Johannesburg 19 May 2000
Chairman, Mr Mike Rosholt
Vice-Chair, Ms Naledi Pandor
Director, Nick Taylor
Ladies and Gentlemen
I always thought that JET was a character in a radio serial and that he was supported by his cousin CHET. In the past year I have had to learn a whole new dictionary of acronyms, JET was one of them. And still I come across new ones!
I am pleased to be at this Joint Education Trust meeting today particularly because the work being done by JET is a good example of partnership. The three main sectors involved include the government, the private sector and the non-governmental organisations sector. For some time now it has been the government’s view that such partnerships are essential for the development of our country.
I am sure that everyone here can remember when the public provision of education for the majority of our citizens was bitterly contested. "We shall open the doors of learning to all" was one of the most heartfelt pledges of the Freedom Charter. Our democratically chosen government cannot be exonerated from the burden of making good on that promise.
We know only too well about the havoc that apartheid unleashed on the education system and everyone in it, and the destructive effect of much of the active and passive resistance to apartheid authority in education. I want to draw attention to the fact that, before 1994, the fundamental aims of public education in South Africa had never been formulated with the welfare of all South Africans in mind. Such aims can only emanate from a government that enjoys the consent of all the people of South Africa. Out of a racially fragmented society, we have had to create a non-racial and democratic system. So the challenge is to build a system for a democratic society and one which will equip us to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.
Learning must lead to employment if we are to achieve a better life for all. The economic future of our country relies on the steps we now take to make our education and training system fit for the 21st Century. Of course preparing our people for employment is simply not enough. As a Government we need to work in close cooperation with all levels of government, the private sector and civil society to ensure that jobs become available and that employment levels increase. I sympathise with the objectives of COSATU who have raised to new heights their concerns about the lack of employment creation. But our views about the implication of this aim may diverge.
Despite large-scale job-eliminating initiatives made possible by technological and information related developments I do not believe that we are reaching a stage of the "End of Work". Nevertheless jobs are increasingly under threat and we have to examine all avenues open to us, as well as the way in which we organise work and prepare people for work, to ensure that job creation will be a reality rather than a dream.
Schools form the backbone of the education system, and the poor performance of a very large proportion of institutions comprising the schooling sector – provincial offices, districts and schools - ensures that many South Africans have little hope of bettering their lives. Many leave school barely literate and therefore unable to undertake anything but the most menial work. The ineffectiveness and inefficiency of the sector, which consumes by far the largest share of the total annual education budget, is an ongoing national concern.
Our education system needs to provide the range of skills needed for building South Africa's economy and for the reconstruction of our country so that we can compete globally and provide for the enormous development needs of our society. The globalisation of our world is not something we can simply wish away.
Schools are the primary public institutions for developing a sense of values in young citizens, including social awareness, good work habits, and the understanding and tolerance of cultural diversity, and group, gender and individual rights. For this reason I asked Professor Wilmot James to convene a team to make recommendations about values, education and democracy. I am sure that you have seen some of the media reports on the Report itself. Unfortunately much of the coverage centered only around the suggestion of a pledge to be recited by pupils and the learning of a third language. I would recommend that you read the report, it is available on our website, as I am sure it will be useful in influencing much of the work you do.
Getting schools to the point where they succeed in achieving these goals is the only long-term solution to eradicating racism, ignorance and poverty in South Africa, which in turn are at the root of the many problems we face in the aftermath of apartheid: huge inequities in wealth distribution, skills shortages in every area of the economy, poor growth rates, disease, illiteracy, intolerance and crime.
Yet our schooling sector is a long way from delivering on this mandate. Although we have one of the highest rates of expenditure on education in the world, the performance of a large number of our schools leaves much to be desired.
As a result this government has prioritised improving the effectiveness of schooling. In January I launched our five-year implementation plan under the banner of Tirisano – ‘working together’. The five programmes deal with HIV/AIDS, School Effectiveness and Educator Professionalism, Literacy, Further and Higher Education, and Organisational Effectiveness of the National and Provincial Departments.
I personally monitor progress with the implementation of the plan and I am pleased that it is proceeding relatively smoothly. We have had a number of focus sessions on critical areas in education such as religion in schools, an assessment of our experience with farm schools, and a workshop on school governing bodies. Tonight I will be participating in a conference on music in education. We will extend our focus to other areas as well, such as the teaching of history and the usefulness of sport in schools. We are committed to looking at schools as a whole including the role to be played by the community and the private sector.
You will also have read that there has been increased focus on teacher discipline and professionalism, some of this is contained in existing and new rules and regulations, and some in legislation currently before before parliament.
Shortly I will receive an important report from a task team which will make recommendations with respect to our interpretation and implementation of outcomes-based education in South Africa, particularly Curriculum 2005. I hasten to add that as government we remain committed to the principles of outcomes-based education but a review was necessary to deal with some of the difficulties that have been experienced so far. Some of the impetus for the review arose from the your research project which resulted in the report ‘Getting Learning Right’. I am grateful to one of your staffers and an author of the report, Penny Vinjevold, who is playing an important role as a member of the team in the review process currently taking place.
Next month the Council on Higher Education will provide me with a report and recommendations on the size and shape of the higher education sector. This has also generated considerable press coverage and already all sorts of deductions have been made. This study has been necessitated by the changing needs of the sector and particularly by the severely skewed structure we inherited in 1994. There is one aspect that has caused more concern than any other. This is the misinformed notion that I intend to close historically disadvantaged institutions. I have no intention of doing so. In fact we have continued to support all institutions, especially the weakest, to assist them in continuing with their operations.
Public/private partnerships, as I have already mentioned constitute an important element of government strategy in improving the quality of our education system. It is estimated that at present no fewer than 10% of the poorest performing schools in the country benefit from development programmes run as partnerships between South African business, offshore donors and local NGOs.
I know that JET is a leading South African agency in this field, having a direct role in the management of programmes reaching over 1600 under-performing schools. Your involvement in four of the largest school development programmes operating at present is both significant and much appreciated. The most recent of projects that you are involved in is the Quality Learning Project, a collaboration between the Department of Education and the Business Trust, and managed by JET which was agreed to last year.
I am pleased to be involved in the project which is designed to work with 500 secondary schools selected from 18 Districts across the country and will be implemented over the next five years. I must confess that every time I see the total budget I again count the zeros. A total budget of R139 million is a lot of money to spend. Hopefully it will be wisely spent on the stated objectives of firstly improving the educational performance of learners in mathematics and reading skills, and secondly, of enhancing the capacity of the education system to sustain learner performance.
I certainly look forward to seeing the progress you make in this respect particularly how you intend to achieve the objectives set out for you. As an NGO you are no doubt aware that you are under constant scrutiny from all sides – it comes with the territory!
The work being done, particularly in our schools and colleges, with the assistance of the Business Trust would not be possible without the millions of Rand being made available by the private business sector as well as their expertise and experience. Many business organisations are also contributing to specific projects around the country, some of them inspired by the urgings of our former President, Mr Nelson Mandela, who continues to support the development of educational opportunities in our country.
I have recently reminded my department that I am committed to calling an Education Parliament towards the end of the year in which I want to involve as many role players as possible. It will provide us with an important opportunity for stocktaking and valuable insight into the success of our implementation plan. I hope that you will agree to being part of it. Maybe you might also play a role in assisting to organise it?
In closing I want to reflect on our mutual relationship. JET was born out of the democratic movement’s desire to bring business, the progressive political movement and the education sector closer together to find solutions to the problems that, 10 years ago, we knew we would encounter when we finally took over the reins of power.
Since we entered government 6 years ago our political movement has tended to move more towards state building and the development of policy and away from a project-driven approach. As a result our relationship in recent years has not been as close as it might have been. In the months ahead I think we need to rectify this so that as the main political partner we can again contribute in a more meaningful manner to the work of the Trust.
Therefore I urge you to build a closer relationship with the Department of Education as well as that you continue to give us your full support and assistance with the implementation of our Tirisano Plan.
I thank you for this opportunity to talk to you today.