Programme director, Mr Jeremy Thomas
Chairperson of Umalusi Council, Professor John Volmink
Members of Umalusi Council
Chief Executive Officer of Umalusi, Dr Mafu Rakometsi
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Being here with you tonight as we bid farewell to esteemed members of the Second Umalusi Council reminds me of commitments we made to the people of South Africa in our 2010 budget vote speech. We said we should all sit back and reflect on how far we have come as we think about the 20th Anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela from prison.
We said, “Notwithstanding the enormous historical disparities in the provision of education, the huge differences and the legacies of inequality in education that we faced 16 years ago, we have been able to move forward as a nation.”
We said, “We have done extremely well in terms of access to education,” and that, “what we now have to do is to emphasise the mantra of our minister: ‘quality, quality, quality.”
Tonight I can't think of any other better way of emphasising Minister Motshekga's mantra than to reflect with all the objectivity I can muster on the good work of this phenomenal team the Second Umalusi Council. You have indeed made us proud!
Through your selfless efforts, leadership and devotion to the transformation of our education system, you have given us good reason to celebrate, with a clear conscience, Madiba's lifelong contribution to the ideal of a South Africa in which all our people have access to quality lifelong learning.
Like their predecessors, through unimpeachable professionalism and high morale, the 15 members of the Second Umalusi Council have contributed immensely to the vision of building a better life for all our people. For this reason, with our heads held up high, we have put all else aside to come and celebrate their remarkable deeds, by way of special tributes and farewell messages.
I recall vividly that members of the Second Umalusi Council took office on 8 June 2006, under the chairmanship of Professor John Volmink. I have to admit, what brings us here tonight is an encounter that's too hard to swallow after a four year period of excellent service, the term of office of the Second Umalusi Council will end in a few days, on 7 June 2010.
Accordingly, I must convey our sincere appreciation to members of this winning team for having given a valuable portion of their lives to the efficient service of our people. They have made good use of the very fortunate position of serving in an important council that is broadly representative of the General and Further Education and Training Sector.
Our country has benefitted from their knowledge and understanding of accreditation, assessment and certification of general and Further Education and Training programmes and from their vast experience in other fields, including statistics and finance.
I would also like to use this opportunity to convey warm words of gratitude to those members who could not complete the four year period of office, for good reason, namely: Professor Linda Chisholm and Mr John Pampallis who were appointed as advisors for the Ministers of Basic Education and Higher Education and Training, respectively; Professor Ihron Rensburg, rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg and Dr Mafu Rakometsi who has succeeded Dr Peliwe Lolwana as Chief Executive Officer of Umalusi.
We value the role played by Umalusi because, unlike its predecessor, the South African Certification Council (1987 to 2002) which was largely a guarantor of the norms and standards of the Senior Certificate examination, Umalusi, the Council for General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance, has carried more responsibilities in keeping with the General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Act of 2001.
The outgoing members will surely be remembered for the notable success of the first National Senior Certificate examination conducted in October/December 2008. Not only was it an examination of a new curriculum, the National Curriculum Statement Grades R to 12, leading to a new qualification, the National Senior Certificate. The adjustments also entailed dealing with both redesigned subjects and completely new subjects, like mathematical literacy, that had to be examined on a national scale. You deserve applause for the diligence with which you executed those tasks!
I must also add that this versatile team managed and quality-assured two successful National Senior Certificate examinations based on the National Curriculum Statement Grades R to 12. It is worth noting that between 2008 and 2009 more than a half million candidates sat for the National Senior Certificate examination.
You have aptly and rightly pointed out, in the Foreword to your 2009 Report on the Quality Assurance of the National Senior Certificate Assessment and Examination , that the “National Senior Certificate examination is based on a fairly new curriculum that is still finding its feet”.
In spite of all these formidable challenges I have alluded to, you have been able to rise to the occasion and have fulfilled, with distinction, your statutory responsibility of ensuring appropriate standards and the quality of the NSC examination.
You have discharged, to the best of your ability, key tasks duly assigned to you when you took the baton in 2006, including: meticulous moderation of question papers; moderation of site-based assessment; monitoring of the conduct of the NSC examination; verification of marking and standardisation of marks.
Thus, circumstances permitting, we would invite you to deliver the ‘goods', one more time. But, as you well know, statutory obligations dictate otherwise. Our confession in this regard stems from some heavy anxiety often accompanying rituals of ‘goodbyes'.
Like the prolific South African poet, Eric Miyeni, “I hate goodbyes”. I'm inclined therefore to agree with him when he says in “goodbye” that “goodbyes” are “like the kiss of death/ in a dark corner/ they are like an empty plate/ at the end of a great dinner/ they make me shiver.”
But, like Eric Miyeni, “I could love them too you know”, for a totally different reason. Take this farewell function, it has availed a fitting moment for us to pipe high praises in honour of the outgoing members.
We take comfort in the fact that at the end of this “great dinner”, our many “goodbyes” will not echo “like an empty plate”. We will receive incoming members of the Third Umalusi Council, in seven days time, on 8 June, only two days before the 2010 FIFA World Cup kicks off on our shores.
As caring shepherds, the new members will be responsible for taking Umalusi to greater heights. We are confident they will advance the goal of building a quality education system for our country, starting in this crucial year of action. They face a herculean task.
We have set a target of upping the number of learners passing national examinations from 105 000 to 175 000 by 2014. The incoming members must ensure and assure the business community and institutions of higher learning that we did not sacrifice quality on the altar of quantity.
Congratulations to Professor Volmink and his dynamic team, including the CEO and other officials of Umalusi, for upholding the highest professional standards of the council!
Indeed you have been able to move us forward as a nation.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Basic Education
27 May 2010
Source: Department of Education (http://www.education.gov.za/)
