SACCI CEO, Neren Rau
SATBA Representative
Senior business leaders and colleagues,
It gives me much pleasure to dine and converse with you. It took a while for us to gather in this way, as government and business leaders. You are an important player in society. I say with appreciation that your work as the private sector in developing the South African economy making it the more inclusive through investment in education is commendable.
I believe we are where we are today due largely to the consensus that working together we can do more. Collectively we can build a country that works, with an education system of quality that runs efficiently, inclusively and is accessible to all, regardless of race, gender or class. This role of education and skilling we’ve underscored in the National Development Plan.
I’m glad to be here sharing with you my thoughts and perspectives on the contribution of basic education to the attainment of our nation’s key priorities. These national priorities include growing an inclusive economy, creating jobs, youth development, rural development, fighting poverty and disease, combating crime, and ending inequalities.
I believe that in the context of high unemployment, coupled with a widely recognised skills shortfall, reducing poverty depends largely on giving South Africans a better educational start in life. This is why broadening access to quality education has been a priority among democratic South Africans for decades.
We remain conscious that appropriate industrial, trade and economic policies are requisite for prosperity. However, without a sound basic education system, success in these and other policy areas would be severely limited.
This is what Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, Chairman of the Shanduka Foundation, and Mr Nevhutalu, Chairman of Kagiso Trust, meant when they said that (Sunday Times, 17 March 2013: 5): “The state of education affects everyone because it is so closely linked to South Africa’s growth and development. Every citizen therefore has a direct interest in seeing the quality and accessibility of education improved.”
I believe it is in this context that we should respond to the call for cooperation that President Jacob Zuma has made in the 2013 State of the Nation Address. Education is a societal issue. Already, we have laid a solid foundation for building a quality system of education that would serve as the bedrock of development. I am therefore pleased to report to you that our efforts are paying dividend, and I would like to share with you some of the great strides we have made in education.
The 2012 NSC examination was the fifth examination written on the National Curriculum Statement. There has been a consistent improvement in the performance of learners and the number of learners obtaining the National Senior Certificate over the last four years. In 2009 the national average pass rate was 60.6%, in 2010 it was 67.8% and in 2011 it was 70.2%. In 2012 it reached 73.9%. 75% is therefore not out of reach.
We introduced the Annual National Assessments for learners in the primary phase as a diagnostic tool to inform the system where and how interventions need to be made. In 2012 we expanded the second ANA to include learners in Grade 9. On the one hand, the results demonstrated that focused interventions could be deemed to be bearing fruit. On the other, the ANA results also demonstrated that there is an urgent need to focus resources and expertise on improving learner performance particularly in the Senior Phase.
It is through this institutionalised annual assessment that the progress of the system will be measured and monitored and that information on school performance will be made more widely available. One of the main outcomes of this national testing is to improve school-based assessment practices.
Internationally, South Africa’s improvement in Mathematics, of 67 TIMSS points between 2002 and 2011, or 7 points per year on average, is among the steepest seen by any TIMSS’ participant. Analysts have concluded that South Africa’s improved performance is comparable to that experienced in the last decade by Brazil, probably the fastest and most consistent improver in any international testing system in recent years.
As part of the drive to improve the quality of learning and teaching in our primary schools, we took the unprecedented step of developing and distributing workbooks to all Grade 1-9 learners in 2012. This is a remarkable achievement in that we provided 900 000 Grade R workbooks, 6 754 525 Home languages workbooks, 919 220 Grade 1-9 Mathematics workbooks and 411 675 Grades 1-6 English First Additional Language workbooks.
All workbooks and textbooks were sent to 24 355 schools across the country, benefiting over 11 million learners. Partnerships proved to be vital. We provided with the Mark Shuttleworth Foundation 1 277 550 Grade 10-12 Mathematics textbooks and 934 700 Physical Science textbooks. This was part of our strategy to improve performance in mathematics and science at the FET level.
We have also developed a national catalogue and strengthened the monitoring of the procurement and distribution processes of textbooks. We believe this will ensure concentrated quality assurance processes and economies of scale. And through this process, learners will progressively access one textbook per subject.
But, ladies and gentlemen, no government can afford to renew textbooks for the entire learner population every year. We all should work, as parents, learners, teachers and communities, towards achieving the goal of 100% retrieval of textbooks.
We are of the view that the successful implementation of our streamlined curriculum depends on strengthened teacher development programmes. We have therefore made teacher development a joint responsibility through the groundbreaking agreement we have entered into with the teacher unions. This should reinforce the gains we have made in this area. Between 2002 and now, the percentage of publicly employed educators with at least a three-year post-matric qualification has increased from 80% to 96%.
We are strengthening the capacity of existing Teacher Centres so that they support teachers on content knowledge, pedagogy and the effective implementation of the revised Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements. Through the Funza Lushaka bursary scheme, we hope to draw more young and talented people into the system. These bursaries we offer to young people for studies in mathematics, the sciences and languages. By the end of 2012, we had awarded around 11,500 Funza Lushaka bursaries.
This intervention makes a difference notwithstanding problems around placement of graduates. We have agreed with provinces to attend seriously to this challenge so as to benefit the nation fully from this investment.
Our Department has developed a magazine for teachers, called What’s up Teach? which offers a fresh, new way to communicate critical information to teachers in a friendly and interactive way. This is one of our responses to a call in the National Development Plan for lifting standards of teaching and learning.
A boost to our efforts at developing teachers and attending to their needs, was the announcement by the President, in the 2013 State of the Nation Address, of a Presidential Remuneration Commission to review salaries of public servants. In this regard, teachers will receive a first priority.
This should go a long way in advancing efforts to improve performance to which we have committed in the delivery agreement for the basic education sector.
Programme Director,
We have prioritised Early Childhood Development (ECD) given its importance in the formative years of learning. Our approach as a Department to ECD is based on clear policies and legislative framework, including the constitutional mandate to promote rights to primary education. We are guided among other things by the National Education Policy Act of 1996 and the South African Schools Act of 1996 that promote access, quality and democratic governance in the schooling system.
The Grade R programme is one of our critical interventions. Through this programme we aim to ensure that children are well-prepared for formal schooling. We’ve done very well as the democratic state to broaden access to Grade R post-1994. In 2012, total funding for Grade R was over R3 billion. Over 90% of schools offer Grade R compared to a decade ago.
In 1999, South Africa had only 156 292 learners in Grade R. By 2012, the number had increased to 767 865. There are more than 22 000 Grade R classes in our schools. Broadening our ECD programme supports the national drive towards job-creation and skills development particularly for women. We had an increase from just over 20 000 Grade R teachers in 2009 to around 22 000 in 2011. A major task is to improve quality of ECD, allocate more resources and improve qualifications of Grade R teachers.
The participation rate among 7 to 15 year old children has also increased to almost 100% making it quite clear that we will meet the Millennium Development Goals in this respect. We have made adjustments to the school curriculum to ensure that learners acquire basic skills and competencies in reading, writing and maths. These competencies should lay the basis for further study as well as for entry into the world of work.
We have also undertaken a major recapitalisation programme for the 1 096 technical high schools in the system and are indeed grateful for the injection we have received in this area for the next financial year. Better run, and with active involvement of the private sector, technical schools can provide learners with skills that can be applied directly in the workplace. We have initiated a programme to strengthen the curriculum for these schools. This specialised curriculum we plan to introduce in 2014.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to invite you to work with us to ascertain that the curriculum is in line with the needs of business and industry.
One of the areas of interest you wanted me to also address is the whole matter of Mathematics and Science. The challenge has been to improve learner performance in these critical subjects, to improve Grade 12 enrolment and to curb dwindling numbers, which is not confined to the South African situation. We are establishing a national task team to strengthen the implementation of the Mathematics, Science and Technology Strategy.
Allow me to reiterate the call made by the President on the occasion of the 2013 Opening of Parliament, that: “We urge the private sector to partner government through establishing, adopting or sponsoring maths and science academies or Saturday schools.”
Coming to improving school governance, through provinces, resources will now be dedicated to School Governing Bodies (SGBs) as they have a fundamental role to play in this matter.
Through effective and properly run SGBs we will have parents who are well informed about what happens in the schools and are keen to be involved in school affairs.
Programme Director,
Having understood the role of technology as an enabler in the classroom, our Department is finalising an e-Education implementation strategy to reinforce the 2004 White Paper on e-Education.
We want to see much learning happening through the use of computers and, from Grade 3 onwards, we want learners to become computer literate. We’re working with the Department of Communication on school connectivity initiatives to ensure schools make use of ICTs to improve the quality of teaching and learning and to scale-up school administration.
This is a mammoth task given the backlogs that we have inherited. It is against this background that early this month we have welcomed the opening of the Vhembe ICT Centre that is one of the nine being established by the Vodacom Foundation in each province as part of the Vodacom Mobile Education Programme.
Another area in which South Africa is making great strides is the Kha ri Gude Mass Literacy programme. As a country, we have strengthened our commitment with regard to goal 4 of the Education for all to halve illiteracy by 50% by 2015. Kha ri Gude has reached 2 243 766 adults between 2008 and 2011, with 665 246 in classes in 2012. Through this literacy programme we have also contributed to the alleviation of poverty by providing short term employment to 42 607 volunteers. We are confident that we will meet the Millennium Development Goal of 4, 7 million adults in 2015.
Programme Director, School infrastructure is another key priority for our sector. Last December, the National School Build Programme under the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Committee was launched to address national backlogs in classrooms, libraries, computer labs, media centres and admin buildings. This Programme also embraces long-term infrastructure planning and budgeting for education.
Under government’s Strategic Integrated Programme 13, there are two national programmes. The first is a provincially-driven programme with a national budget of R8.5 billion. The second is the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative. R8.2 billion is allocated to this programme of which R3.1 billion is already committed within projects being implemented.
In addition, a national strategy for the maintenance of public ordinary schools has been developed.
Programme Director,
Since the advent of democracy, our care and support services for learners have improved tremendously. We offer a hot cooked meal to over 8 million learners, every day, through the National School Nutrition Programme – one of our key pro-poor interventions. This is to ensure that learners remain in school.
We have also scaled-up the number of no-fee schools with the aim of ensuring that all children have access to schooling. Over 69% of our schools are now no-fee schools. As part of our pro-poor policies, we also offer transport and uniforms to learners to remove the opportunity costs of education. We are working very well with other social services to ensure that learners have access to the child support grant and psychosocial support.
In February (2013), we launched with President Jacob Zuma the Stop-Rape Campaign in Cape Town in light of the scourge of violence that has been on the rise in the past months.
We need all the help we can get for this DBE and LEAD SA-led Stop-Rape Campaign whose aim is to raise awareness and educate the 10, 2-million learners in South African schools.
Government cannot transform education and society alone. You will recall that together we committed to the Nedlac Accord on Basic Education and Partnership with Schools, in 2011, as part of the social dialogue on the New Growth Path.
The signing of the Accord was a historic moment for education.
It marked the beginning of a new era in which all education role-players, stakeholders and social partners have committed to support the drive towards quality teaching and learning.
The Accord committed all of us to work together to change the mindset among teachers, learners and parents in order to tackle dysfunctional parts of the basic education system, particularly in poorly-performing schools. It was there that we endorsed a campaign to adopt poorly-performing schools and implement whole-school development programmes.
We said individual businesses will work collectively and trade unions and community-based organisations will assist schools to develop proper governance, high standards of teaching, basic school-level discipline and an adequate supply of essentials, like textbooks and workbooks.
Of the many private-public partnerships with a focus on improving education quality, I think the Shanduka/Kagiso Trust initiative offers one of the models that are envisaged in the Nedlac Accord.
They have partnered with the Free State education department on a whole-school development model focusing on the improvement of more than 400 schools across a school district.
This initiative will focus on improving teacher skills, learner performance, school infrastructure, community participation, accountability, leadership and curriculum delivery (Ramaphosa & Nevhutalu, in Sunday Times, 17 March 2012: 5).
With a shared country perspective on education, we can do more to advance the production of knowledge and skills critical for economic and social development. Our Department has a list of schools, and districts, that require urgent support, not only in terms of resources, but also with regard to management issues, leadership, and accountability.
Through collaboration, and by pooling scarce resources, we can all make a difference in education. I have seen the brilliant work you all are doing in education as part of your corporate social responsibility. But time constraints make it difficult to acknowledge all the work you all have done and are doing.
Lastly, we’re not too far from overcoming barriers to quality basic education and improved outcomes required of us by the National Development Plan. Working together we can do more to respond to current challenges.
An investment in education is an investment in the future; it is not only the right thing to do, it is a business imperative. It is against this background that we have declared education an apex priority in 2009. It is against this background that we want to see everyone in the country realising that education is an essential service for our nation, by treating it more seriously.
Once more, I thank you warmly for inviting me and for creating this platform. I am indeed ready for questions.
