valedictory service at Pretoria High School for Girls, Pretoria,
5 October 2006
"Facing the future with confidence and pride"
The Principal, Ms McNair
Members of the Governing Board
Parents and teachers
Distinguished guests
Grade 12 learners
Thank you for inviting me to your school's valedictory function. It is
indeed an honour for me to address you on this special occasion.
It is also a very special day in the education calendar. Today, the 5th of
October is World Teachers' Day. It is a day when we recognise and pay tribute
to the important role that teachers play in providing quality education.
I would like you to join me in applauding the many dedicated teachers - who
are in this hall and elsewhere in our country - for their enormous contribution
to schooling and the development of each and every child. It is through their
efforts that we are able to celebrate the achievements of young men and women
across South Africa at this time of the year and at events such as this
valedictory function.
I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Pretoria High
School for Girls for your outstanding achievement during the 2005 Senior
Certificate Examinations.
I extend my sincere appreciation and gratitude to the staff and parents for
supporting girls at this school during their years of schooling, and for
ensuring that the school maintains these high levels of academic
achievement.
Pretoria High is a beacon school in the public education system. Your
academic record over a number of years has been excellent. Other schools look
to your school in envy and in admiration. Other schools look to your school to
learn how to excel.
Recently schools have come under increasing scrutiny because business and
universities tell us that too many learners leave school without an adequate
proficiency in the basic functional skills of reading, writing, and numeracy.
The standard of the matric exam has been blamed in some quarters for this state
of affairs.
In 2003 the National Quality Assurance Body responsible for the Senior
Certificate, Umalusi, appointed a research committee to investigate the claim
that the standard of the Senior Certificate had declined in the previous ten
years. The research team looked at the statistics, the statistical adjustments,
and the quality of the examination papers in five subjects over the ten
years.
The main findings of the research were that:
* There had been an increase in the number of learners taking standard grade
subjects as opposed to higher grade.
* The cognitive demand of certain key subjects had declined, especially
standard grade papers.
In other words, schools and learners were choosing the easy options and
examiners were exacerbating the problem.
Yet labour market studies and household surveys indicate unequivocally that
opportunities for employment and further learning increase substantially with a
senior certificate - compared to a grade 11 - and increase significantly again
with a matric exemption, especially if mathematics is one of the subjects
passed.
So we have acted decisively to improve the quality of the matric exam. The
cognitive demand of examinations has, by all accounts, increased in the last
two years. We have also introduced a new matric curriculum which does away with
the standard and higher grade distinction.
There has been a mixed reaction to the new curriculum. Frequent questions
are: why a new curriculum; why do we not go on using the old curriculum?
There was an urgent need to review the curriculum, which was out of date to
mention only the least of its failings. Throughout the world countries review
their school curricula from time to time. It is important that we recognise
this. The revision of the South African curriculum is not primarily about
introducing outcomes-based education or OBE. Rather we needed an approach,
content and methodology that educates our learners differently, if they are to
survive and thrive in the 21st Century workplace and society.
But the new curriculum is only a blueprint or what curriculum theorists call
'the intended curriculum.' It remains the intended curriculum until it is
implemented by schools. And the quality of the education offered can and will
only be determined by schools themselves. Schools can, with the support of
parents and learners, do much to influence the quality of education
offered.
Enough about policy matters. I want to say a little about the future all
grade 12 learners face after passing the matric exams.
Valedictory functions are occasions to say farewell formally to friends and
teachers. It is one of the highlights of the school year. It is a time to
recall fond memories and to share the things you have learned during your time
at school.
It is, however, also a time to look forward in anticipation. It is natural
that looking forward in anticipation will bring anxiety. You will be leaving a
secure school and home environment and moving into the unknown.
If I had addressed you 20 years ago, my message to you would have been very
solemn. Why? Because until recently only a few countries had laws that ensured
women to choose to train for a job, to get a job, and to get equal pay.
Opportunities for women in the world of work and society were limited.
As you will know, on 9 August 2006 our country celebrated the 50th
anniversary of the women's anti-pass march of 1956. The march by the courageous
and bold women of our country serves as a reminder of the harsh realities of
social exclusion experienced by women in the past. As a result of the women's
march of 1956 and other developments in the struggle for equality, women today
are in a better position than their forebears to participate in the affairs of
our country.
My challenge to you, school-leavers, is to ensure that as young women you
cherish the heritage that was left to you by women in the struggle for freedom
in our country. We need to preserve the values of community, selflessness, and
concern for the good of society to ensure that we build a better South Africa
for all.
Women now have an opportunity to take their place in society in different
roles - as politicians, scientists and businesswomen.
I need hardly tell you that success of girls in matric has significantly
improved in the last decade, but still too few young women go on to make
careers where a keen understanding of mathematics and science is required.
Although there are more women students overall in higher education
institutions, they are in a minority at postgraduate and research-degree level.
These statistics are even more pronounced when one looks at the participation
of women in science, engineering, and technology research.
A recent report, 'Women's Participation in Science, Engineering and
Technology' (National Advisory Council on Innovation, 2004), reveals that only
one in three of all actively publishing scientists is a woman. It is worth
noting that many other countries have similar inequalities between men and
women in scientific research.
Creative scientific and technical women are indispensable for economic
growth. It is therefore imperative that the number of women in science and
technology should increase. And institutions must provide the necessary
supportive environment to make them succeed.
It is my hope that many of you will consider careers in those fields of
study that were previously least accessible to women. Our country requires
engineers, in different categories, given the major infrastructure development
that will take place in the country. We need to have young women actively
participate in these activities.
The present era presents you with a multitude of opportunities. Computers
and information technology have affected almost every industry, bringing people
and economies much closer to each other. It is therefore important that young
women go out to seek these available opportunities.
In closing, remember that the road to success is not always smooth or easy.
There will be disappointments in life. It is here that you must cultivate a
very important attribute: perseverance. Do not get distracted from the goals
that you have set yourselves. It is when you are confronted with challenges
that women of strength, rather than strong women, will emerge.
I thank you!
Issued by: Department of Education
5 October 2006
