launch of the Dinaledi Schools, Perseverance College Hall, Kimberley
9 September 2006
Our girl learner Programme Directors,
MEC Gomolemo Lucas
South African Bureau of Standards CEO, Mr Kuscus
Dr Nukeri from South African Agency for Science and Technology
Advancement
ABSA General Manager Mr Jenneke
Mr Bojang from Maskew Miller
Mr Mecoamere for the Sowetan and Telkom Trust
Mr Mphahlele from the Department of Science and Technology
Mr Manzini from the Department of Minerals and Energy
Ms Mogamisi from the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
HOD Williams and the Education Management Team
Members of our school governing bodies
School managers and educators
Media representatives
Learners
Ladies and gentlemen
As we launch the second phase of the Dinaledi Schools today, we do so in the
knowledge and hope that through activities such as this one, we can continue to
inspire more of our young people to follow careers in science and
engineering.
We do so knowing that these seeds that we sow today, will bear fruit
tomorrow and will continue to enhance and improve the scientific literacy among
our youth and among all our people.
Ladies and gentlemen, science and technology is one of the most powerful
tools available for sustainable development. Therefore, it is imperative for us
as government to assume a leading role in creating an environment in which
innovations and advances in science and technology are systematically absorbed
into the culture of our people. We have an obligation to ensure that the
necessary infrastructure is in place to facilitate the use of science and
technology in the development of our province.
Amongst the challenges we have to confront as a nation is the effective use
of science and technology as a means of wealth creation and the promotion of
people-centred development. When we first became a democracy, a large section
of the population had little access to information about science and
technology. There was a general absence of scientific literacy and awareness
particularly among black people.
Fortunately our new government was quick to realise that if the problem was
not addressed and urgently so, it would limit the ability of disadvantaged
groups to participate meaningfully in the countryâs transformation processes.
In his opening address to parliament in 1999, President Mbeki committed the
government to a special initiative to boost mathematics and physical science
education, when he said: "Special attention will need to be given to the
compelling evidence that the country has a critical shortage of mathematics,
science and language teachers and to the demands of the new information and
communication technologies." This predicated the development of a science and
technology sub- education system that would benefit the poorest and most
disadvantaged members of our society. Thus the first phase of the Dinaledi
Schools project was launched in 2001.
This was done in response to the low participation and performance rates in
mathematics, science and technology education experienced up to 1999 as well as
the need to highlight the centrality of these subjects as part of the
governmentâs Human Resource Development Strategy. A total of 102 schools were
then declared Dinaledi Schools nationally, with four schools in our province
declared as such.
A lot of progress has taken place since then, with the participation and
performance rates improving significantly, but there still remains great
concern over the lack of greater numbers of students entering the mathematics,
science and technology disciplines at school and at tertiary levels and the
ratio of women to men in this pool only exacerbates the situation.
In a clear demonstration of government's commitment to accelerate the
creation of a better life for all our people, cabinet approved the widening and
deepening of the Mathematics, Science and Technology Strategy, which will run
from 2005 to 2009. We are therefore gathered here today to launch the second
phase of the Dinaledi Schools, having recognised the need to re-ignite and
sustain interest in these disciplines.
These Dinaledi Schools, which are schools that are dedicated to mathematics,
science and technology, will now increase from 102 schools nationally to 400
schools. Our Dinaledi Schools in the province will also increase from four to
ten schools. An extra four schools will be added to this from the Kgalagadi
District to bring the total to 14 schools. Not only are we looking at
increasing the numbers of the schools and the learners taking these subjects,
we are also looking at strengthening the support base of these schools to
ensure that the quality of these initiatives is further enhanced.
A five-year project plan has been formulated under the theme "Creating
tomorrowâs stars today." This theme is apt given the need to renew human
resources in these critical areas and also re-affirms governmentâs commitment
to creating a better future for our young people. The primary objectives of
this launch is to continue to raise public awareness about these study fields,
to further improve the intake and performance and to enhance the role and
participation of the girl learner in them, whilst at the same time continuing
to improve the capacity to deliver quality education in them.
In order to ensure that these objectives are achieved, the MEC made the
following commitments in his annual Budget Speech earlier this year:
* mathematics, mathematical literacy and science will be compulsory subjects in
2007 in all the Dinaledi Schools
* an initial amount of R2,5 million was allocated for training of 671 maths and
science educators
* a qualified and competent maths and science teacher will be placed in every
classroom
Programme Directors, we are living in exciting times in our second decade of
freedom, where as a country and particularly as a province, we have the
opportunity of making science and technology work towards improving the quality
of life of our people and to enhance economic growth. Our province has unique
geographical strengths which if properly explored and exploited, could generate
several socio-economic benefits. Among countries bidding to host the Square
Kilometre Array (SKA), the global project that will, amongst others, enable the
investigation of the formation of stars and galaxies in the very early
universe, South Africa through our province, enjoys definite geographical
advantage. We hope that this will indeed translate into our national
benefit.
By harnessing and promoting our social uniqueness in the province, our
geographical advantages and our indigenous knowledge, we have the potential of
becoming a premier science and technology destination in the world. Our
province is also a major player in our country's quest towards becoming a
"portal" in space science, technology and astronomy and through the Southern
African Large Telescope (SALT), which is the largest optical telescope in the
Southern Hemisphere, we will be able to record distant stars and galaxies a
billion times too faint to see with the naked eye.
As government we see these investments in leading edge research and
technology, as an investment in the future of South Africa and of this province
and launches such as the Dinaledi Schools, can only serve to firmly entrench us
on the road to achieving our goals. The challenge that faces us now is to build
on the significant contributions to science that had been made and to
rejuvenate and broaden the demographic participation base of our province so
that we maximise the opportunities that we can derive from scientific
innovations and use them to combat poverty, diseases, food insecurity and
underdevelopment.
Much as we are well placed with our unique geographical strength, we also face
a critical shortage of skills to man and manage these landmark developments,
such as the Telescope in Sutherland, and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in
the Karoo. We are confident that with the Maths, Science and Technology (MST)
Strategy, through the Dinaledi Schools project, we will be able to overcome
this problem. For this reason, we call on our young people to take up maths ,
science, technology and the languages, including our indigenous languages, to
be in a position to access critical careers as project management, engineering,
astronomy in order to operate those telescopes and study the stars, thus
ensuring that those historical developments are fully operational at all
times.
We call on our young people to grasp the opportunities that those who came
before them did not have. We call on our young people to grasp the
opportunities that many who came before them even laid down their lives to
achieve. As we celebrate and commemorate the 50th and the 30th Anniversaries of
the Womenâs March and the Soweto uprisings respectively, we call on our young
people to seize the opportunities that our democracy has made available.
Ladies and gentlemen, the face of our province continue to be disfigured by
the dreaded scourge of HIV/AIDS, as well as other diseases. We can never have
enough doctors and nurses to deliver our people from these scourges. Many of
our children continue to suffer the injustice of violence, rape and substance
abuse. So, we can never have enough nurses and social workers. Let our children
therefore take those subjects that will enable them to access those scarce
skills careers.
Let me take this time to reiterate our obligation and willingness as
government, in partnership with the private and social sectors, to support and
encourage the development of a strong scientific base in our province, from
primary school level to graduate level at all our institutions of higher
learning, in order to provide fundamental building blocks for all other
scientific activity.
The continued challenge of our education system remains the frozen
demographics in the science and technology workforce, both with respect to race
and gender. The only way to overcome this challenge in a sustainable manner is
to create the necessary feedstock for the system and initiatives such as the
Dinaledi Schools will go a long way towards achieving that goal.
We also encourage all the young people, our present and future scientists to
explore the wonders of mathematics, science and technology with their fellow
South Africans. These are truly the tools that can change the world and also
change your own lives. Let me take this time to congratulate the following
young ambassadors of our province, who through their various achievements, have
ensured that our province continues to occupy centre stage, both nationally and
internationally:
* Nomathemba Mashope from Thabane High School, who represented the province in
Spain in July this year as an Eskom Science Expo gold medalist
* Dirk Uys from Northern Cape High School, who for the second consecutive year,
took part in the Maths Olympiad in Mexico
* Lorato Kitso Kitchin, also from Northern Cape High School, who took part in
the 20th Anniversary of the International Society of Poets in July in Las
Vegas.
To all of them, we say well done and we urge all our young people to emulate
their good example.
To the learners here today, we encourage you to embrace the study of science
and technology. South Africa as well as the Northern Cape is certainly full of
possibilities. We all have the opportunity to make a resounding success of
them. After all, it is your country and your province and your future. Grab it
with both hands!
I thank you
Issued by: Northern Cape Provincial Government
9 September 2006
Source: Northern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.northern-cape.gov.za)
