Programme Director
Esteemed Delegates
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you most warmly for inviting us to this auspicious occasion, the 4th International Forum for Teacher Regulatory Authorities (IFTRA) Biennial Conference , the 1st on African soil. It calls for celebration as it follows the 1st FIFA World Cup in Africa.
Your presence fills us with nostalgia. It rekindles fond memories of the support given to us by the global community during the struggle against apartheid.
With your support, we defeated apartheid. What remains a challenge is its stubborn legacy.
The conference theme is very apt – “Enhancing the status of the teaching profession for the delivery of quality education”.
The IFTRA conference has created an opportunity for us to interrogate further the global professionalization of teaching. It will indeed strengthen cooperation among nations for the benefit of our education systems.
The conference theme captures current challenges facing most African countries. It resonates well with the view of the South African government that education must be the apex priority given the pivotal role it plays in sustainable economic growth and development.
This theme speaks to the top priorities of our governments, which are: to eradicate poverty; create decent jobs; fight crime; reverse the tide of diseases; and rural development.
Our historical task is economic transformation and freedom for all. We believe Africa’s developmental agenda can best be advanced if we consciously give our people a better educational start in life.
In this regard, enhancing the status of teachers and improving the quality of teaching are essential.
Our focus has got to be on quality teaching and learning which strengthen the capacities of children to act progressively through the acquisition of relevant knowledge, useful skills and appropriate attitudes.
It is this vision of delivering education that is “free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children” (Freedom Charter), that brought us here together to dissect fundamental issues affecting the status of the teaching profession.
We harbour no illusions about the centrality of this noble profession in the achievement of national and global human resources development goals.
It is this reality that explains why we embraced, unconditionally, the thrust and theme of last year’s World Teachers’ Day.
That theme, which said, “Recovery begins with teachers”, was a fitting tribute to the teachers of the world who play a crucial role in the social, economic and intellectual life of our peoples.
That theme urged all of us, as governments, institutions and the broader civil society, to pay special attention to the material conditions of teachers and to treat with all seriousness our teacher recruitment, training and retention.
In the context of the developing world, whose economies were hitherto undermined by deliberate policies that excluded the majority from active participation in economic activities, the 2010 theme – “Recovery begins with teachers” – carried another dimension, almost literally.
Our schools will recover from a sordid history of inequalities in educational provision and begin to deliver improved learner outcomes depending on the quality and professionalism of teachers charged with the task of humanizing our nations.
This is a perspective articulated in the 1997 McKinsey Report on How the world’s best-performing school systems come out on top. It located the teacher at the centre of our core business of learning and teaching. It said: “The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers.”
It is this that informs our resolve to raise the levels of capability and motivation of teachers on a massive scale. We are pleased that these issues will be tackled even at the level of IFTRA.
We believe this global initiative will help us drive home the message that “one cannot give what one does not have”. We need the right people who must be properly skilled and well-resourced to make our “school systems come out on top”.
It is in this context that we welcome discussions on: continuing professional development systems; online resources; the role of teaching regulatory bodies in the 21st century; teacher disciplinary functions; the role of governments in enhancing the status of the profession; and recruitment and retention of quality teachers, among others.
We note with appreciation that a draft Charter for Teaching Councils will be finalised, to set out principles and responsibilities of teaching councils.
All these vital steps will help us achieve the goals adopted at the World Conference on Education for All in Thailand, in 1990.
With open arms, South Africa welcomes the formation of the Africa Forum for Teaching Regulatory Authorities. We extend a word of appreciation to IFTRA for the strategic decision to establish teaching regulatory authorities at continental level.
Thank you for convening the IFTRA conference on our shores.We look forward to continued cooperation.
Once more, welcome to South Africa. Do find time to enjoy our hospitality and feel the fresh breeze of Durban’s beautiful coastline. This is your home, the home of Africa’s people.
I thank you all, and wish you a fruitful and fulfilling conference.
