Programme Director
Western Cape MEC for Education: Mrs Debbie Schäfer
Councillors
School Principal and SMT
SGB Chairperson
Educators, Parents and Learners
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen.
I am delighted to be in the Western Cape, once again, after my last visit in this province we officially handed over Sophumelela Secondary School to the Samora Machel community last month.
Firstly, I hope the matric examinations have progressed well and that all children were given space and support to do well in the exams. I am sure that you will agree with me when I say that education presents the best opportunity and avenue to a secure a bright future.
In line with our mission to secure a bright future for all our people, through the government flagship programme known as Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) we are today converged here to hand over yet another school. We have already handed over six schools to jubilant communities in this province alone. ASIDI aims to eradicate mud, plankie and other schools built from inappropriate materials.
Knysna Secondary School, by far the largest is the seventh school that we are today officially handing over to the local community.
Through ASIDI, we are building 25 new state-of-the-art schools in the Western Cape alone.
Since the launch of ASIDI over 89 new state-of-the-art schools have been handed over to the communities in the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Free State and other provinces.
ASIDI is an R8.2 billion initiative, one of the Government's Strategic Infrastructure Projects (SIPs). The grand idea is to replace some 510 schools in the country built from inappropriate materials. We also intend to provide water and sanitation to 1 257 schools and electricity to 878 schools.
Programme Director this government will not rest until all our learners and teachers have decent sanitation, water, electricity and state-of-the-art building infrastructure. We are steadfast in our belief that we will achieve this milestone in our lifetime.
Doors of Learning and Culture shall be opened!
Programme Director and distinguished guests, the ASIDI Programme seeks to achieve once and for all the people’s demand made in 1955 during the dark days of the apartheid regime. Men and women with a vision converged in a small town known as Kliptown and drafted what became the rallying cry for all freedom loving South Africans and our international friends throughout the struggle period. I am talking about the Congress of the People that met on that winter day of the 26th June 1955 and produced the Freedom Charter.
The Freedom Charter proclaims boldly that “The Doors of Learning and Culture shall be opened! The government shall discover, develop and encourage national talent for the enhancement of our cultural life; the aim of education shall be to teach the youth to love their people and their culture, to honour human brotherhood, liberty and peace; Education shall be free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children.”
During the apartheid years, up and until the 1994 breakthrough, our education system was fragmented and discriminated against Blacks in general and Africans in particular.
It was only in 1996 that the new ANC-led government managed to successfully launch a single and integrated education system for the whole country. The 1994 freedom achieved by the toiling masses of South Africa under the leadership of the ANC not only ensured the freedom in general, but also paved the way for the fundamental restructuring of education to free it from the philosophies of apartheid regime.
Our new system of education inculcates the ethos of non-racialism, non-sexism and inclusiveness. Our end goal as dictated by the Freedom Charter is to offer universal free and compulsory primary and secondary education. We are indeed on course to achieve these lofty goals.
In his 2014 State of the Nation Address His Excellency President Jacob Zuma reaffirmed education as an apex priority for this ANC-led government. President Zuma said: “We declared education as an apex priority in 2009. We want to see everyone in the country realising that education is an essential service for our nation. It means we want the education sector and society as a whole to take education more seriously than is happening currently”. He added: “All successful societies have one thing in common – they invested in education”.
The late founding father of our nation, uTata Nelson Mandela made a vital point that: “A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue and a pen, then you have something very special.”
Knysna Secondary School History and Profile
Programme Director; please allow me to take you down the memory lane. Knysna Secondary School went through many developmental phases since its establishment in 1953 - from a typical pioneering phase to a mature integrated educational institution. However the apartheid regime moved the original school from business centre of town to the outskirts of the city where it stands today. This is the sad reality of our past. However the school has persevered over the years and produced many professionals. I am pleased that this year the school celebrates its 61st birthday.
It therefore befitting that today we are not only handing over a school building to the community, but we are restoring the dignity of this community. I am pleased that the school has a whopping number of 1500 learners. Equally exciting is that over the years, the school recorded improvements in terms of the National Senior Certificate results. The improvements have been consistent. You moved from 59% in 2006 to 86% in 2013. These are commendable results. Well Done to all Teachers and Principal!
Challenges
I am also aware that this school is ranked Quintile 4 and it has the Section 21 status. As a result of this status, the school charges fees despite the fact that the surrounding community is impoverished. Most parents are unemployed and reside in the informal settlement and others are backyard dwellers. This has serious implications for the school in terms of collecting school fees since the majority of the parents or guardians are unable to pay. We will seriously look at the reclassification of this school from a fee paying school to a no-fee school.
We are also aware of other challenges facing this school apart from poverty. The area where the school is located is plagued by crime and lawlessness which manifests itself in the rise of gangsters, alcohol and drug abuse and violence. The school is not insulated from the challenges plaguing the community. It is therefore important for the community to unite and protect the integrity of this school. Work together and address the issues of drugs, alcohol abuse and teenage pregnancies.
ASIDI Intervention: The new Knysna Secondary School
Programme Director; it gives me pleasure to announce that the ASIDI programme has delivered yet another state-of-the-art school the new Knysna Secondary School that boasts of the following features:
- 28 newly built classrooms
- 18 refurbished classrooms
- Two x new Science Labs
- Two x refurbished Science Labs
- One x book store
- One x Art Room
- One x Media Centre Room
- One x Consumer Studies classroom
- Two x sets of boy’s toilets
- Two x sets of girl’s toilets
- 9.1 x Caretaker Room
- One x Refuse Room
- Extended Staff Room
- Five New Offices
- One Netball Court
- Enough Parking
The people of South Africa through their freely elected government led by the ANC invested R42 million in this project as part of our mission to help restore dignity to this community. We commend the leadership of President Jacob Zuma and the cordial relations we have with the Western Cape Provincial Government. It is indeed true that working together we are gradually taking South Africa Forward.
Because we have moved beyond just bricks and mortar the reconstruction and refurbishment of this school created much needed jobs for the local community. I am pleased that the project exceeded the EPWP targets in terms of the involvement of women and youth. I am told that some young people even got a chance to do their learnerships in the process gaining much needed transferrable skills. In total over 680 job opportunities were created during this project.
Conclusion
In conclusion let me echo the words of the Principal Mr Anton Titus, “Knysna Secondary School has recently been transformed from being an inappropriate structure to a beautiful state-of-the-art institution - from underperformance to excellence”. The new school signifies the people’s government resolve and commitment to advance the quality of education for all especially the rural poor. I officially hand over this facility to its rightful owners, the Knysna community. Treasure it and protect it so that future generations also can benefit from this massive investment by our people.
I thank you.
