Date: 10/08/2004
Source: Ministry of Education
Title: E Surty: Early childhood development workshop consultative workshop
SPEECH BY THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF EDUCATION, MR ENVER SURTY, MP, AT THE EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP, Burgers Park Hotel, Pretoria, 10 August 2004
Chairperson
UNICEF Country Representative, Dr Misrak Elias
Chairperson of the South African Congress for ECD, Rev Botha Tshabalala
Representatives of the National Development Agency
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It gives me great pleasure to be part of this important workshop. As the Ministry of Education we have always encouraged and supported inter-sectoral collaboration. The workshop has come at an opportune time, when the Government is in the process of developing an integrated plan for Early Childhood Development (ECD).
Our first ten years of freedom and democracy have been ten years of growing unity in action; ten years of peace and stability; ten years of increasingly making resources, in the hands of the State, available to the most disadvantaged people in South Africa; ten years of expanding opportunities to build a better life for all and to create a regulatory environment that will ensure access to basic services to all.
In his State of the Nation address in May this year, the President highlighted three important challenges in the struggle against poverty, these are:
* encouraging the growth and development of the first economy and increasing its possibility to create jobs;
* implementing our programme to address the challenges of the second economy; and
* building a social security net to meet the objectives of poverty alleviation.
These, ladies and gentlemen, are the challenges that should keep us focused for the coming five years especially if we want to strengthen our young and growing democracy. The building of strong partnerships is a critical element of this commitment.
The ECD sector is the responsibility of all of us. We should develop and support integrated programmes and policies and encourage growth and development for those in our communities who continue to take responsibility for developing our most precious gifts, our children. The sector should assist us in creating opportunities for the poor to improve their lot, while contributing meaningfully to raising and educating our children.
In response to these challenges, the Minister of Education, Mrs. Naledi Pandor, in introducing the debate on the education budget in the National Assembly, made a commitment to provide increased access to early childhood development, a need which begins long before Grade R. This is an area where we should generate new community partnerships in line with our promise of a people's contract. The needs of young children cannot and should not be the responsibility of any one department or sector. We all have to join hands in providing a holistic service to our young citizens.
The commitment made by our Minister to expand the reach of ECD builds on our policy statement contained in Education White Paper 5 on ECD, the contents of which I am sure you are all familiar with.
In all our policies and programmes, we have understood ECD to mean a process by which children from birth to 9 years grow and thrive physically, mentally, emotionally, morally and socially within a family and community context. It is this definition that leads us to seek an integrated approach to the provision of ECD services to all our people.
This broad understanding of ECD is particularly important because, as we all know, the history of the majority of our children is one of deprivation, in which a range of social inequalities and inadequacies has negatively affected their development. It is this history that the Government seeks to negate.
The Department of Education has already taken the responsibility for the phasing in of Grade R in schools and community-based sites. Our target is to reach 500 000 learners by the end of 2006. This will be increased gradually to meet the 2010 target of one million children.
We acknowledge that providing ECD for children younger than five years requires a variety of programmes that draw on several departments and levels of government, non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations, families and parents.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am not here to tell you what you already know, but I am here to offer support to your initiatives and to reaffirm the Government's commitment to an integrated approach to service delivery.
Many of you will be aware that the Government has adopted the Expanded Public Works Programme as one of the key pillars of delivery in the next five years. The main objective of the programme is to use public sector budgets to reduce unemployment and poverty by creating work opportunities through skills development.
In order to enhance the implementation of the EPWP, the Government has developed specific sector plans. One of these is the Social Sector plan. The current focus of the EPWP Social Sector programme is on ECD and Home and Community-Based Care. This will be expanded to include other programmes such as adult education and food relief.
The Social Sector plan challenges us as Government to coordinate and implement an integrated plan together with key role players such as the Sector and Education Training Authorities, the South African Qualifications Authority, Training Agencies, our Teacher Unions and all other relevant structures and partners.
The major challenge, which we have to tackle head-on as part of the Government's intervention on ECD, is the levelling of playing fields. In this regard, we aim to increase access to ECD programmes for all children, especially the poor and to improve the quality of such programmes as a matter of urgency.
Quality ECD provisioning will increase educational efficiency that will allow learners to go through a developmentally appropriate curriculum, acquire the basic concepts, skills and attitudes required for successful learning and development prior to and soon after entering the education system, thus reducing children's chances of failure.
I am sure you will agree with me that any society that adheres to a minimum notion of social justice should take measures to prevent children from being "doomed for life" simply because they are born in poverty. Providing ECD programmes is one of the most powerful tools we have to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty.
A recent analysis of the current nature, context and status of ECD provisioning in South Africa reveals two other key challenges. These are:
* an incomplete and fragmented policy framework for ECD, resulting in uncoordinated service delivery; and
* insufficient funding.
It is for this reason that the Government has prioritised integrated planning on ECD as one of the key deliverables during the current term of office.
Integrated planning and collaborative service delivery is vital for the effective use of available resources. A sector that is as under-funded as ECD is, cannot afford to duplicate services, or to provide unsupported services that fail to reach optimal levels.
As part of the Government's Programme of Action for 2004-2005, the Department of Education has been working closely with the Presidency and the Departments of Health and Social Development to address the country's ECD needs, including the establishment of a legislative framework to provide quality ECD provisioning, comprehensive health care provision, access to social security and skills development.
As I draw closer to the end of my address, please allow me to express our gratitude to our other partners, UNICEF and the National Development Agency, for their continued financial support and commitment in working together with the Government to improve service delivery for young children.
It is through UNICEF's involvement in working with orphans and vulnerable children that we will be able to make an impact in this area of work. The NDA's continued involvement in assisting the Government to provide financial assistance to organisations for advocacy and development within the ever-changing political context needs to be commended and encouraged.
In conclusion, the President has committed all of us to improving the quality of life for its young and needy citizens. Our role is to ensure that we intervene meaningfully to increase access to ECD programmes, improve the quality of such programmes, and provide millions of our children with a solid foundation for lifelong learning and development in the 21st century.
I wish you well in your deliberations.
I thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Education
10 August 2004
Source: Ministry of Education
Title: E Surty: Early childhood development workshop consultative workshop
SPEECH BY THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF EDUCATION, MR ENVER SURTY, MP, AT THE EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP, Burgers Park Hotel, Pretoria, 10 August 2004
Chairperson
UNICEF Country Representative, Dr Misrak Elias
Chairperson of the South African Congress for ECD, Rev Botha Tshabalala
Representatives of the National Development Agency
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It gives me great pleasure to be part of this important workshop. As the Ministry of Education we have always encouraged and supported inter-sectoral collaboration. The workshop has come at an opportune time, when the Government is in the process of developing an integrated plan for Early Childhood Development (ECD).
Our first ten years of freedom and democracy have been ten years of growing unity in action; ten years of peace and stability; ten years of increasingly making resources, in the hands of the State, available to the most disadvantaged people in South Africa; ten years of expanding opportunities to build a better life for all and to create a regulatory environment that will ensure access to basic services to all.
In his State of the Nation address in May this year, the President highlighted three important challenges in the struggle against poverty, these are:
* encouraging the growth and development of the first economy and increasing its possibility to create jobs;
* implementing our programme to address the challenges of the second economy; and
* building a social security net to meet the objectives of poverty alleviation.
These, ladies and gentlemen, are the challenges that should keep us focused for the coming five years especially if we want to strengthen our young and growing democracy. The building of strong partnerships is a critical element of this commitment.
The ECD sector is the responsibility of all of us. We should develop and support integrated programmes and policies and encourage growth and development for those in our communities who continue to take responsibility for developing our most precious gifts, our children. The sector should assist us in creating opportunities for the poor to improve their lot, while contributing meaningfully to raising and educating our children.
In response to these challenges, the Minister of Education, Mrs. Naledi Pandor, in introducing the debate on the education budget in the National Assembly, made a commitment to provide increased access to early childhood development, a need which begins long before Grade R. This is an area where we should generate new community partnerships in line with our promise of a people's contract. The needs of young children cannot and should not be the responsibility of any one department or sector. We all have to join hands in providing a holistic service to our young citizens.
The commitment made by our Minister to expand the reach of ECD builds on our policy statement contained in Education White Paper 5 on ECD, the contents of which I am sure you are all familiar with.
In all our policies and programmes, we have understood ECD to mean a process by which children from birth to 9 years grow and thrive physically, mentally, emotionally, morally and socially within a family and community context. It is this definition that leads us to seek an integrated approach to the provision of ECD services to all our people.
This broad understanding of ECD is particularly important because, as we all know, the history of the majority of our children is one of deprivation, in which a range of social inequalities and inadequacies has negatively affected their development. It is this history that the Government seeks to negate.
The Department of Education has already taken the responsibility for the phasing in of Grade R in schools and community-based sites. Our target is to reach 500 000 learners by the end of 2006. This will be increased gradually to meet the 2010 target of one million children.
We acknowledge that providing ECD for children younger than five years requires a variety of programmes that draw on several departments and levels of government, non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations, families and parents.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am not here to tell you what you already know, but I am here to offer support to your initiatives and to reaffirm the Government's commitment to an integrated approach to service delivery.
Many of you will be aware that the Government has adopted the Expanded Public Works Programme as one of the key pillars of delivery in the next five years. The main objective of the programme is to use public sector budgets to reduce unemployment and poverty by creating work opportunities through skills development.
In order to enhance the implementation of the EPWP, the Government has developed specific sector plans. One of these is the Social Sector plan. The current focus of the EPWP Social Sector programme is on ECD and Home and Community-Based Care. This will be expanded to include other programmes such as adult education and food relief.
The Social Sector plan challenges us as Government to coordinate and implement an integrated plan together with key role players such as the Sector and Education Training Authorities, the South African Qualifications Authority, Training Agencies, our Teacher Unions and all other relevant structures and partners.
The major challenge, which we have to tackle head-on as part of the Government's intervention on ECD, is the levelling of playing fields. In this regard, we aim to increase access to ECD programmes for all children, especially the poor and to improve the quality of such programmes as a matter of urgency.
Quality ECD provisioning will increase educational efficiency that will allow learners to go through a developmentally appropriate curriculum, acquire the basic concepts, skills and attitudes required for successful learning and development prior to and soon after entering the education system, thus reducing children's chances of failure.
I am sure you will agree with me that any society that adheres to a minimum notion of social justice should take measures to prevent children from being "doomed for life" simply because they are born in poverty. Providing ECD programmes is one of the most powerful tools we have to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty.
A recent analysis of the current nature, context and status of ECD provisioning in South Africa reveals two other key challenges. These are:
* an incomplete and fragmented policy framework for ECD, resulting in uncoordinated service delivery; and
* insufficient funding.
It is for this reason that the Government has prioritised integrated planning on ECD as one of the key deliverables during the current term of office.
Integrated planning and collaborative service delivery is vital for the effective use of available resources. A sector that is as under-funded as ECD is, cannot afford to duplicate services, or to provide unsupported services that fail to reach optimal levels.
As part of the Government's Programme of Action for 2004-2005, the Department of Education has been working closely with the Presidency and the Departments of Health and Social Development to address the country's ECD needs, including the establishment of a legislative framework to provide quality ECD provisioning, comprehensive health care provision, access to social security and skills development.
As I draw closer to the end of my address, please allow me to express our gratitude to our other partners, UNICEF and the National Development Agency, for their continued financial support and commitment in working together with the Government to improve service delivery for young children.
It is through UNICEF's involvement in working with orphans and vulnerable children that we will be able to make an impact in this area of work. The NDA's continued involvement in assisting the Government to provide financial assistance to organisations for advocacy and development within the ever-changing political context needs to be commended and encouraged.
In conclusion, the President has committed all of us to improving the quality of life for its young and needy citizens. Our role is to ensure that we intervene meaningfully to increase access to ECD programmes, improve the quality of such programmes, and provide millions of our children with a solid foundation for lifelong learning and development in the 21st century.
I wish you well in your deliberations.
I thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Education
10 August 2004
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