P Mlambo-Ngcuka: Most Improved School Awards

1 March 2007

Minister of Education, Ms Naledi Pandor
Deputy Minister of Education, Mr Enver Surty
MECs of Education from the nine provinces,
Director-General of Education, Mr Duncan Hindle
Provincial heads of departments
Representatives of the private sector
Representatives of the different constituencies in the education sector
Representatives of the schools
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

I am honoured to participate in the MISA 2007 ceremony where we recognise
the achievements of our public schools for the year 2006.

Firstly, I would like to congratulate all the schools that have been
selected to receive these awards. I also wish to pay tribute to all the
teachers, principals, communities and parents whose schools are receiving these
awards today. Through hard work and perseverance everything is possible. Hard
work and perseverance was an important part of the late Oliver Reginald Tambo
and is in some ways what made him one of the most outstanding leaders of our
country and that his generation has produced.

Oliver Tambo and the struggle for a better education

Ladies and gentlemen, as you may know this year we shall be celebrating the
90th anniversary of Oliver Tambo's birth in the Eastern Cape. We shall recall
many remarkable aspects of his life and his special and specific contribution
to free our people from apartheid. We shall recall the friendship of Tambo,
Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu in the African National Congress Youth League
(ANCYL). We shall recall how Tambo led the African National Congress (ANC)
during the difficult days of exile. What is significant about Tambo's life is
that he sought to educate himself at a time when few black people had access to
education.

In November 1936, Tambo wrote his junior certificate (JC) examination
(equivalent of today's grade 10) which was open to both black and white
students in the old Transvaal. Tambo worked hard and was ecstatic about his
results, he had this to say:

"The results showed that Joe Mokoena and I had made history. For the first
time in the history of education in South Africa, two African students had
passed JC with a first class degree regarded as a rare achievement for any
student. For a society steeped in racist beliefs about European superiority,
these "incredible news" rocked the whole country." (Callinicos, L, Oliver
Tambo: Beyond the Engeli Mountains) page 89.

But unfortunately because of the realities and conditions that African
people were subjected to at the time, Oliver Tambo and Joe Mokoena were not
formally recognised by the government of their country. For this reason it is
always a pleasure and a privilege to attend these MISA, to recognise the hard
work, talent and excellence of all young people in our country.

The story of Oliver Tambo and his role in the development of quality
education in our country is an important one, he went on to graduate at the
University of Fort Hare and became an outstanding teacher of mathematics and
science at Saint Peters, producing some outstanding students who would in
future play a crucial role in the struggle to democratise South Africa.

He was one of the best teacher's of his time who used educational methods
that were enjoyed by his students, his method of teaching was also transferred
to his leadership style when he became ANC President in the struggle for
freedom whilst based outside of South Africa. Our country continues to learn
from him even today, long after he passed away.

So today, there is no better way to honour his legacy than to ensure that
all South Africa's children acquire literacy and numeracy skills. The role that
Oliver Tambo played in the development of education in this country has yet to
be properly recorded and fully recognised, but perhaps the greatest legacy that
OR Tambo left our country is that of ensuring that he instilled a culture in
the liberation movement that education should be used for the benefit of
society as a whole, a culture that education should be for the service of
society rather than for the person who holds that education. It still remains a
challenge for educators in our country to ensure that the role of OR Tambo is
properly recognised.

Whilst Tambo was a distinguished scholar and teacher we must not forget some
outstanding women who were also making their mark in education.

For instance, Charlotte Maxeke became the first South African woman to earn
a doctorate in arts and humanities in 1903 at the Tuskegee University in the
United States (US). On her return to South Africa she was to play a critical
role in the provision of education of black people and girls and was the
founder member of the ANC Women's League. These stalwarts did not have it
easy!

The National Curriculum Statement (NCS)

The occasion we are celebrating today occurs at time when 11 of the 12
grades of South African schools follow, for the first time in our history, a
national curriculum, the NCS.

Minister Pandor, I would like to applaud your Department, for the leadership
that it has provided in this process despite the many challenges that we
confront. I encourage you and your team to proceed with vigour and
determination to consolidate the implementation of this important national
curriculum and to ensure its success in line with the letter and spirit of our
Constitution of 1996.

I am also proud that the curriculum has an increased focus on South Africa
and Africa. It is the skills offered by the NCS that the country requires in
order that we may be able to meet the developmental goals thereby breaking the
cycle of poverty and unemployment.

As government we have identified education and skills development as central
to reaching the level of shared and accelerated growth that we have set
ourselves in our quest to eradicate poverty and improve the livelihoods of our
people. For this reason, the Quality Improvement and Development Strategy
(QIDS-UP) programme, the Dinaledi schools and the re-capitalisation of colleges
are on the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA)
agenda and Programme of Action.

It is my firm view that the celebration of the MISA is an important occasion
to celebrate those schools that are expanding opportunities for quality
education.

Challenges and shortcomings of our education system:

While we must celebrate our achievements we need to acknowledge and deal
with the shortcomings that still exist, but which we can overcome. For instance
we understand that principals are not trained in human resource management and
neither are they exposed to general management skills. Also principals do not
have performance management contracts in place. It is for this reason that we
have introduced the Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE) this year to ensure
that teachers and principals are exposed to management courses.

There is general lack of co-operation and synchronisation between different
stakeholders in a learner's life. Teachers, principals, parents, governing
bodies and communities need to develop strategies on how to improve education.
But most importantly is the fact that parents and communities need to play a
much more critical role in the life of the schools that are in their
communities, as members of School Governing Bodies (SGBs) and to participate in
shaping policies that affect the schools, e.g. language policies and so on.

Our vision is that our schools must produce quality learners who are
well-rounded, critical and skilled in all aspects. Therefore, learners should
take responsibility and initiative for their own learning. Our modern society
offers many learning opportunities through the use of computers, the internet
and television.

Key messages of the MISA

Public education, I have said over and over again is the most important
intervention if South Africa is to eradicate poverty, create jobs and share
economic growth.

The quality of leadership in schools that is, principals, the role of
regional administrators, the role of subject advisors and the role of all
teachers remains the single most important intervention. That is why it is
critical for us to improve the conditions of service of teachers.

One would like to appeal to the teachers and unions to display much more
commitment to improving the quality of education and to making the public
education system a place for the generation of knowledge and passion and not
sites of their own struggles. Especially in this era where the Department of
Education and government are all committed to the rights and needs of
teachers.

There are South African public schools that are simultaneously improving
access to education and improving quality. Tonight we celebrate schools that
increased the numbers passing the senior certificate, the numbers passing with
endorsement and the numbers passing on Higher Grade (HG), a good proxy for
quality; in many cases under very difficult conditions.

The message we need to convey to all schools is that it is not so much the
percentage pass that is important as the year on year increase in numbers
passing with endorsement and passing higher grade subjects.

As in all awards ceremonies there are many other deserving schools in our
country that have increased the numbers passing and passing on HG subjects.
This is confirmation of the quality that we must seek to encourage in our
schools. I would like to urge all MECs to congratulate all of our schools that
have contributed significantly to the increase in the pool of human resources
that our country requires. MISA sends a strong message that our languages are
important.

MISA and excellence in mathematics and science

MISA sends a strong message of the importance of HG mathematics and science.
President Mbeki in his 2007 State of the Nation Address expressed
disappointment at the slow growth in the numbers passing mathematics on the HG
in recent years.

I am, therefore, delighted that you have established the 100 Club of schools
that achieved 100 or more HG passes in mathematics in 2006. This is an
outstanding achievement and I hope that we will see 20 schools achieving this
next year. We still have too few schools that have this place of honour.

Our national and provincial departments must work even harder to support and
increase access to quality education. This is one of our priority commitments
as government as evidenced by our intervention through the Joint Initiative for
Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) and AsgiSA.

The inclusion of public education and teacher development in the work of
JIPSA is probably one of the most important tasks and I will personally see to
it that JIPSA does everything to walk side by side with the Department on this
journey.

A final message to all of us from the MISA is that we must celebrate that
which is good as we seek workable mechanisms and solutions to correct that,
which may need further development with our system. We must ensure that our
government offer for the well-being of children is delivered to our children
including feeding schemes.

Your achievements, especially those that have shown year on year growth in
numbers passing with endorsement and with HG in gateway subjects signal that
the education system can improve quickly and decisively and parents who are not
playing their role need to stand up and be counted. I want to thank those SGBs
who play their part; often it enhances the quality of learning and
teaching.

It is clear that the successful development of our schools is dependent on
our collective efforts and work towards a common goal, education of our young
people. Once again, congratulations to all the winning schools and best wishes
for your work ahead.

Thank you!

Issued by: The Presidency
1 March 2007