Programme Director, Advocate Manya
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the Provincial Legislature led by the Deputy Speaker
Leaders of the House of Traditional Leaders led by Chief Ngangomhlaba Mathanzima
Trade union movement under Cosatu
Director-General and Heads of Departments
Academia as represented by Dr Tom
The religious sector
Parents and Learners
Educators
Association of School Governing Bodies
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen, today is indeed a significant day for education in the province of the Eastern Cape and the country as a whole. As Education MEC Mandla Makupula has highlighted, the province has registered a very significant 7.3% increase in the matric results drawing us closer to the desirable 60% mark. On behalf of the Executive Council and the entire Eastern Cape Provincial Government I am quite thrilled to congratulate the class of 2010 for having achieved this milestone. Indeed you have made us proud and we could not have wished for a better New Year’s present.
The announcement of the improved matric results in this province and the broader South African landscape adds to the key significant moments of the year 2011. Worth noting is that in a couple of days’ time, the organisation that has deployed me here, the African National Congress (ANC), will be celebrating its 99th year anniversary. Programme director, and honoured guests, you will all agree with me that one of its tenets has been emphasis on education. The 1955 Freedom Charter declaration that “The doors of learning and culture shall be opened” should serve as a stark reminder of our commitment to this aspect of human advancement and general governance. I am proud to say that our policy framework and strategic thrusts continue to interpret this avowal.
South Africa joining the “Big Four" (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), commonly known as BRIC, from April this year is another significant milestone worth mentioning. BRIC is a group of emerging economies deemed to be at a similar stage of economic development, South Africa’s inclusion puts pressure on the country to possess adequate knowledge and skills that will propel our economy to heights that will justify alignment. The 2003 Goldman Sachs report, “Dreaming with BRICs: The path to 2050”, identified Brazil, Russia, India, and China as the most important emerging economies in the world and the ones which would outshine many of the developed nations economies by 2050.
Ladies and gentlemen, the significance of today is that we are at a pivotal point where as a nation we are beginning to strike a balance between our historical aspirations and forging ahead towards achieving our future goals. I trust that the two examples I have just mentioned distinctively outline our trajectory. As the ANC led government we value education as we believe that it promotes good citizenship, prepares our people for the needs of a democratic society and the modern economy.
As we are celebrating the class of 2010, we must note that this is one of the most significant years in the history of our country.We pride ourselves of having successfully hosted the 2010 Fifa World Cup, elevating our country and the African continent to a higher pedestal in the global arena. Naturally, 2010 was not without challenges, including the very success of the world cup that resulted in long winter holidays and especially in the education sector, where public sector strike had a serious effect in the preparation of learners for their final exams. With the one percent (1%) increase in 2009 New Curriculum Statement Grade 12 results, we had indicated during the State of the Province Address last year that the tide was turning.
To ensure that it really turned we committed to:
- the development and implementation of an intensive Learner Attainment Improvement Strategy (LAIS), which would redouble our efforts in improving the provincial learner outcomes (2009), and thus strengthen the effectiveness of our schooling system
- paying particular attention to supporting 494 schools that achieved a less than 50 percent matric pass rate, focusing on leadership and management, as well as content gap in critical skill subjects for both teachers and subject advisers;
- establishing a provincial maths and science academy to spearhead teacher development and capacity building and
- appropriately utilise support for maths and science teaching in rural areas provided through the American Embassy.
We might not have achieved all of these in the way in which they are stated, but with this year’s results, I can confidently reassert that indeed “we are rising!” We are grateful to the class of 2010 for having pulled all stops to lift the provincial outcomes from 51% in to 58%. This increased margin is not a common occurrence in the Province, and therefore it is not insignificant. Our gratitude also goes to the educators who sacrificed their time to conduct afternoon and morning classes and Saturday classes from the beginning of the year.
We are also grateful to the American Embassy for having set in motion the partnership agreement with the United States Peace Corps, which resulted in five volunteers being placed in the Education Leadership Institute, two of them attached to the maths, science and technology units. We expect the next tranche of about 12, which will be placed in three identified disadvantaged districts, to come in June. Without the stewardship of the former MEC, Mr Mahlubandile Qwase and the Departmental Management we would not have achieved this great improvement and success.
The LAIS Action Plan and Master Plan for Learner Performance tabled by the former MEC during the announcement of the 2009 results in January last year laid a very solid foundation for the improvement of quality teaching and learning in our schools. The dedicated focus on the poorly performing high schools, especially in the township and rural areas has indeed borne fruits.
The plan has:
(i) rejuvenated the culture of teaching and learning in our schools;
(ii) refocused the department to its core business , i.e. teaching and learning;
(iii) put the role of the school management team and that of the principal at the centre of creating stability and functionality of the school and
(iv) brought to the fore the centrality of a well capacitated and dedicated educator in the provision of quality education in our schools.
Flowing from its founding principles, the ANC decision to put education as the foremost strategic priority in government is beginning to bear the desired results.
This decision was informed by the following challenges:
- Declining matric results including the number of learners qualifying to go to university or attain tertiary education
- Education outcomes that continued to reflect racial imbalances and fragmentation resembling the apartheid past, despite having achieved a single curriculum
- The growing numbers of learners that are unable to read and write or low numeracy and literacy levels especially in the primary education level
- Poor role of parents and communities in the education of their kids
- Declining culture of teaching and learning amongst educators and learners;
- Dismal performance of the country in maths and science scores in comparison with developing and developed countries in the world and
- Shortage of skills has been a major binding constraint to economic development and social transformation.
Challenges and the state of basic education have a negative effect on global competitiveness of the country. South Africa and Eastern Cape in particular, has a low human development index. This also has a debilitating effect on the production of intellectuals and new emerging young academics to replace ageing academia and educators. The Department of Science and Technology has also noted that 85% of research output in the country is produced by white researchers with only 15% that comes from black researchers. To crown it all, the average age of current researchers is more than 50 years. The innovation capacity of the country has also declined thus denying the country of the potential for economic growth and development. Given our aspirations and the role we intend to play in spaces like the “Big Four”, this cannot be allowed to continue unchallenged.
As such, being informed by these environmental challenges, a basic education sector plan has been developed and is called: “Action Plan to 2014:Towards the realisation of Schooling 2025’’. This is a long range plan to respond to the challenges cited earlier.Based on this sector plan, the President with Ministers and MECs have signed a delivery agreement with clear outputs to improve quality of basic education. The agreement expects provincial departments to meet these delivery outputs and sub-outputs:
Output 1: Improve the quality of teaching and learning focusing on:
- Improving teacher capacity and practices
- Increase access to high quality learning materials
Output 2: Undertake regular assessment to track progress focusing on:
- Establishing a world class system of standardised national assessments
- Extract key lessons from on-going participation in international assessments
Output 3: Improve early childhood development focusing on:
- Ensuring universal access to Grade R
- Improving quality of Early Childhood Development
Output 4: Ensuring credible outcomes focussed planning and accountability system focusing on:
- Strengthening school management and promote functional schools;
- Strengthening capacity of district offices
Ladies and gentlemen, as I stated earlier, 2011 stands to be a significant year. From the inspiration drawn from the organising the Soccer World Cup and the brilliance of the matrics who despite the challenging environment delivered outstanding results, we need build on the successes and plans of 2010. We call upon all our stakeholders to play their part in ensuring that education is not a departmental or a government programme but a societal matter. Education is not about a classroom and a book. All role players need to join hands to ensure that this is realised and that what we have achieved thus far is sustained.
The late Julius Nyerere left people of Tanzania with a clear message on the three enemies confronting that country: ignorance, poverty and diseases and called upon the country that, “whilst other nations are walking, we must be running if we are to defeat the enemies confronting our nation’’.
As part of the continent characterised by the legacy of colonialism, South Africa is also confronted by the same challenges. Education, as a main driver for human capital development and the broadening of the skills base, cannot be the centre of dispute to the detriment of the learners especially from the rural as well as the urban poor and the working class. Education must be our centre of convergence and something that binds all of us for the good of the nation and humanity.
We must restore the legacy of the Eastern Cape as the centre and fountain of knowledge and intellectual capacity. We must sustain the gains we have achieved and set a new target of 65% for 2011. To achieve this target, the province must complete the work that has been started to craft a comprehensive Maths, Science and Technology Strategy. This will improve maths and science outcomes that continue to pull down the provincial average. We must unleash our potential and place the Eastern Cape where it belongs, amongst the eagles.
To those learners who could not succeed, there is always another tomorrow.John Maxwell once said, ‘’A successful person is somebody who once failed but told himself that he is not a failure’’. Failure is not a permanent feature but a temporary inconvenience that serves as a source of experience. To the successful learners, especially, the top achievers of our province: once more congratulations,you have made our province proud. As you move in your next step in life you must never forget what Robin Sharma said about success:
“Success is created through the performance of a few small daily disciplines that stack up over time to produce achievements far beyond anything you could have ever planned for’’. “Daily ripples of excellence – overtime – become a tsunami of success’’.
To our educators, who are always blamed for all the failures of the system, you have unleashed the natural powers that Robin Sharma mentioned in his book, ‘The leader who had no title’,
“Every one of us alive today has the power to inspire, influence and elevate each person we meet by the gift of a great example. And you need no title to do that.’’ “Every one of us alive with life can passionately drive positive change in the face of negative conditions. And you need no title to do that’’.
You have continued to do this without any title and you must continue in that path as role models of society. I feel honoured for the opportunity granted to me by the MEC for Education, Mr Makupula, to talk to the people of the Eastern Cape and the key stakeholders in Education, at this opportune time of the year. On behalf of the Executive Council, I would like to pass our compliments of the season. We thank the Almighty for carrying us through the festive season into 2011 with fewer losses of life and fatalities especially in our roads.
Once again, I wish you all the best in 2011 as we lift our province to another higher trajectory.
I thank you.
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government
