N Pandor: Most-Improved-School Awards

5 April 2006

“Improving schools”

Deputy President
Deputy Minister Surty
My colleagues in Education, the MECs in the provinces
Ladies and gentlemen

Deputy President,

We are delighted that you have agreed to address this important and
prestigious event, the Most-Improved-Schools Awards and to award the
prizes.

Your presence is also confirmation of the important role our schools play in
providing a foundation for all human resource development and that they are,
for this reason, an essential part of the accelerated and shared growth
strategy – the strategy entrusted to you by the President of South Africa.

Further, it testifies to government’s commitment to our schools, to ensuring
we recognise the contribution of teachers and schools, to nation building, to
excellence and to the development priorities of South Africa. Tonight I want to
reiterate the education department’s commitment to the Accelerated and Shared
Growth Strategy (Asgisa) and our role in developing the priority skills needed
for shared and accelerated growth.

Today we celebrate the sixth awards ceremony for the most improved schools.
For six years we have celebrated the achievements and work of those schools
that strive to do better. The awards have contributed to creating a culture of
achievement and pride in our schools, among teachers, and in our children.
These awards and various other interventions, which both our provincial and
national education officials have initiated, have assisted in increasing the
number and in maintaining the quality of learners passing grade 12 over the
past four years.

In 2005 we announced with pride that 16,500 more learners than in 2004
passed the senior certificate exam. In addition, 86 531 learners (over a
thousand more than in 2004) passed the exam with a university endorsement, a
key indicator of quality. In fact, the class of 2005 produced the highest
number of pupils passing the senior certificate exam with endorsement since
1994.

Tonight we celebrate schools that have contributed significantly to the
increase in the number of passes and the increase in the number of
endorsements. The 39 schools here tonight, altogether, enjoyed the success of 6
549 senior certificate passes and 2 369 endorsements in 2005. In other words,
they have provided an increasing number of learners with expanded learning and
earning opportunities.

In many ways, these schools symbolically fulfil the dreams and aspirations
of those high schools pupils of 1976, who 30 years ago fought for a better
quality education. Thirty years ago the schools at tonight’s award-winning
ceremony would not have had the motivation to go on to further the
opportunities available to young people.

So tonight, 30 years on, we celebrate schools that have provided a solid
foundation for the development of high-level knowledge and skills.

The awards are in three categories.

First, we recognise 12 schools that have achieved outstanding performance in
mathematics. The prize-winners are chosen from the Dinaledi schools, our
dedicated maths and science schools.

Second, we make awards to 10 schools that have achieved significant
increases in the number passing Grade 12 and the quality of passes over the
last three years, that is, 2003, 2004 and 2005. These schools, one from each
province and an overall winner, receive the consistency improvement Award.

The third category of awards is for those schools that have shown
exceptional progress in each of the South African languages. In other words,
the schools that have shown the greatest increase in the number of learners
writing and passing in each of the South African languages on the higher
grade.

This is an important category. It indicates our commitment to ensuring that
all our languages are maintained and that excellence in our indigenous
languages is celebrated. At the same time we must ensure that our learners
master English and we will be awarding a school that has shown the greatest
improvement in English as a second language.

I would also like to thank our schools for their commitment and dedication
to excellence as well as our sponsors for their continued commitment to our
positive endeavours.

Finally Deputy President, thank you for gracing our celebration tonight. We
look forward to your speech and the announcement of the winners of the
prizes.

Issued by: Ministry of Education
5 April 2006