MECs and HODs
Leaders of Teacher Unions,
Representatives of the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) and South African Council of Educators (SACE)
Representatives of Higher Education South Africa( HES) and Education Deans Forum
Our teachers
Departmental officials
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Let me express my appreciation to all of you for attending the launch of the Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development.
I’m glad this event is happening after the 2011 State of the Nation Address in which the President underscored the importance of the Triple Ts – Teachers, Time and Texts. Best deployed, these 3 Ts become primary levers for turning around the education system.
Teachers are a critical pillar of the 3 Ts, thus the need to pay special attention to their education and development.
The Mckinsey Report on Schooling excellence, based on a study of 25 school systems, says: “the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers”.
This confirms a long held view that competence levels of teachers in subject knowledge and teaching skills is a key variable in the improvement of the schooling system.
The Mckinsey report has strengthened this understanding in its identification of the three aspects enabling top performing schooling systems worldwide to achieve excellence, namely:
- Selecting the right people to become teachers
- Improving instruction through continuous professional development
- Creating systems and targeted support to ensure that every child benefits from excellent instruction.
The three aspects singled out by McKinsey emphasise the centrality of teacher quality and support systems.
The Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development will help address many of the challenges and quality issues plaguing the education system.
It will assist us greatly to focus on those critical aspects that make best schooling systems come out tops while we are still consulting on an integrated Teacher Education and Development Plan. What informed the release of the framework was the time required to complete a detailed plan as mandated by the Teacher Development Summit of 2009.
Work has to be done even as consultation with stakeholders and finalisation of the plan unfold. It would not be like a platoon marching without orders. We have the recommendations of the Teacher Development Summit which spell out what needs to be done.
We have also developed an education sector plan, Action Plan to 2014: Towards the Realisation of Schooling 2025, which provides a clear direction on targets and outcomes around teacher development.
The Delivery Agreement which we entered into, in October 2010, is also very clear on the need to proceed with speed in this critical area of giving the system and our children quality teachers who are up to the challenges of the 21st Century.
This performance agreement meant to advance Outcome 1 of the 12 outcomes adopted by government to improve service delivery, calls upon us to provide an improved quality of basic education.
Education being the apex priority of government, we have no luxury to wait for the laborious drafting and finalisation of a blueprint. Thus the decision to launch a strategic planning framework while work continues on this front.
Releasing the framework enables us timeously and appropriately to consult with stakeholders. How you all engage with the framework will go a long way in giving South Africa an effective teacher development plan for a top schooling system.
Having on board the Department of Higher Education and Training will further advance and strengthen our resolve to improve the quality of the teaching corp. This is a prerequisite for quality training and quality teaching.
Notwithstanding its current form and status, as a framework and precursor of the final plan, the strategic planning framework is a product of diligent work. It has been moulded and shaped with the involvement of key stakeholders in the sector over the last year and a half.
It represents substantial research and thinking on the critical areas to be addressed. The framework document should help us to respond to the following:
- Making the field of teacher development more coherent, better coordinated and collaborative.
- Strengthening and consolidating information systems that would yield a strong, reliable and up-to-date picture of demand, supply and deployment of teachers.
- Increasing supply of teachers in areas of need, based on evidence, through an ongoing recruitment drive. This will help in ensuring that every class has a qualified teacher for each subject; and
- Supporting teacher development needs in the initial training phase and during in-service.
Our targets on teacher development include: consistently attracting increased numbers of young qualified teachers; filling vacant posts; achieving the appropriate number of hours teachers spend in professional development activities; reducing teacher absenteeism and ensuring full coverage of the curriculum.
Even as we finalise the plan, substantial work continues to be done. And as we discharge this responsibility, we will not lose sight of South Africa’s socio-economic realities of inequality to which the education system is not immune.
Since the 2009 Teacher Development Summit, we have done work in a number of areas.
Recruitment of teachers has improved considerably. Higher Education Institutions have indicated that they have received high quality applications. Their intake has increased by close to 40%, in part due to the provision of funding through the Funza Lushaka bursary programme.
The Funza Lushaka programme has already produced close to 5 534 teachers in only 4 years. We are working on diversifying our recruitment drive to ensure that even the most remote areas are targeted.
We recently reported to the fourth Conference of the Education, Training and Development Practices SETA, on March 25, that for the 2009/2010 cycle the DBE and provinces have invested R714 240 195 on the development of teachers. This investment will have a significant impact on improving the quality of teaching and learning.
Provincial Education Departments have aligned their plans to the priorities of teacher development. Support sessions for subject advisors have been conducted.
Preparation for the introduction of the revised Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements is also on course. Provinces are targeting the July and September school holidays to orientate Foundation Phase and Grade 10 teachers about the CAPS.
A process for supporting teachers in the area of inclusive education has also started. The DBE has held a workshop last month focusing on the sector dealing with visual and hearing impairment. This will help in improving quality and provision of inclusive education. Participants included school managers, district officials and organisations in the sector.
We are taking deliberate steps to improve the capacity of subject advisors and school management teams, and to address challenges related to multi-grade teaching and unqualified and under-qualified teachers. More attention will be paid to schools that have performed below 60% in the Grade 12 exams.
Going forward, the Annual National Assessments we have introduced in 2011 for Grades three, six and nine will help in identifying schools requiring more assistance.
Our department has already engaged the Education Deans Forum on the priorities identified in the teacher development framework.
We have also begun a process of supporting and collaborating with teacher unions on teacher professional development work.
Work has already started on the establishment of a National Institute for Curriculum and Professional Development. A stakeholder seminar on this matter will be held soon.
We trust that all of us will take the necessary steps to ensure this planning framework makes a substantial contribution to teacher education and development. Your input and contribution to the finalisation of a detailed integrated teacher education and development plan is very vital.
Working together we can improve the quality of basic education.
Lastly, and this I must emphasise, our priority for 2011 is to make schools effective. Without skilled and competent educators, there cannot be quality teaching.
To educators, my message is this: First and foremost, you are knowledge workers. At the very least, you’ve got to have a PC at home. You’ve got to be connected. Your learners are. Every principal must have an email address. Gone are the days of the telegram.
I thank you.
Source: Department of Basic Education
