Speech of Correctional Services Deputy Minister Advocate Ngoako Ramatlhodi at the official announcement of offender matric results in Nelspruit
Programme Director
Acting National Commissioner – Mr James Smalberger
Executive Management of Correctional Services and officials
Special guests, the Media and our key stakeholders
Our top performers of the class of 2013
Ladies and gentlemen.
I wish to start my report today with a few quotations from speeches of the late President Nelson Mandela on the significance of education and what it means in our efforts to build a South Africa where all people are and feel safe. He described education as “the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. He said: “a good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something special.”
Addressing the nation and the world at the funeral of this outstanding son of the soil who grew to become a world icon, President Zuma pledged to ensure that the values and principles which Madiba was prepared to live and die for are championed without fail.
This is our collective responsibility to sustain what Madiba began many years ago including raising of funds to build Ekuseni Youth Centre in KwaZulu-Natal.
As demonstrated during the announcement of matric examination results two days ago, South Africa is on the right path to realise a population with the right head, right heart and a literate tongue. We are progressively doing well in improving the performance of our education system outside and inside of Correctional Centres. We are indeed using education as means of addressing a series of social ills and development challenges that include poverty, unemployment, under development and crime.
We are happy with progress made in mainstreaming education in the rehabilitation of particularly young offenders since 2009 and the on-going improvement of education outcomes in Correctional Services. We have increased fulltime schools for deserving young offenders from only one in 2009 to 12 in 2013 including Johannesburg Medium C, Qalakabusha and Barberton Maximum Centre. The numbers of students registering to write matric examinations also increased from 27 to 140 during the fourth term of government, with a major increase of 86% in 2013 alone.
We have more than doubled the number of students passing their matriculation examination with university admission certificates from 14 in 2012 to 30 in 2013.
Although the overall pass rate has declined to 59% in the class of 2013 within correctional centres, with 67 of 114 candidates that wrote examinations passing, the reach and the impact of our interventions continues to increase in leaps and bounds.
The Umlatati Learning Centre at Barberton Youth Centre in Mpumalanga has come tops for the first time with a 100% pass rate after only starting with matric students in 2013 with an average subject performance rate of 54.9%. Usethubeni Youth School in Durban Westville in KwaZulu-Natal came second with a 67% pass rate.
We also welcome in our midst the top five students who achieved excellent results in the class of 2013. They are led by Trynos Mohlanga who achieved 80.85% average pass rate, Musa Cele with 79.28%, Senzo Khanyeza and Lonwabo Silangwe with 76.42% each, and Celumusa Mhlongo with an average pass rate of 76.28%. These all hail from our historical star school that became a “torch bearer” in our formal education programme – Usethubeni Youth Centre in Durban Westville. These students are leading in the 57 distinctions secured by our students across the country, 53 of which come from Usethubeni Youth Centre alone.
We are on course to ensure that all 13 youth Centres are registered as full time schools by 2014 so that all young offenders in need of basic education can access these services.
Our gratitude goes to the following key players:
- The Department of Basic Education which has facilitated the accreditation of 12 fulltime schools in Correctional Services, their deployment of educators to some of these schools, their sponsorship of further education needs of our educators and their donation of computers and books, as well as National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) that funds many students;
- The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) for the donation of computers, TV monitors for life sciences particularly at Usethubeni Youth Centre;
- The business community with Van Schalk Publishers donating, Liberty Foundation that donated maths and science books to all our fulltime schools and a digital library as well as SAICA which provides bursaries to about ten top performing students that are at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University; and
- The NGOs including the National Application Centre (NAC) with books and eight bursaries for students that are at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
uTat’ uMadiba while addressing at the Kroonstad Correctional Centre in 2008 said the lasting solution to our societal challenges including crime can come from “combined efforts of government departments and sectors of our society.”
The challenges we face in mainstreaming education in our rehabilitation efforts require that combined effort to overcome. We have serious shortages of educators particularly in scarce skills categories, and the demand for school facilities far outweigh what can be covered through the fiscus. Our efforts to ensure effective implementation of the compulsory education policy for all youth up to the age of 25, is limited by these challenges and I am certain together we can overcome them
South Africa is a youthful nation and Correctional Services as a microcosm of our nation has up to 70% of offenders that are between 17 and 35 years of age.
No matter how long they stay in our facilities chances of them returning to the society will full energy remain high, and therefore we need to invest a lot to change their life outlook to a more positive and constructive approach to societal development. If we hope to break the cycle of crime in our society this is the category we must focus on to build a South Africa where all people are and feel safe.
We are working to ensure continued improvements quantitatively and qualitatively in the delivery of education services in Correctional Services. Our offenders are first citizens of South Africa and go back to communities of origin on release or placement on parole. Basic education is a right we must extend to offenders. We cover a range of areas including Adult Basic Education and formal education covering grades 9 to 11 where currently we are achieving a 73% pass rate.
In conclusion, I must acknowledge that role played by Correctional Officials including educators, without whom, these achievements we have made would not have been possible. These officials are working under challenging conditions. You need to take comfort from knowing that through your work you are helping to carry forward and sustain the legacy of TatúMandela who said: “Education is a great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.”
Since the advent of democracy in South Africa we have indeed made good progress to change prisons into correctional centres, universities of crime into centres of new beginnings, with a focus on the rehabilitation and correction of offending behaviour. As we continue to usher in the third decade of freedom and democracy, guided by the National Development Plan, we must double our efforts to use correctional services to build a new nation we all can be proud of.
To all those that achieved this critical milestone in anyone’s life, we congratulate you for this beautiful achievement. To those that fell down, the measure of success is in your ability to stand up again, brush off the dust and try again. We are here to help you achieve this milestone too. Grab the opportunities we have provided with both hands and you will never regret.
I thank you all.
