graduates as envisaged in our Dinaledi programme, through to the National Plan for Higher Education, and some of its initiatives such as the restructuring of the higher education landscape.
Dinaledi, and its moto, "Creating Tomorrow's Stars Today", captures the mood of government and civil society organisations such as Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa (ABASA), as we continue with the transformation of our society. We must give young people the opportunity to shine, to be brilliant role models, and for us to be role models to them.
Our challenge is to inspire children with excitement and fascination in those areas such as mathematics and science, and related disciplines of accounting and commerce, that have been too long regarded as being the preserve of some. The key to most previously marginal areas of study for Blacks is a good pass in Mathematics at Matric.
The ABASA school awareness program that seeks to educate our youth about opportunities in the field of accounting is a practical example of how we can work together for a common goal. I am hopeful that you will consider working closely with my department and other organisations with similar objectives. The Thuthuka programme of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants is also another example of what we can do together.
In 2001, at the launch of the Mathematics and Science Strategy of the Ministry of Education, I stated, "figures relating to the participation and attainment of our learners in mathematics and science are both alarming and depressing. These figures show that participation rates in mathematics and science at Higher Grade, as reflected in matric results in the years 1997 to 2000, is around 20%. The pass rate in these crucial subjects consistently falls below 5% of the total number of students writing matric in these four years."
Some members of our society use these figures as indicators of the decline of our country. While they are certainly alarming, they are not beyond correction.
However, in addition to our undoubted success in providing access to learners in our schooling system, the quality of the schooling system has demonstrated constant improvement. An appraisal of the 2002 Senior Certificate results provides evidence that our public education system has indeed turned the corner. Gone are the days when you would hear of perpetual leaks of Matric papers. All grade 12 learners now write preparatory exams in June and September.
The 2002 examination results have shown a significant improvement. An improvement in the pass rate from 61.7% to 68.9% (an increase of 7.2%) is a remarkable achievement. The number of under performing schools has also decreased dramatically from 472 in 2001 to 242 in 2002, which indicates a decrease of 230 schools in 2002.
In 2001 the number of candidates who passed with endorsement was 15.1%. In 2002 it was 16.9%. In 2001, 46.7% candidates passed Mathematics and in 2002 this percentage increased to 56.1%.
There has also been an increase in the percentage of candidates who passed with endorsement from 15.1% in 2001 to 16.9% in 2002. This, coupled with the improvement in mathematics and science pass rates, should assist in the objectives of ABASA.
Chairperson, our vision for transforming the education system also extends to higher education. The National Plan for Higher Education provides a road map of what should happen in order to meet the equity, quality and social development imperatives of South Africa in the 21st Century.
The Council on Higher Education in their report to the Ministry make a powerful case for higher education. "Higher education, and in particular public higher education, has immense potential to contribute to the consolidation of democracy and social justice, and the growth and development of the economy. The enhancement of democracy lays the basis for greater participation in economic and social life more generally. Higher levels of employment and work contribute to political and social stability and the capacity of citizens to exercise and enforce democratic rights and participate effectively in decision-making. The overall well-being of nations is vitally dependent on the contribution of higher education to the social, cultural, political and economic development of its citizens."
The National Plan for Higher Education identifies five key policy goals and strategic objectives necessary for achieving the overall goal of the transformation of the higher education system. These are:
* To increase access and to produce graduates with the skills and competencies necessary to meet the human resource needs of the country.
* To promote equity of access and outcomes and to redress past inequalities through ensuring that student and staff profiles reflect the demographic composition of South African society.
* To ensure diversity in the institutional landscape of the higher education system through mission and programme differentiation to meet national and regional skills and knowledge needs.
* To build high-level research capacity, including sustaining current research strength and to promote research linked to national development needs.
* To restructure and consolidate the institutional landscape of the higher education system to transcend the fragmentation, inequalities and inefficiencies of the apartheid past and to enable the establishment of South African institutions consistent with the vision and values of a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society.
While we plan for the future, we need to acknowledge what we have achieved since 1994. The enrolment of Black students in higher education between 1993 and 1999 increased from 249 000 to 414 000. Similarly, there has been an increase in the enrolment of women students, with the headcount enrolment at our universities increasing by 44% (89 000) between 1993 and 1999. The challenge though is to increase the representation of Black students and women in academic programs that offer scarce skills such as accounting.
As we go forward, we intend to increase the participation rate in higher education, that is, the percentage of 20 to 24 year-olds enrolled, from 15% to 20% over the next ten to fifteen years. We concomitantly also intend to shift the balance in enrolments from 49% to 40% in the humanities; 26% to 30% in business and commerce; and 25% to 30% in science, engineering and technology.
Chairperson, let me conclude by complimenting you on the establishment of the ABASA bursary scheme, to assist our young people to study accounting at higher education institutions.
You may not be aware, but as a mechanism of increasing participation of students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds, government established the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). NSFAS seeks to ensure that academically deserving, but financially needy students are able to receive higher education, enabling them to meet their own and South Africa's development needs. During the 2002 academic year, NSFAS assisted 86,151 students with 99,873 awards worth over R733 million. NSFAS has assisted over 311,028 students with awards worth in excess of R3.7 billion since its inception. 98% of the recipients are black.
NSFAS works in partnership with the financial aid bureaus in all public higher education institutions, ensuring that it keeps its administrative and management costs to the minimum.
I regret to say there are few private sector organisations that are currently participating through this scheme. NSFAS offers a free service to the South African business community, with donors able to stipulate the course of study, gender, academic parameters, institution and year of study of the students they wish to support. ABASA and your constituent member organisations may wish to consider entering into a partnership with the NSFAS as we all have the same objectives.
Our future as a nation depends on the priority we give to the development of new knowledge and the investment in human capital. If we do this correctly, there is no reason why we should feel inferior and unable to compete with the rest of the world.
I wish you well in your deliberations.
I thank you.
Issued by: Deputy Ministry of Education
25 September 2003
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