Programme director
Representatives of Teacher Unions
Teachers and Learners
Our Partners
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen,
Once more, thank you very much for making time to be part of the national championships of the 2011 South African Schools Choral Eisteddfod (SASCE).
The South African Schools Choral Eisteddfod is one of the most prestigious events in the annual school calendar.
It is part of our broader strategy for building social cohesion and promoting unity in diversity as envisaged in the 1996 Constitution of democratic South Africa.
Your sitting together with us at this important festival of music and your worthy support as teachers, school principals, organised labour, parents, education officials, non governmental organisations and business is quite crucial because this august event resonates with the vision of creating a better life for all our people.
In the tradition of using ‘culture as a weapon of struggle’, as we did in the past, the South African Schools Choral Eisteddfod is an instrument for nation-building, for bringing people together.
We have sustained it for a decade, each time upping the standard, precisely because it is an artistic way of freeing the potential of citizens, and thus, laying a solid foundation for building a united, democratic, non racial, non sexist, and prosperous society.
For a loving mother, for a dedicated educationist, for any patriot, there’s nothing better than the image of a girl child singing harmoniously next to a boy-child, in a state of bliss, all oblivious of the artificial boundaries of gender, race, class, ethnicity, religion or language, imposed by the adult world.
This phenomenal musical encounter has brought us here together to witness nature’s beauty as it sparkles in the melodies of the innocent and optimistic children of South Africa who believe firmly in the future.
This musical journey therefore serves as a creative instrument for strengthening our social contract to which we have given a high premium in the Delivery Agreement for Basic Education. It is only when we work together in mutual partnerships that we can do more to improve the quality of basic education.
You would recall that in the State of the Nation Address, the President of South Africa has called upon all of us to focus particularly on the ‘non-negotiables’ in education, together ensuring that learners and teachers are in school, in class, on time, learning and teaching, for at least seven hours a day.
There is no better way of demonstrating the truth behind this call for a return to the basics than by recalling the results of the Annual National Assessments report which we released on Tuesday, 28 June 2011. As we indicated, with all honesty and with neither complacency nor denial of the situation, levels of literacy and numeracy in our country are sadly very low.
We commit ourselves to take all necessary corrective measures to turn the situation around. We have a long-term plan for basic education which must help us convert every school into a centre of excellence. We have committed to pulling all stops in stoking the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign. But this renewed focus needs all of us education is a societal issue. We need all of you.
Reading, counting and writing are at the very core of everything we do as humans. They constitute the preconditions for better skilling and empowerment necessary for our country’s human resources development needs, and generally, for the self-actualisation of each individual.
Without reading, we would not have deciphered the musical notes that made today possible. The music competition has and must continue pulling us together reminding us that united we stand and divided we fall.
This music competition did much to convince me that we can achieve the goals we set when we launched the Hands Up 4 Education Campaign – a campaign through which we made a call to all South Africans to support our educational goals, play an active role in the education of children and assist us to improve the quality of basic education.
Behind the success of the 2011 South African Schools Choral Eisteddfod is the positive involvement of departmental officials, principals, teachers, unions, learners, parents, organisations and communities.
Many doors for self-advancement were opened for learners who participated in the different levels of the competition, in the provincial and national championships, particularly for learners located in historically disadvantaged communities.
Above music and song, as a dynamic marketplace of talent, the Choral Eisteddfod opens a unique world of possibilities, unmediated social interaction, bonding and networking for learners, teachers, parents and families. It helps to break social barriers. This is the basis of a new society we all aspire for based on values of human dignity, equality and freedom for all.
SASCE is a lever for delivering key messages to young people on current challenges and threats facing our nation, Africa and the world, like the scourge of HIV and AIDS, TB, crime, drug and alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy and other social ills.
Music is one of key activities contributing to the holistic development of children. Since 2001, SASCE has taken us through a variety of musical styles ranging from compositions of the West to African indigenous and contemporary offerings.
Our very own composers whose songs featured at this year’s Eisteddfod included SBB Mnomiya, SJ Khosa and Thulani Mthethwa, to whom we’re thankful for their contribution.
Before I close, I would like to make a special plea to all learners. They must follow religiously the example set by accomplished artists who walked these lands before them.
Your teachers have seen your talent and have invested precious time in it.
Use your talent constructively to empower yourselves and those around you, for, you are because we are!
I wish to thank our conductors who have instilled in our learners a deep passion for music. Keep up the good work!
All thanks to the National Coordinating Committee made up of representatives of teacher unions, national and provincial officials, other participating organisations and the Department of Arts and Culture, for the sterling work of hosting this event.
We thank also all the sponsors and partners, including loveLife, Unicef, ViaAfrika and Adidas. We appreciate highly your support and have no doubt that this long-term partnership will make a positive and sustainable difference in the lives of young South Africans.
Together we can improve the quality of education.
I thank you.
Source: Department of Basic Education
