Issued by The Presidency
State Theatre, 23 November 2000
When I received the invitation to be the keynote speaker here, tonight it occurred to me that my host for the evening, the current Deputy Minister of Education and Executive Mayoral candidate for the Tshwane Metro might, at this moment in time, be suffering from acute role confusion.
Knowing him, however, I suspect that he is not finding this double consciousness too difficult to manage. Judging by his previous role as priest-by-day and political-activist-by-night, he is well equipped to handle his current situation.
On a more serious note, the imminent transplantation of someone from education to local government calls for some reflection. One might ask the question whether there is a role for local government in education, beyond refuse removal and the supply of water and electricity to schools.
Six years into the drive to transform our society, we are all well aware that sound policy is only the beginning. In the education context the real challenge, you will agree with me, is not to be found in government offices but in schools and community centres and halls -with the learners and educators and parents.
That lesson is true of local government as well. The plans and promises that we make are merely the starter and implementation and delivery are the main course. They constitute the biggest challenge, as they take place in the homes and the streets and the community centres where our people are.
Local government is the one tier of government closest to the people. While national government has committed itself to continuously find ways to better the lives of South Africans, it is at local government level that communities generally expect to see palpable delivery on that commitment.
With local government being so much more in touch with the people, it is in a good position to ensure that our children have the necessary tools to equip them for the challenges of the future. Community libraries, for example, have over the years, been a useful service in filling up the gaps left by an inadequate education system.
In the light of the expansion of our communities, an expansion in the provision of this service would be most welcome. This should target, in particular, the informal settlements, whose residents are less likely to afford books on their own.
Over the years, we have come to appreciate the importance of early childhood education, hence the recent financial commitment by the Minister of Finance to this band of education.
Since our proposed Early Childhood Development policy provides for a diverse group of providers, it is up to our municipalities to take the initiative and access government and private sector funding to increase the number of ECD sites under their administration.
While the impact of early childhood learning is little understood, it is interesting to note that a study by the World Bank found that countries which provide early childhood education to their young perform better, economically, than those countries where ECD is not provided as a matter of course.
I mentioned earlier the more traditional role of municipalities in providing basic services to our schools. I am sure you will all agree with me that our best plans for educating our children would be incomplete without the provision of an appropriate environment for effective learning to take place.
This would entail keeping schools and their surrounding environments clean, ensuring an adequate and reliable supply of water and electricity to schools and maintaining proper sanitation. These services sound mundane and are generally taken for granted.
Close analysis, however, reveals that they are as critical as the provision of library facilities and more classrooms. There is, I believe, a direct link between the physical environment in which education takes place and the quality of education that takes place in that environment.
Although occasionally, some pupils in schools situated in slum areas, and within a violent environment, do excel, this is an exception rather than the rule.
On the other hand, pupils in schools situated in a clean, calm environment, even with limited facilities, are more likely to perform exceptionally.
One of the challenges still facing us in providing adequate facilities for all South Africans, is that as we have kept pace with the demand for housing, maintaining a corresponding growth in recreational facilities such as sport fields and parks has been difficult.
There is still a serious lack of adequate recreational facilities for our children, especially after school hours. Many of our children are condemned to spending their days glued to television screens.
While many municipalities have begun to tackle this problem, there is still a lot to be done to ensure that our children receive adequate stimulation outside of the classroom. This is important also in the context of arresting moral degeneration amongst our children.
Local government is perfectly placed to serve as a catalyst for linkages between higher education institutions and schools within metros. It is also imperative that schools and further education and training institutions, as well as higher education institutions within metros, develop links to synchronise their curricula and research, where applicable, with local economic development programmes. Again, Metros could play a role in facilitating such linkages.
Higher education institutions also have a role to play in building capacity within the municipalities in which they are located. Limited managerial capacity remains a challenge and weakens our ability to accelerate economic development for the complete socio-economic transformation of our country.
In this regard, higher education institutions should play a greater and closer role in empowering councillors and local government officials with the skills required for the successful management of that transformation.
It is because of this possible interface between education and local government I have outlined, that I think Father Mkhatshwa's move to local government is not necessarily complete deviation from education. I believe that local government has much to offer education, just as education has a lot to offer local government. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to say a few words on the coming local government elections. In a sense this forthcoming election is the most important we shall face in our young democracy in so far as it accords us the opportunity to interact more closely with our representatives.
I urge all South Africans to use this opportunity to contribute to the ongoing transformation of our society. For us as South Africans, the right to vote is not something to be taken lightly.
Those of us who have been following the election process in the United States of America will probably understand the frustration of those millions of Americans who chose not to vote and how they must be kicking themselves now for their unfortunate decision.
I urge all South Africans therefore, to come out in their numbers on December 5 and ensure that their voices are heard.
If there is a lesson to be learned from the election drama in the United States, it is simply that: EACH AND EVERY VOTE COUNTS!
I thank you all.
Contact: Mathula Magubane on 082 371 1315