C Dugmore: Cape Teachers Professional Association national
conference

26 June 2006

Programme Director
Mr John Jeftha, President of the CTPA
Mr Douglas Coert, Secretary General
All other members of the CTPA Executive
Invited guests and delegates

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to welcome you to your 37th
National Conference here in Cape Town, Sea Point.

I want to quote an excerpt from one of the articles on your website, it
reads as follows: "The political dispensation influences the type and quality
of education in any country. An informed citizen is one who will take
responsible decisions. To be informed implies the need to be educated".

"Teachers and teachers unions owe it to themselves and to all South Africans
to get involved in education policy formulation. It remains the best and only
way to influence the direction of education in the country.

"The fact that quality education was provided on the basis of colour before
1994, the exclusion of learners of colour (many of them teachers today) from
certain subject choices, e.g. Medical, Engineering, etc. and the fact that
millions of black South Africans are still illiterate today, is the result of
political decisions that were taken by an apartheid government".

"Today, we are reaping the agony, pain, frustration and legacy of a racist
political system and political intervention in education, which no South
African can be proud of".

This is an extract from an article published on your website - date not
indicated - and came from the pen of your President of 1997 - 1999, Mr Archie
Lewis, who as you know by now, is an advisor in my office.

I think it captures the essence of some of the challenges we are facing
today. Whilst it remains the duty of the teachers unions to look after the
interests of their members, I think we must never forget that whatever we do
and decide, will ultimately impact on the future of our children.

Fittingly, this year is also the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the
South African (SA) Schools Act, which laid the basis for legislative reforms
and the new curriculum, based on our constitutional values.

Your 37th National Conference also coincides with the recent commemorations
of the 30th anniversary of the uprising of the Soweto youth against tyranny and
oppression, on 16 June 1976. On that day thousands of young people took to the
streets in defiance of the then apartheid regime's plans to try and permanently
enslave them, they rebelled against exclusion, and they rebelled against a
top-down approach to ruling their lives. I think we would all do well not to
forget this lesson.

We must continue to remember that day, not only because of the death of
Hector Petersen and many others, but because so that we can continue to be
reminded, that whatever we do and plan, we must always keep in mind that our
young people have a stake in the outcomes of their own futures, and they will
claim it.

Our President, Thabo Mbeki, has called on all of us to "move faster to
address 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 earlier reminded us that 26,3% of our citizens are
unemployed. Most are youth, which points to the massive skills challenge we
face. So we cannot be complacent.

Our provincial government is serious when we say that we want to build a
home for all. One of the lead strategies for our economic development blueprint
- IKapa Elihlumayo - is our Human Capital Development Strategy (HCDS), with a
focus on youth.

Our mission with this strategy is to provide our young people with relevant
skills, knowledge, values and attitudes that would allow them to participate
meaningfully in the mainstream economy, and be internationally competitive.

The challenges in education are huge, and as government we need partners.
That is why we welcome the opportunity to work with you in our quest for
quality education.

I continue to regard our teachers as the most valuable assets in our quest
for quality education. The moral of our teachers, their qualifications,
experience and competence are key indicators of likely quality outcomes. As the
state, it is our responsibility to provide opportunities for ongoing
development and support to teachers.

I am therefore pleased to report to you that we are about to implement the
latest collective agreement of the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC).
This agreement provides for improved career pathing for qualified post level
one teachers, as well as accelerated salary progression for all teachers on
certain salary levels.

The agreement makes provision for the new rank of Master Teacher. We can
promote Senior Teachers on salary level eight (8) to the rank of Master Teacher
on salary level nine (9), if they meet performance criteria determined by the
Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS).

The agreement on accelerated pay progression now enables teachers to
progress more rapidly through a salary level, for example, by three notches
after three years of good performance. Teachers can also achieve three notch
increases over five years, for example, if they achieve three good performance
ratings during this period.

The initiative is part of the R4,2 billion allocated to improve the
remuneration of educators nationwide. We believe that this agreement will go a
long way towards encouraging teachers to give of their best, and for the
department to reward their efforts.

In the context of teacher development, I want to stress the need for our
relationship with our unions to take on new dimensions. I want to express my
sincere wish that we should meet less at ELRC level, and more on a one-on-one
basis to determine our united actions to lead the learning turnaround in our
province.

Last year, I studied the concept of School Business Management, and the
positive impact it had on the confidence of those who participated in the
various courses and programmes. I am not proposing that schools are in any way
"businesses" but I am saying that they need to be managed soundly according to
tried and tested management principles. Many of the United Kingdom (UK) school
business managers, who were once receptionists, secretaries or administrators,
are now integrated into school management teams, which is a very positive
development.

We are currently discussing a forum of school secretaries and
administrators, to canvass their views on a possible curriculum for school
managers, which can perfectly be offered by our Further Education and Training
(FET) colleges.

This certificated course will be piloted in the second term of next year. A
project team is making good progress and our partners will work with us to
finalise our plans for 2007. It is critical that our course is both National
Qualifications Framework (NQF) accredited and internationally recognised.

No doubt, as you ponder the road ahead, you can do so with a sense of pride
in your historical contribution to the liberation of all of our people. I want
to commend you for your continued involvement in our communities through your
bursaries scheme and other projects.

The Premier said that the Western Cape must be a home for all. Even though
the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) recently
ruled in favour of an African candidate who competed against a Coloured
candidate for a position in the Electricity Supply Commission (Eskom), I was
happy to hear the President coming out strongly for coloured people to be
treated equally in terms of affirmative action.

In conclusion, I want to say that from my trip to the UK last year, I learnt
that the single most important contributing factor in 80% of successful,
effective schools in the country is leadership.

The changes that have occurred in our country could not have happened
without sound and wise leadership. Your organisation is part of that leadership
in our society, and I urge you to continue to make wise decisions, whatever
that may be.

I thank you.

Enquiries:
Gert Witbooi
Media Liaison Officer
Tel: (021) 467 2523
Fax: (021) 425 5689

Issued by: Western Cape Provincial Government
26 June 2006
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government (http://www.capegateway.gov.za)