7 September 1999
Chairperson
Master Of Ceremonies
Ladies And Gentlemen
Comrades
Friends
It is always something of an honour – though mildly intimidating - to be invited to address the Cape Town Press Club. It is known as a vibrant gathering of people with highly critical faculties. That is the mildly intimidating part of it. But let me thank you most sincerely for the honour you have shown me in asking me to give you my views on education, which is the new portfolio responsibility that I carry in the Government.
Without wishing overly to soft-soap you, I think it can be said that your club, particularly in the interesting and worthwhile lunches it gives, operates in the tradition of the great press clubs of the world, such as Washington and London. Whatever you ar e doing, you are doing it right, for you have managed to achieve a high profile and the respect of many people. Now, suitably indulged, you will no doubt give me a hearing on the issue of education, and I shall look forward to whatever questions you might like to put afterwards.
My brief is to speak on my perceptions of the major problems besetting education in South Africa and how I propose to solve them.
An old Chinese saying has it that "if you want to move an inch, you have to speak a mile" You will appreciate that, as I want to see the education and training system move many miles, I have to speak for many millions of miles! And if you think that I am s omewhat ambitious about my expectations for education in South Africa, I say to you: Were we over-ambitious when we firmly believed in achieving democracy in a country beset by repression? No we were not. It is necessary to raise the expectations of people , to inspire them and to make them believe that they can, working together, achieve their hopes. That is what we are doing in education, and I make no apology for that. We have set goals that are daunting but, I believe, realisable – for instance, breaking the back of illiteracy within five years.
Although my present tenure as Minister of Education has so far been less than three months, my involvement in education goes back more than 40 years. After starting off as a schoolteacher in Stanger, in exile I spent some thirty years as an academic and hu man rights lawyer. With the benefit of hindsight, the decision to spend my first month in office listening and learning, with an open mind, has proved invaluable. I met with over one hundred and twenty organisations. I was subjected to copious briefings fr om my officials. I read a large volume of documents. I also had meetings with my colleagues the provincial MECs for Education as well as with the Heads of Provincial Education Departments. I listened, I questioned, I learnt, and sometimes I later disagreed . My presentation today is based on the insights I acquired through this very valuable experience.
I am reassured by the fact that we have excellent policies and laws in education and training. I am inspired by the commitment and enthusiasm of the many people in the education and training system that I met during my first month in office. But, I am extr emely concerned about the inevitable conclusions that spring from my inquiry. We have not succeeded in ameliorating the devastating impact of apartheid on the education and training of the majority of our people. Many weaknesses and shortcomings have survi ved – indeed thrived – in the first five years of democratic government. Large parts of the system are dysfunctional.
It is not be an exaggeration to say that there is a crisis at each level of the system. Poor communities, particularly rural Africans, continue to bear the brunt of rampant inequalities in the system. Teacher morale is dangerously and unacceptably low. The re are obvious and inexcusable failures of governance and management. Many of our learning sites (schools, colleges, universities and technikons) are plagued by a constant threat of violence. On Arbor Day we planted a tree at Anchor School in Soweto in mem ory of three teachers recently gunned down at the place where they should have been safe, their own school. While addressing the school community who are trying to come to terms with this most profound trauma, I was aware that just a few days before a youn g student was shot to death outside his school in Kwa-Mashu, KwaZulu-Natal. I was aware of a 15-year-old pupils killed in Mowbray with a gun apparently bought in a taxi for R15. I am aware as I speak today of many other incidents that provide grim testimon y to the fear of violence. I am aware that young girls particularly, and female teachers, face harassment of the worst kind. The human rights and dignity of our learners are being undermined. Their right to learning, to nurturing and development is being c ompromised. We will not put up with this. It is our non-negotiable intention to make our schools the centres of community life, havens of peace and not places of violence and conflict.
In addition to the above problems, we face the most grim and daunting challenge in the form of HIV/AIDS. Recent statistics show that the infection rate is highest for young South Africans. It is this age group that serves as the most important repository o f human resources for the country. It is the age group within which society has invested many resources to develop a human resources pool for our social and economic needs. It is the age group from which we draw the bulk of our teacher corps. It is the age group which contains parents of the very young children that participate in the education and training system, that provides the nurturing and support required by our learners. The Education and Training system must respond to the impact of mortality on t eachers and learners, to the trauma that accompanies protracted illness and death of close relatives, care-givers and providers, and to the need for impacting on sexual behaviour through education. On Wednesday last week I announced the National Policy on HIV/AIDS for learners and educators in public schools and students and educators in Further Education and Training Institutions. My ministry is presently involved in formulating further strategies to address this national priority. I have insisted that our response must be commensurate with the scale and potential implications of the problem.
In reviewing the problems in education, I am aware that the 21st century, the new millennium, is closing in on us, presenting new and important challenges. It is within this rapidly constricting window of opportunity that we must harness and focus the educ ation and training system to improve our nation’s competitiveness in the global economy, improve our social capital and improve the quality of life of all South Africans.
At the first cabinet meeting of his presidency, President Mbeki asked me: "Is our education system on the road to the 21st century?" A simple but profound question. I have concluded that we are certainly not ready to meet the challenges of the 21st century . I must hasten to add that this applies to all sections of the system, to black and white, rich and poor.
Despite the achievements of the first five years, I cannot countenance the many problems that plague our education and training system. As a government and as a nation we cannot countenance the present situation. It must be brought to an early end.
On 27 July 1999, I released a document entitled: "Call to Action: Mobilising Citizens to build a South African Education and Training system for the 21st Century", and it is available to any of you from my Ministry. In it I announced that we have a crisis in education. I also announced the following nine priorities for arresting the most intractable problems in the system:
My ministry has already done much work to formulate strategies in response to these priorities. However, these priorities are not confined to the Minister or the Department of Education, they are priorities for the whole system; for officials, for parents, for teachers, for learners, indeed for civil society and its institutions. We must all pursue these priorities with a sense of utmost urgency. While our people have been very patient, we must acknowledge that we have not met our constitutional responsibil ities in respect of education and training. We must acknowledge that the 21st century is beckoning; the hour is late! We have to get things dealt with immediately, with a steadfastness and thoroughness that is born from the realisation that there will be n o second chance. I want to say emphatically that we have a national emergency on our hands. Consequently, our response will reflect a sense of utmost urgency. We must command extraordinary effort, collective purpose and creativity of action. I have decided to invoke the Setswana word "tirisano", or working together, to capture the spirit that must infuse everything we do. The responsibilities that weigh on all of us are indeed great.
The collective soul of our nation still bears deep lacerations inflicted by apartheid. The problems in education occur and are shaped by this reality. Indeed, the President has called for an RDP of the soul. The solutions we seek cannot be restrictive and technical. We must reinstate values, morality, and decency as the bedrock of school life. We must instil a commitment to real peace and order, not a crude law and order that our new democracy forever banished from our lives. We need to rediscover the civil virtue of voluntary service, and this means what you, yes you, can do voluntarily to make our education system work. I have called on the active support of all South Africans to meet these challenges.
In the time available I can elaborate further on only some of the strategies we will invoke.
I have undertaken actively to pursue improvements in the capacity and productivity of our human and physical resources in the education and training system. My ministry is involved in a number of strategies to improve the professional quality and esteem of the teaching force. I have resolved to strengthen these efforts and to build on the excellence demonstrated by many teachers in the system. I have also resolved to accelerate efforts to improve the professional quality and effectiveness of the officials i n the departments of education in their support and management of the system. The President enjoined teachers to teach, learners to learn and managers to manage. We have taken up this challenge. I will do everything I can to create enabling conditions and to support capacity development for everyone charged with the delivery of education. I will also work hard to improve accountability at all levels of the system. We are presently formulating a set of delivery indicators for the education and training syste m. These indicators will inform what we do, how we do it, at what cost and by what date. Significantly, they will provide a basis for accountability.
There are many examples of fine effort throughout the education and training system. I am constantly struck by the commitment, industry, and creativity of people, often despite very difficult conditions. Unfortunately, there are sometimes also serious laps es in probity. I have already served notice that I will not hesitate to invoke all the legal instruments available to ensure that such lapses in probity are effectively dealt with and forever purged from the system. I will make known my dissatisfaction to student and staff associations, and indeed to the public.
I have announced that I intend to take responsibility, with the Minister of Finance, for collaborative work on provincial education budgets, together with provincial MECs for education and MECs for economic affairs and finance. I have also informed my coll eagues in the provinces and my officials that I intend to make a report, at quarterly intervals, to the President on our progress in improving education and training in South Africa. We will uphold our accountability to the government and to the people of South Africa. I have also instructed that my senior officials will physically visit the provinces to acquaint themselves with problems and to emphasise the national department’s links with all levels of government in this critical area.
Let me conclude by saying that I feel really excited - fired up – about meeting the challenges that lie ahead. As a government we will try hard, and then try again. But government alone cannot solve the problems in education. The solution lies in the heart s and minds of all South Africans. We have made the diagnosis. The vital signs are worrying. The prognosis is contingent on the successful mobilisation of all South Africans toward improving this important enterprise, the education and training system. It is a mobilisation that must transcend the political, racial, ethnic, and class divisions of society.
It is a mobilisation within which the media has a significant role to play. The electronic and print media have for some time been making an important contribution to education and training, some more than others There has been an invaluable contribution t hrough educational programming on radio and television and educational supplements in the print media. [I gather that I am referred to in the Department of Education – in my absence I must add – by a nickname inspired by a popular educational programme.] T he feature articles and reports on various issues in education have helped to inform and heighten accountability. Let me take this opportunity to register my personal appreciation of these contributions. Let me also take this opportunity to call on you to contribute to the national mobilisation of all South Africans behind the challenges and priorities that we face as a nation. You have an important role. Your contribution can be invaluable. No one is telling the media what to write and what to broadcast. W hat we in Government are saying is that we should appreciate, in the spirit of tirisano, your constructive involvement in our efforts, your commitment to the generation that is to come, which means to the future of our country.