As we celebrate the 95th birthday of our International icon, a son of the Eastern Cape, uTata uNelson Mandela tomorrow, I want to urge government and business leaders to dig deep in their pockets and direct more resources into the education of the children of South Africa.
Tata’s passion for education and children should spur us on to ensure that every child in South Africa attends school under a conducive environment. The building of schools with adequate amenities and provision of modern day learning materials especially in our province should be fast tracked. I make this plea because education can open doors to a brighter future for our children and eliminate the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment in our country.
Unless we invest in the education of our children especially the ones from poor communities, we will be failing Tata Madiba and other past leaders who made supreme sacrifices for the freedom and democracy we are enjoying today.
Through education we can ensure that their ideal of a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa is achieved. The proposal to make education an essential service is now more urgent than before and it means that all role players must take education serious. This is not about teachers having no right to strike. It is about the department, business, the parents, the learners, and the teachers working together to protect the right of the children to learn and, therefore, develop.
That is the present I want us to give to Tata.
