Date: 04/10/2005
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Title: Masango: 2005 National Leaner Support and Development Conference
Address by MEC Siphosezwe Masango on the occasion of the 2005 National Learner Support and Development (NALSD) conference, Crocodile Country Inn
Programme Director
Acting Head of Department, Mr CM Mashaba
Chairperson of the NALSD, Dr L Naicker
Representatives from the National Dept. of Education
Representatives from other Provincial Departments
School Principals
Educators
SGB Members
Learners
Sponsors
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
We are on course to educate the nation!
The past few weeks have indeed been very exciting to us. On 23 September 2005, we were at Badplaas Aventura to celebrate and congratulate educators who have achieved in the provincial leg of the National Teaching Awards. The Awards included:
* Excellence in Primary Teaching and Leadership.
* Excellence in Secondary School Teaching and Leadership.
* Excellence in Special Needs Teaching.
We also hosted the Ngoma and Indigenous Games Festival as part of our continuous efforts to ensure the ongoing revival of the indigenous culture in schools through the promotion of arts and culture.
A few days ago, we hosted the Library and Information Association of the South Africa (LIASA) Conference. The three occasions I have just made mention, were a resounding success and would like to express my profound thanks and words of applause to all the officials for a job well done. Halala!
Today we are hosting the sixth National Association for Learner Support and Development Conference whose theme is: “The well being of a learner: Holistic Development in Education.” We feel honoured and humbled to host a conference of this magnitude and of such great importance, whose primary objectives are:
* To promote the use of sound learner and educator support and development principles within the context of education and training in all South African education settings.
* To promote communication between professionals who are committed to the improvement of the mental health of learners and educators in the South African settings.
* To promote the democratic rights of learners and educators in all South African settings.
* To initiate and promote co-operation with other organisations working for purposes similar to those of NALSD in order to help learners and educators.
I therefore take a special pride in addressing this occasion tonight. The plight of learners with impairments and Special Needs has for years been overshadowed by the lack of foresight by the then apartheid government.
The then education system offered very little (if any) to the said learners. The plight of these learners is in fact, ladies and gentlemen the plight of the country as a whole.
The government is fully committed to giving undivided and unconditional support to learners for their ultimate development
This conference should serve to further highlight the exclusion of learners with disabilities at various levels of society, including education and the formidable obstacles to participation they still face.
Our constitution guarantees the right to:
* Basic education, including Adult Basic Education and
* Further education, which the State through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible.
Given this background, Programme Director, it is my belief that this conference will be able to debate and review the developments in the theory and policies on inclusive education and the provisioning of support to learners.
Learners with disabilities have for decades been ostracised from the mainstream society and have in some instances been seen as a curse and a symbol of bad luck.
It is therefore unacceptable that the subsequent torrid circumstances of these children can be allowed to progress unabated in our school system.
As we are tirelessly working towards turning the situation around, it is hoped that delegates to the conference will have a clear conceptualisation of inclusive education, and how the barriers to the inclusive and mainstreaming of learners can be removed.
The mainstream participation of learners with impairments and those categorized as having Special Education Needs cannot and should not be postponed any further.
It is for this reason, Programme Director, that I see this conference as vital in seeking to empower and equip our educators with the requisite skills and abilities to assist and support our learners.
Failure to intervene decisively in the lives of learners with impairments and special needs, might spell doom in their future.
Our timely intervention will greatly minimise chances of learners developing personality disorders that may make them feel like natural misfits both in the school system and in the entire community.
As we increasingly open the doors of learning and culture to all, let us continue encouraging parents to reclaim their role in the education of their children. In order to develop successful children we need a collective intervention by parents, government and business. Positive parenting is one of the cornerstones promoting healthy and successful outcomes for children.
Support from government alone, will not suffice in ensuring the realization of the new learner cadre and a new intelligentsia I referred to in the Policy and Budget Speech I presented to the Provincial Legislature on the 29th June 2004.
All learners, irrespective of their physical and/or intellectual condition must enjoy the light of the day brought about by freedom and democracy.
In conclusion Programme Director, the late Presidents of the African National Congress, OR Tambo, a gallant son of the African Continent, in his opening address to the historic Harare Conference, a conference devoted to the plight of children said: “We meet here today because we recognise that our lives have meaning only to the extent they are used to create social conditions which will make the lives of children better, happy, full and meaningful.”
This wisdom of experience could not have been interpreted otherwise, but only to mean that children are moulded by what society offers them and they plough back what society has given to them.
Ayihlome Ifunde!
Issued by: Department of Education, Mpumalanga Provincial Government
4 October 2005
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Title: Masango: 2005 National Leaner Support and Development Conference
Address by MEC Siphosezwe Masango on the occasion of the 2005 National Learner Support and Development (NALSD) conference, Crocodile Country Inn
Programme Director
Acting Head of Department, Mr CM Mashaba
Chairperson of the NALSD, Dr L Naicker
Representatives from the National Dept. of Education
Representatives from other Provincial Departments
School Principals
Educators
SGB Members
Learners
Sponsors
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
We are on course to educate the nation!
The past few weeks have indeed been very exciting to us. On 23 September 2005, we were at Badplaas Aventura to celebrate and congratulate educators who have achieved in the provincial leg of the National Teaching Awards. The Awards included:
* Excellence in Primary Teaching and Leadership.
* Excellence in Secondary School Teaching and Leadership.
* Excellence in Special Needs Teaching.
We also hosted the Ngoma and Indigenous Games Festival as part of our continuous efforts to ensure the ongoing revival of the indigenous culture in schools through the promotion of arts and culture.
A few days ago, we hosted the Library and Information Association of the South Africa (LIASA) Conference. The three occasions I have just made mention, were a resounding success and would like to express my profound thanks and words of applause to all the officials for a job well done. Halala!
Today we are hosting the sixth National Association for Learner Support and Development Conference whose theme is: “The well being of a learner: Holistic Development in Education.” We feel honoured and humbled to host a conference of this magnitude and of such great importance, whose primary objectives are:
* To promote the use of sound learner and educator support and development principles within the context of education and training in all South African education settings.
* To promote communication between professionals who are committed to the improvement of the mental health of learners and educators in the South African settings.
* To promote the democratic rights of learners and educators in all South African settings.
* To initiate and promote co-operation with other organisations working for purposes similar to those of NALSD in order to help learners and educators.
I therefore take a special pride in addressing this occasion tonight. The plight of learners with impairments and Special Needs has for years been overshadowed by the lack of foresight by the then apartheid government.
The then education system offered very little (if any) to the said learners. The plight of these learners is in fact, ladies and gentlemen the plight of the country as a whole.
The government is fully committed to giving undivided and unconditional support to learners for their ultimate development
This conference should serve to further highlight the exclusion of learners with disabilities at various levels of society, including education and the formidable obstacles to participation they still face.
Our constitution guarantees the right to:
* Basic education, including Adult Basic Education and
* Further education, which the State through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible.
Given this background, Programme Director, it is my belief that this conference will be able to debate and review the developments in the theory and policies on inclusive education and the provisioning of support to learners.
Learners with disabilities have for decades been ostracised from the mainstream society and have in some instances been seen as a curse and a symbol of bad luck.
It is therefore unacceptable that the subsequent torrid circumstances of these children can be allowed to progress unabated in our school system.
As we are tirelessly working towards turning the situation around, it is hoped that delegates to the conference will have a clear conceptualisation of inclusive education, and how the barriers to the inclusive and mainstreaming of learners can be removed.
The mainstream participation of learners with impairments and those categorized as having Special Education Needs cannot and should not be postponed any further.
It is for this reason, Programme Director, that I see this conference as vital in seeking to empower and equip our educators with the requisite skills and abilities to assist and support our learners.
Failure to intervene decisively in the lives of learners with impairments and special needs, might spell doom in their future.
Our timely intervention will greatly minimise chances of learners developing personality disorders that may make them feel like natural misfits both in the school system and in the entire community.
As we increasingly open the doors of learning and culture to all, let us continue encouraging parents to reclaim their role in the education of their children. In order to develop successful children we need a collective intervention by parents, government and business. Positive parenting is one of the cornerstones promoting healthy and successful outcomes for children.
Support from government alone, will not suffice in ensuring the realization of the new learner cadre and a new intelligentsia I referred to in the Policy and Budget Speech I presented to the Provincial Legislature on the 29th June 2004.
All learners, irrespective of their physical and/or intellectual condition must enjoy the light of the day brought about by freedom and democracy.
In conclusion Programme Director, the late Presidents of the African National Congress, OR Tambo, a gallant son of the African Continent, in his opening address to the historic Harare Conference, a conference devoted to the plight of children said: “We meet here today because we recognise that our lives have meaning only to the extent they are used to create social conditions which will make the lives of children better, happy, full and meaningful.”
This wisdom of experience could not have been interpreted otherwise, but only to mean that children are moulded by what society offers them and they plough back what society has given to them.
Ayihlome Ifunde!
Issued by: Department of Education, Mpumalanga Provincial Government
4 October 2005
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