Date: 19/07/2003
Source: Ministry of Education
Title: Mangena: Launch of Intombi Seminar
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF EDUCATION, MR MOSIBUDI MANGENA, AT THE LAUNCH OF THE INTOMBI SEMINAR, East Rand School of the Arts, 19 July 2003
Programme Director,
MEC for Education,
Mr Ignatius Jacobs,
Learners,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen
The department remains committed to upholding the principle of equality for all learners. We will continue to ensure that no group or category of learners is unfairly discriminated against. We are aware that because the Intombi Project is dedicated towards increasing the participation and success of specifically the girl learners in mathematics, science and technology education, it is likely to raise the question why we seem to be discriminating against the boys by focussing only on the girls, when all black children suffered the same fate under apartheid and Bantu education?
Although the situation differs from one society to the other and from one family to another, our social systems are generally skewed in favour of the boy-child because our societal norms perceived him as the future breadwinner and decision maker, the one who was destined to carry the family name and lead the nation. Consequently, many families often neglected the development of the girl child outside the family setting.
Our socialisation processes inculcated these gender biases through the different roles and responsibilities assigned to girls and boys. The most damaging effect of this differential treatment accorded to the sexes was the denigration of the so-called female roles. In order to develop balanced and well-rounded capabilities for both girls and boys, it is important for both sexes to be raised and socialised in such a way that each understands and can perform tasks and jobs that would traditionally be assigned to the opposite sex. Such a practice will go a long way towards reversing perceptions that females are inferior to males.
During their most formative years children spend 80% of their waking time in learning and training environments. Outside the family set-up, therefore, educational institutions and teachers carry enormous responsibility in ensuring the development of unbiased gender relations within their young charges. Unfortunately, social practices and expectations, sometimes aided and abetted by the reliance of many families on girls for domestic labour, have connived to discourage many girls from choosing mathematics, science and technology education, because these subjects generally demand more time and attention than those in the humanities and social science categories.
In order to redress these imbalances, we need to implement some measure of fair discrimination or equitable redress in favour of those who are normally subjected to greater disadvantage by society, and the Intombi Project is one of those programmes that are aimed at bringing about gender equity within the mainstream of our education system. This programme is therefore an attempt to correct one of the most unfortunate social attitudes, and to give more girls the same opportunity as boys to pursue any career choice. The programme also intends to affirm the inherent value and dignity of the girl-child and to show that biological difference does not imply difference in terms of innate qualities such as intelligence, capability and skill.
Unfortunately, inequalities and stereotyping still exist in some classrooms, and a lot of advocacy education is needed for a complete change in the mindsets of educators, School Governing Bodies and learners. Conscious of the fact that particularly African males suffered as much as the females under apartheid, the department would, nonetheless, still like to see more girl-learners pursue the previously male dominated careers, so that the critical mass of black people in these strategic economic activity areas is realised in the shortest possible time. Consequently, we have adopted a multi faceted approach to address the question of race and gender imbalances and bring equity within the education system to enable all our learners to have an equal opportunity to follow whatever career options they wish.
First, is the Dinaledi Project that is currently being run in 102 schools nationally. We understand girls from the only Dinaledi school in this district are present among us and we would like to warmly welcome them. The main focus of this project is to change the traditional face of science, mathematics and technology education in this country, and to increase the number of learners taking and passing these subjects on the higher grade. Many schools have been encouraging their learners to take these subjects on the standard grade, thus effectively closing opportunities for many learners to further their studies in the sciences and related disciplines.
Second, the Department launched the Girls Education Movement (GEM) in March 2003 in the National Assembly. The GEM is an African based child-centred and child-led grass roots movement launched in Uganda in 2001. We need to have more girls in schools, learning, becoming educated and succeeding in their own right. This programme is founded on universal human rights principles. Some of the goals and objectives of the GEM are:
(a) Promoting equal access to education for girls,
(b) Delivering improved quality of education for both girls and boys,
(c) To enable African girls to participate in decision making about their education,
(d) To provide girls with opportunities to develop and exercise their leadership and technical skills,
(e) Promoting safety and security for the whole school community especially the most vulnerable members,
(f) Promoting and sustaining girls' access to science, mathematics and technology,
(g) Establishing gender responsive curricula and life skills training to empower girls against sexual abuse and exploitation, and
(h) To tap the potential of boys, men and women to work in partnership with girls to promote equitable, accessible and high quality education in Africa, and through education create equitable and just societies.
The Department's motto on the GEM is "I am my sister's keeper", and we have established a direct e-mail link through the GEM website: www.gem.gov.za. We believe that communities will indeed become their sisters' keepers by giving us information via the website or letters about girls that are being kept out of school by circumstances beyond their own control. Once they receive information, our officials will initiate processes that would ensure that such girls are rescued and taken to where they ought to be - schools.
From 2001, through the Girls Education Movement, the department, in partnership with the Unicef, conducted girls' camps for mathematics, science and technology in the Limpopo Province. And in KwaZulu-Natal the girls visited mines, the South African Broadcasting Corporation and oil refinery plants. In your district we understand that the 180 girls in this programme have already visited the platinum refineries in Springs, participated in the "Take a Girl-Child to Work" programme, and visited a platinum mine in Rustenburg where they interacted with different types of engineers attached to the mine. All these initiatives are aimed at demystifying what were believed to be the so-called men-only jobs.
In the area of information and communication technology, girls in Limpopo and Eastern Cape Provinces are partnering with community radio stations by broadcasting educative and informative messages on gender issues and gender violence. We would like the message about the importance of educating girls to reach and be understood by many people - parents, policy makers, educators and other girls and boys.
We wish to convey our sincere gratitude and commendation to all the women role models in the science and technology fields, who have been so generous with their time and shared information about their chosen careers. We hope that our girls will leave this place sufficiently inspired to follow in your courageous footsteps. And to you girls, we hope that the information you received will be used profitably to yield the fruit that is worth the efforts and resources invested.
Through these programmes the department's intention is to identify and develop a cadre of girl learners who will not only be the advocates for gender equity and children's rights, but will also become leaders and mentors to their peers and society in other spheres such as research, entrepreneurship, health, environment, security and sport.
It may not be immediately clear why we are paying particular attention to the girls' education when our country is doing better than most sub-Saharan countries as far as eliminating gender disparities and inequality is concerned. The truth is, disparities still exist in enrolment rates. There are more boys than girls enrolled at primary level and more girls than boys at secondary level. In some instances, particularly in remote rural areas of the country, girls drop out of primary school in order to care and support household members, while boys are more prone to opt for employment and do not complete their secondary school education within appropriate time frames. This situation cannot be allowed to continue unchecked. That is why the reasons for dropping out are being investigated so that appropriate intervention strategies are designed.
The department has also realised that girls are facing many other obstacles caused by societal ills such as poverty. Because girls are still largely under-valued by society, when family members become incapacitated by illness or old age, girls are often the first to be relegated to the caregiver status, thus further compromising their chances of self-development and success. They are also the most defenceless and vulnerable, hence they are more open to rape, sexual harassment and gender-based violence in schools and society. These and many other reasons make the education of girls a priority.
Educating girls and boys is a necessity. But increasing access is not the only issue. We need to retain boys and girls in the education system to allow them a chance to become active participants in the decision-making processes on classroom matters and later on in society as a whole. To be effective in these roles, our children do not only need to be adequately equipped with skills, knowledge, values and attitudes, but they also require their self-confidence to be strengthened to the extent that they are able to command and give direction to others. The Curriculum 2005 Life Skills Programme also aims to achieve these objectives.
In closing, we would like to commend and congratulate Ekurhuleni East District for the bold and decisive steps you are taking to improve and enrich the education of the children in this area. By facilitating interaction between the role models and the learners, you are showing our children that education indeed does have value, and that by making the right subject choices in school many of them will avert the problem of unemployment after graduating from universities and technikons.
I thank you.
Issued by Ministry of Education
19 July 2003
Source: Ministry of Education
Title: Mangena: Launch of Intombi Seminar
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF EDUCATION, MR MOSIBUDI MANGENA, AT THE LAUNCH OF THE INTOMBI SEMINAR, East Rand School of the Arts, 19 July 2003
Programme Director,
MEC for Education,
Mr Ignatius Jacobs,
Learners,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen
The department remains committed to upholding the principle of equality for all learners. We will continue to ensure that no group or category of learners is unfairly discriminated against. We are aware that because the Intombi Project is dedicated towards increasing the participation and success of specifically the girl learners in mathematics, science and technology education, it is likely to raise the question why we seem to be discriminating against the boys by focussing only on the girls, when all black children suffered the same fate under apartheid and Bantu education?
Although the situation differs from one society to the other and from one family to another, our social systems are generally skewed in favour of the boy-child because our societal norms perceived him as the future breadwinner and decision maker, the one who was destined to carry the family name and lead the nation. Consequently, many families often neglected the development of the girl child outside the family setting.
Our socialisation processes inculcated these gender biases through the different roles and responsibilities assigned to girls and boys. The most damaging effect of this differential treatment accorded to the sexes was the denigration of the so-called female roles. In order to develop balanced and well-rounded capabilities for both girls and boys, it is important for both sexes to be raised and socialised in such a way that each understands and can perform tasks and jobs that would traditionally be assigned to the opposite sex. Such a practice will go a long way towards reversing perceptions that females are inferior to males.
During their most formative years children spend 80% of their waking time in learning and training environments. Outside the family set-up, therefore, educational institutions and teachers carry enormous responsibility in ensuring the development of unbiased gender relations within their young charges. Unfortunately, social practices and expectations, sometimes aided and abetted by the reliance of many families on girls for domestic labour, have connived to discourage many girls from choosing mathematics, science and technology education, because these subjects generally demand more time and attention than those in the humanities and social science categories.
In order to redress these imbalances, we need to implement some measure of fair discrimination or equitable redress in favour of those who are normally subjected to greater disadvantage by society, and the Intombi Project is one of those programmes that are aimed at bringing about gender equity within the mainstream of our education system. This programme is therefore an attempt to correct one of the most unfortunate social attitudes, and to give more girls the same opportunity as boys to pursue any career choice. The programme also intends to affirm the inherent value and dignity of the girl-child and to show that biological difference does not imply difference in terms of innate qualities such as intelligence, capability and skill.
Unfortunately, inequalities and stereotyping still exist in some classrooms, and a lot of advocacy education is needed for a complete change in the mindsets of educators, School Governing Bodies and learners. Conscious of the fact that particularly African males suffered as much as the females under apartheid, the department would, nonetheless, still like to see more girl-learners pursue the previously male dominated careers, so that the critical mass of black people in these strategic economic activity areas is realised in the shortest possible time. Consequently, we have adopted a multi faceted approach to address the question of race and gender imbalances and bring equity within the education system to enable all our learners to have an equal opportunity to follow whatever career options they wish.
First, is the Dinaledi Project that is currently being run in 102 schools nationally. We understand girls from the only Dinaledi school in this district are present among us and we would like to warmly welcome them. The main focus of this project is to change the traditional face of science, mathematics and technology education in this country, and to increase the number of learners taking and passing these subjects on the higher grade. Many schools have been encouraging their learners to take these subjects on the standard grade, thus effectively closing opportunities for many learners to further their studies in the sciences and related disciplines.
Second, the Department launched the Girls Education Movement (GEM) in March 2003 in the National Assembly. The GEM is an African based child-centred and child-led grass roots movement launched in Uganda in 2001. We need to have more girls in schools, learning, becoming educated and succeeding in their own right. This programme is founded on universal human rights principles. Some of the goals and objectives of the GEM are:
(a) Promoting equal access to education for girls,
(b) Delivering improved quality of education for both girls and boys,
(c) To enable African girls to participate in decision making about their education,
(d) To provide girls with opportunities to develop and exercise their leadership and technical skills,
(e) Promoting safety and security for the whole school community especially the most vulnerable members,
(f) Promoting and sustaining girls' access to science, mathematics and technology,
(g) Establishing gender responsive curricula and life skills training to empower girls against sexual abuse and exploitation, and
(h) To tap the potential of boys, men and women to work in partnership with girls to promote equitable, accessible and high quality education in Africa, and through education create equitable and just societies.
The Department's motto on the GEM is "I am my sister's keeper", and we have established a direct e-mail link through the GEM website: www.gem.gov.za. We believe that communities will indeed become their sisters' keepers by giving us information via the website or letters about girls that are being kept out of school by circumstances beyond their own control. Once they receive information, our officials will initiate processes that would ensure that such girls are rescued and taken to where they ought to be - schools.
From 2001, through the Girls Education Movement, the department, in partnership with the Unicef, conducted girls' camps for mathematics, science and technology in the Limpopo Province. And in KwaZulu-Natal the girls visited mines, the South African Broadcasting Corporation and oil refinery plants. In your district we understand that the 180 girls in this programme have already visited the platinum refineries in Springs, participated in the "Take a Girl-Child to Work" programme, and visited a platinum mine in Rustenburg where they interacted with different types of engineers attached to the mine. All these initiatives are aimed at demystifying what were believed to be the so-called men-only jobs.
In the area of information and communication technology, girls in Limpopo and Eastern Cape Provinces are partnering with community radio stations by broadcasting educative and informative messages on gender issues and gender violence. We would like the message about the importance of educating girls to reach and be understood by many people - parents, policy makers, educators and other girls and boys.
We wish to convey our sincere gratitude and commendation to all the women role models in the science and technology fields, who have been so generous with their time and shared information about their chosen careers. We hope that our girls will leave this place sufficiently inspired to follow in your courageous footsteps. And to you girls, we hope that the information you received will be used profitably to yield the fruit that is worth the efforts and resources invested.
Through these programmes the department's intention is to identify and develop a cadre of girl learners who will not only be the advocates for gender equity and children's rights, but will also become leaders and mentors to their peers and society in other spheres such as research, entrepreneurship, health, environment, security and sport.
It may not be immediately clear why we are paying particular attention to the girls' education when our country is doing better than most sub-Saharan countries as far as eliminating gender disparities and inequality is concerned. The truth is, disparities still exist in enrolment rates. There are more boys than girls enrolled at primary level and more girls than boys at secondary level. In some instances, particularly in remote rural areas of the country, girls drop out of primary school in order to care and support household members, while boys are more prone to opt for employment and do not complete their secondary school education within appropriate time frames. This situation cannot be allowed to continue unchecked. That is why the reasons for dropping out are being investigated so that appropriate intervention strategies are designed.
The department has also realised that girls are facing many other obstacles caused by societal ills such as poverty. Because girls are still largely under-valued by society, when family members become incapacitated by illness or old age, girls are often the first to be relegated to the caregiver status, thus further compromising their chances of self-development and success. They are also the most defenceless and vulnerable, hence they are more open to rape, sexual harassment and gender-based violence in schools and society. These and many other reasons make the education of girls a priority.
Educating girls and boys is a necessity. But increasing access is not the only issue. We need to retain boys and girls in the education system to allow them a chance to become active participants in the decision-making processes on classroom matters and later on in society as a whole. To be effective in these roles, our children do not only need to be adequately equipped with skills, knowledge, values and attitudes, but they also require their self-confidence to be strengthened to the extent that they are able to command and give direction to others. The Curriculum 2005 Life Skills Programme also aims to achieve these objectives.
In closing, we would like to commend and congratulate Ekurhuleni East District for the bold and decisive steps you are taking to improve and enrich the education of the children in this area. By facilitating interaction between the role models and the learners, you are showing our children that education indeed does have value, and that by making the right subject choices in school many of them will avert the problem of unemployment after graduating from universities and technikons.
I thank you.
Issued by Ministry of Education
19 July 2003
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