C Dugmore: Adult Basic Education 2005 Awards

22 March 2006

Madam Programme Director
The Head of Education - Mr Swartz
Officials of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED)
Guests from the national Department of Education
Partners from provincial government departments
City of Cape Town officials
Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) centre managers
Adult learners
Ladies and gentlemen

I think it is important that we constantly remind ourselves that communities
put us into positions, with specific mandates and expectations. As government
we were elected on the mandate of building a people's contract to fight poverty
and create work.

It is not only that we have to fight poverty and create work but it is also
the way in which we do this, that is important. The centrality of partnerships
with our communities, schools, organisations and business communities and the
manner in which we interact with one another, is critical in achieving the
national objectives.

We shall never succeed without working together and all of us must work in
ways, which build confidence within communities. This means engagement,
consultation and implementation on the basis of a mandate.

In the last decade, the South African government has prioritised the
development of our human resources, which included the transformation of our
education and training system. In this respect it has consistently increased
the financial allocation to education and training and introduced
transformatory legislative and strategic developments at national and
provincial level.

With the result that ABET level 4 is now placed on the first rung of the
National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and is an important step towards
ensuring that persons who have been unable to obtain a formal qualification or
basic education in the past, can access the NQF and continue their
learning.

I am happy to say that, last year, the external agency Umalusi declared that
the WCED had improved on its site based assessment and that the 2005
examination was conducted in a manner that upheld the integrity of the
assessment.

Last year was a significant year for ABET in the Western Cape. We had more
learners writing the ABET level 4 examinations, as well as a higher percentage
of registered learners writing the examinations than ever before. Last year we
also hosted the first ever Awards for Adults.

Fifty years had passed since the call for the "doors of learning and culture
to be opened" was made and we still heed this call within the realm of adult
education today. This is not only a government priority but should be important
to business, communities and the individuals themselves.

Yesterday we commemorated Human Rights Day and we reflect on Comrades that
perished under a hail of bullets in 1960 at Sharpeville. Their crime -
protesting against pass laws that stripped them of their basic human rights and
dignity.

Today we have a Bill of Rights enshrined within our Constitution that
protects all who lives in this beautiful country of ours and which gives real
meaning to our vision of a Home for All.

In his State of the Nation Address, President Thabo Mbeki has called on us
to "move faster to address the challenges of poverty, underdevelopment and
marginalisation confronting those caught within the Second Economy, to ensure
that the poor in our country share in our growing prosperity".

Premier Ebrahim Rasool, in his State of the Province Address said there are
signs "that we are indeed on the threshold of prosperity. But the prosperity
has to be shared by all, otherwise it will not be sustainable."

And therefore, about two weeks ago we have launched our Human Capital
Development Strategy, which is one of several pillars of Ikapa Elihlumayo, the
provincial government's development and growth plan.

Our Human Capital Development Strategy document acknowledges that our
current throughput rate in both basic and further education at adult centres is
poor, and we aim to change this through offering more appropriate programmes
and through improved delivery mechanisms.

This is important, because we have to open the doors of learning and
culture. However, it is often easier said than done. Years of oppression have
taken its toll on the psyche of our people and many still do not come forward
to claim what is by right theirs.

'Everyone has the right to basic education including adult basic education.'
To provide real meaning to this statement from the Bill of Rights, we are
therefore looking seriously at how adult education is provided in the Western
Cape.

This year we will celebrate five years of the Learning Cape Festival, which
is an initiative that highlights and profiles education, training and
development opportunities in the Western Cape, through debates, events and
workshops with the aim of popularising and promoting the concept of lifelong
learning as an important vehicle for achieving equity and redress.

The WCED has been an active participant in the annual Learning Cape Festival
and has contributed actively to ensuring that the concept of lifelong learning
has taken root in the minds of our people in the province.

The evidence shows in the increasing number of enrolments of adults in the
various programmes offered through our ABET centres, known popularly as
Community Learning Centres (CLCs).

These programmes make it possible for many adults to continue their
education that was interrupted for various reasons, or for those who have had
no exposure to education at all.

In this respect, I want to pay tribute to probably our oldest learner in
ABET, Mrs Anna Ernest from the Worcester Community Learning Centre's Touws
River satellite centre, who is 97-years-old.

She could not read and write her whole life and at this day and age has
decided to enrol for her ABET level 1 course. People like Mrs Ernest are truly
an inspiration to all of us and to entire communities.

She is the product of the commitment and dedication of our Education
Management and Development Centres (EMDC) officials in the Boland/Overberg, who
have recently launched a sustainable intervention campaign in their ABET
programmes.

Tonight is as much a celebration of inspirational people like Mrs Ernest, as
it is about our officials and teachers, who continue to display limitless
energies in the struggle against poverty.

The WCED views ABET as a key component of our Human Capital Development
Strategy, we have set ourselves the following objectives for the period 2005 to
2014 and that is to:

* develop partnerships between WCED ABET and other government
departments
* increase the number of learners by 2 500 through Expanded Public Works
Programmes and partnerships
* pilot level 1 to 4 skills-based qualifications
* provide computers to all ABET sites
* maintain government partnerships and develop new partnerships with
industry
* increase the number of learners by 2 500 each year
* provide level 1 to 4 skills-based qualifications according to need
* to provide information and communications technology (ICT) skills for all
learners.

There are businesses and private institutions providing ABET and adult
further education and we welcome their contribution to skills development in
the Western Cape. The duty of government is to provide a relevant,
needs-driven, quality adult education system for our people.

Currently, we have over 320 sites of learning for adults across the Western
Cape whom we fund directly. We also have partnerships with the Department of
Correctional Services and the City of Cape Town where we provide professional
and institutional support.

On the issue of partnerships, I want to say that our provincial government
is committed to seamless government. As the different spheres of government, we
don't have a choice but to work together in the interests of fighting poverty
and creating work.

I have noted a document from the City of Cape Town entitled, "Initial Report
of the Intergovernmental Integrated Development Task Team for the City of Cape
Town Functional Region" dated 28 February 2006.

Section 3.10 of the document deals with human and social capital
development. This section of the report pledges that "the different spheres
will work together to ensure a range of co-ordinated interventions that
maximise opportunities for human capital development at all stages of life,
from educare and pre-school through to secondary school, tertiary and adult
education."

Some areas of action, which the document proposes, include:
- improving the functioning of education and skills institutions and expanding
learning and internship programmes;
- targeted integrated youth development programmes linked to schools, sport and
recreation, including maximising the benefits of 2010 investments; and
- the provision of safe and secure public environments, including transport
facilities, schools and commercial districts.

It therefore means that both spheres of government, together with the
support of national, must inter-act closely and strategise jointly. The WCED is
in the process of compiling what we call our Education Provisioning Plan.

This plan consists of the overall matrix of every municipal district and
look at immediate needs and future development objectives. Still far from
complete, par of the idea of this plan is for our circuit managers and EMDC
directors to liaise and work closely with councils, in looking at early
childhood development (ECD), safety, transport and other issues.

I am looking forward to hear from our City of Cape Town, on how we could all
work together in equipping our youth with the necessary knowledge, skills
values and attitudes, for them to be able to contribute to the reconstruction
and development of our city, our province, our country and continent.

Let me get back to our ABET Awards of tonight. In conjunction with the
national Department of Education, the WCED conducts two full-scale ABET level 4
examinations each year - in June and October.

The top learners from specific learning areas in these examinations will be
honoured this evening and our congratulations go to all those that will receive
awards. I want to commend all the centre managers and teachers for their work
done during the year in motivating learners to write the national
examinations.

I want to salute all those learners for their perseverance, effort and
courage in writing the examinations and promoting lifelong learning. We also
are appreciative of employers that observe basic rights in giving learners time
off to write the examinations.

We call on all employers to observe this basic right to be allowed the
opportunity to write examinations for courses that one has worked so hard
toward. Promoting ABET among employees will not only be beneficial for the
learner themselves but also to their families and employers.

In this regard I want to site what is happening in Ireland for example. I
have come to learn how Ireland managed to turn their economy around. It was
based on two key elements, which was entry into and participation in the
European Union (EU), which then led to direct investments in their education
system. In other words, capacity building through networks.

Believe it or not, even the United Kingdom (UK) has similar problems to ours
when it comes to the levels of literacy and numeracy. However, what was
interesting was that their definition of literacy includes the use of everyday
technology.

Ireland, for example, had established a dedicated independent national
agency, funded by government, to run literacy programmes. Workers who want to
participate in these programmes, are given time off by their employers. The
President of the country is the patron of this agency, which is a clear
indication of the seriousness with which they are tackling the issue.

I have already identified and committed myself to making literacy and
numeracy one of my five key priorities during my term of office. The others
include school safety, infrastructure provisioning, successfully implementing
the National Curriculum Statement in schools and FET Colleges and the
re-engineering and transformation of the Western Cape Education Department.

Literacy and numeracy in the context of an increasingly globalised world,
knowledge-driven economy, continue to pose new challenges for us in Africa and
but also all over the world.

I regard all challenges in education as very important. But reading, writing
and counting, in proper, safe facilities, are absolutely fundamental to quality
education. This is fundamental to cultivating a nation, which can build,
develop, grow and maintain its economy.

Research done in KwaZulu-Natal indicates that employees who have undergone
ABET classes were better at doing their work, had better attitudes to work and
were more likely to participate in further work related courses than those that
did not attend ABET classes.

I therefore want to call on all employers to encourage their employees that
do not have a General Education and Training Certificate (GETC) - Grade 9 - or
its equivalent, to support their employees in gaining this certificate.

We further urge employers to consider providing financial incentives for
gaining a GETC as the benefits of a general education are all too important to
ignore in an ever-changing world driven by the current knowledge society. This
is an important aspect of iKapa ehlilomayo - growing the cape requires a better
educated and skilled people.

The Human Capital Development Strategy of the Western Cape aims to increase
the adult learners in ABET programmes through skill based ABET level 1 to 4
curricula.

The WCED has already restructured the ABET levels 1 to 3 programme in
association with partners Correctional Services and the City of Cape Town so
that a new modular format will be piloted at centres during this year.

The province has already conducted training of all centres within district
meetings and will monitor the progress of implementation of the project during
the course of the year.

At ABET level 4, we will continue to work with the national Department of
Education and Umalusi to improve the assessment practices and systems.

We are currently rolling out the programme of supplying all public adult
centres with an administrative computer, printer and modem. Our current
partnership programme with other government departments is thriving and we
shall endeavour to strengthen this partnership further during the next
year.

We also wish to extend our partnerships to include industry, how this will
work needs to be worked out in association with the relevant industry role
players during the coming year.

There are, however, challenges in terms of funding as we are currently fully
committed to a programme that focuses on the youth within the mainstream school
environment.

Furthermore, capacity of teachers and management at centres needs to be
developed further to cope with the demands of providing ABET and adult further
education.

In this regard, better monitoring and support systems need to be set up
within the districts to ensure that the service rendered to the learners meets
the needs of both the learner and the province as a whole.

In 2005, 56 candidates gained GETC compared to 23 in 2004. Congratulations
to all learners that achieved this milestone in their lives and we wish them
well and trust that they will continue with their studies. We also applaud the
learners that have passed some of the learning areas that they entered for last
year.

Minister of Education Naledi Pandor, has approved a list of the top 10 GETC
candidates for the country in 2005. Five of the top 10 are from the Western
Cape and we are certainly very proud of them and their achievements.

Lastly, I want to quote from Rosa Maria Torres, former Education Minister of
Ecuador, who visited our country last year, "If the children are the future,
one must realise that there is no future without the present and adults are the
present. Adult education is critical as the adults are important role models
and provide support in the education of children."

Thank you.

Issued by: Office of the MEC for Education, Western Cape Provincial
Government
22 March 2006