Address by the Premier of Limpopo honourable Chupu Mathabatha on the occassion of the launch of Shinning Stars matric Fridays, Polokwane
Programme director;
MEC Thembisile Nwedamutswu and other Members of the Provincial Executive Council;
Executive Mayor of Capricorn District Municipality, Ntate Gilbert Kganyago;
Executive Mayor of Polokwane Local Municipality, Mme Thembi Nkadimeng;
Provincial General Manager for the SABC, Mme Tshamano Makuya;
Acting Head of Department, Ntate Mashaba;
Our friends from other media houses;
Ladies and gentlemen:
Today marks the beginning of the end of a long taxing road that our learners had to travel since the start of the 2014 academic year. At the same time, we are also here to mark the beginning of the last few milestones before the commencement of the examinations for our Matric class of 2014.
I am happy that our children do not have to travel these remaining milestones alone. As the government, together with the SABC, we are joining in on this road which is surely headed towards an 80% pass rate.
As the head of our provincial government, I am very grateful for the mutually beneficial partnership between the SABC and our government on issues of education development. Today’s launch of this Matric
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Fridays is yet another evidence of a healthy relationship between us as government and the public broadcaster.
I am also aware that the involvement of the SABC in this regard has been entrenched over many years. The SABC’s education shows are without comparison, both in content and reception.
I am convinced that ours is indeed a winning partnership.
Programme Director;
As I have already indicated, the concept of Matric Fridays is based on the need to support and encourage our learners as they prepare for the examinations which are just around the corner. We are actually here to say to our children that they are not alone.
We are doing this because as government we have long accepted the perspective that education is a broader societal issue. Our view is that education is so important to can be left in the hands of teachers and School Governing Bodies alone.
Ladies and Gentlemen, you will remember that the class of 2013 surpassed all expectations when they broke beyond the 70% ceiling shooting up to over 71%.
This in itself has imposed a daunting challenge to the class of 2014. As I have already said, their target is set at 80%. I have ignored the calls to revise this target down. Expecting less than 80% from the class of 2014 will be to settle for mediocrity. Certainly, we are not a province of mediocrity.
Programme director,
I also wish to say to the learners who will be seating for these exams that it is not only important to pass, we expect quality passes from our children.
For this to be achieved it is important that we remind our learners of what I consider to be the three working ingredients of a good pass; these ingredients are: hard work, focus and discipline.
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The truth is that a good pass is a master key that opens all doors to opportunities and a better life; with a good pass one can be admitted to the best universities in the world, enjoy freedom to choose his/her study field and get all the financial assistance you may need.
I also have the assurance of teachers, parents and other stakeholders that our children have been adequately prepared to produce the desired results come the end of this year.
I therefore wish to call on our Matriculants to use the few remaining days before the exams effectively and prudently. This is the time for learners to suspend all activities that are not helpful to their studies including time spend on Social Networks such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Mixit, etcetera.
I also wish to take up this opportunity to call on parents and guardians to afford our children sufficient time for their studies. Let us support our children in whatever way possible to ensure that their dreams are also realised.
Programme Director, as I conclude, I want to also take this opportunity to speak directly to those children who are coming from poor family backgrounds. I want to say to these children that such a background should not deter you from aiming for the starts; it actually should serve as a fuel force for you.
You should not concern yourselves with how you will afford the costly University fees; that is not your problem to worry about; your task is to pass well and your government will take it from there.
The assurance is that no child who is finically needy and academically deserving can be out of school merely on account of poor family background. It is the policy of our government that all children who are doing well academically must be financially assisted to complete their studies.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to thank you very much for your attention, I am confident that all of us will from today put on our school uniforms every Friday in support and solidarity with our children.
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We will do this as we march towards our 80% Matric pass rate.
I thank you!
