Source: Ministry of Education
Title: Pandor: Japan Education Forum II
Keynote address by Naledi Pandor, MP, Minister of Education, Republic of South Africa, at the Japan Education Forum II, Tokyo
8 February 2005
"Girls Education: the View from South Africa"
Good morning, everybody, and thank you very much to the chairperson for the very kind introduction. It is indeed a great pleasure to be with you this morning. I would like to thank the colleagues from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology for being with us this morning, particularly the Ministry of Education in Japan for providing the support for the conference of this nature.
Today I will address important issues relevant to educational development, and particularly relevant to educational development in our continent, Africa, where we face the challenge of ensuring that women and girls enjoy the opportunity for access to as well as success in education.
I have submitted to the organisers a written paper, which I understand has been translated and will be provided to you during the course of this conference. In order not to repeat myself, I have chosen to extract what I believe are the core issues from my paper, issues which are relevant to the challenge of advancing girls education, and which relate particularly to South Africa initiatives in this regard.
First, I think its important to say that the subject of girls education is an important one for all our countries, because none of us have got it right as yet. Its particularly important for the millions of girls in developing countries who are denied education everyday. I think as we discuss the subject today, we must also remind ourselves that the biggest challenge to succeeding in educating girls exists outside education. It exists in our families. It exists in our community arrangements. Because the barriers to the access of girls emanate from the social context in which girls find themselves, it is not merely a matter of government policy. It,
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