Department of Education and Sport Development Budget Speech 2017/18 presented by Hon. Jonas Sello Lehari MEC for Education and Sport Development
Motlotlegi Mmusa Kgotla le Motlotlegi Motlatsa Mmusa Kgotla Motlotlegi Modula Setulo Wa Bo Ba Dula Ditilo
Motlotlegi Tonakgolo Rre Supra Obakeng Ramoeletsi Mahumapelo Batlotlegi Bakhuduthamaga Ba Bokone Bophirima
Batlotlegi ba Kgotlatheo Molao ya Bokone Bophirima Maloko Khuduthamaga a Bo-Masepala a Ikarabelang mo go tsa Thuto le Tlhabololo ya Metshameko a a leng teng Baeteledipele ba Mekgatlho ya Dipolotiki
Dikgosi tsa rona ba Eteletswe Pele Ke Kgosi Zibi Baeteledipele Ba NICSA
Baeteledipele ba Sedumedi
Baeteledipele ba Makgotla Taolo a Dikolo Mekgatlho Ya Badiri
Mekgatlho Ya Barutwana Baeteledipele ba Lefapha ba tsa Kgwebo
Baeteledipele ba Mokgatlho o o Busang wa ANC
Honourable Speaker, 2017 marks the centenary of one of the greatest men, leaders and selfless human beings ever produced by this African country, and moulded by the suffering of an African child to commit his entire life for the marginalised and the downtrodden. We therefore join the nation and the people of Bokone Bophirima to celebrate the life well lived. We commend the wisdom of the collective leadership of the African National Congress under the leadership of President Zuma in declaring 2017 as the year of OR Tambo.
The Department of Education and Sport Development presents this budget today with the understanding of what OR Tambo stood for and died for. Oliver Tambo attended the Ludeke Methodist School which was 16 kilometers away from his home and he had to walk there and back every day in all kinds of weather.
But what is important Honourable Speaker, was not the distance OR Tambo travelled to school, but the support given by his father who encouraged him to go to school while he looked after the cattle, the work that was supposed to be done by Oliver.
With all this difficulty, Oliver Reginald Tambo went on to complete his matric in 1938 and enrolled at Fort Hare, initially, he wanted to become a Doctor, but such studies were reserved for white people, he then registered for science. That is the very institution where he met Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and they both served on the SRC of the Institution.
Honourable Speaker, we are inspired today that whatever difficulty we face today as the system of Education and Sport Development, we are better placed to provide mechanisms for quality learning and teaching as compared to what OR Tambo went through.
Last year’s budget was presented under the premise that says “doors of learning and culture shall be open” because 2016 was declared the year of the Freedom Charter.
Let me then congratulate Tshimologo Navel Motlhaga from Ramotshudi Secondary school in Moses Kotane who had to walk five kilometers everyday to school and back in all weather conditions but went on to obtain 95% in mathematics, 92% in Physical Science and 78% in Geography. If Oliver Tambo could do it, so has Navel, who did it against all odds.
Honourable Speaker, in his address to the People of Bokone Bophirima, Honourable Premier, SOR Mahumapelo alluded to the sentiment by the President for radical economic trans- formation, of which as the Department of Education and Sport Development we need to be geared up to provide the skills needed for such transformation. And part of the economic revolution pronounced by the Premier was:
- Industrialisation of the Learner and Teacher Support material- a need to ensure that stationeries for learners in our schools are produced and distributed locally- we will work hand in hand with North West Development Cooperation to realize this strategic objective.
- Manufacturing and provision of animation toys which will teach our learners at foundation mathematics as part of the massive mathematics literacy campaign- we will work with NWDC and other content developers from within the province to develop such animation instruments.
- Industrialisation of sport equipment- in pursuit of spending 70% of the department budget within the province, we will pursue such radical approach to economic transformation.
Premier, we heard you, the people of Bokone Bophirima have heard you, and from now on it’s all hands on deck. We will move with that speed of Setsokotsane to bring about much needed transformation in education and sport sector which encompasses recreation.
The budget we are presenting today will be implemented within the redefined boundaries aligned to the municipal demarcation. We will have four Districts instead of five. Kgetleng which previously fell under Ngaka Modiri Molema will now be under Bojanala, Tswaing will now be under Ngaka Modiri Molema and all other cross boundary sub-districts will be served that way. All these realignments are in line with the Rebranding, Repositioning and Renewal of the People’s Province of Bokone Bophirima.
Speaker, it is worth noting that Ngaka Modiri Molema District obtained 88.66% in the 2016 NSC Examinations and obtained the first position in the Province with an improvement of 10.72%, and Kgetleng sub-district as position one of all 18 sub-districts at 90.66% pass. And as we are celebrating this achievement, there is no school with under 20% performance.
Honourable Speaker, at core of development in the people’s province of Bokone Bophirima is the institutionalization of Mathematics and Science in our schools. At the centre of the National Development Plan, are the foundation skills in areas such as mathematics, science, language, arts and ethics. Therefore the call by the Honourable Premier find resonance in the National Blue Print that guides the country’s direction towards bettering the lives of its citizens, we will implement without hesitation, starting with the launch of Maths labs in our 498 primary schools next month.
The budget appropriated to us will work towards making Bokone Bophirima a mathematics and science hub. We will work with institutions of higher learning to realize this strategic mandate. Madam Speaker, it is also worth mentioning that among others, three schools in Dr Ruth S. Mompati were sponsored with fully equipped computer laboratories by MTN Foundation. The three schools are Mampho Secondary, a farm school, Obang Secondary and Reabetswe Secondary schools. Each school received 40 networked computers, two servers and connectivity of 20 Gigabytes monthly. The globe has become smaller and accessible for the farm learners.
And furthermore, Anglo-American Platinum has handed over the following projects to the Department, namely Tlhabane West library and four Grade R classrooms; Bakwena Secondary Science Laboratory; Retlakgona and President Mangope Computer Laboratories; Photshaneng Primary IT and 2 classrooms; Upgraded sport fields at Tlhage, Mfidikwe, Phot- shaneng Primary Schools and Tshukudu Secondary all to a tune of R25,1m.
The intervention by National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) in the 54-Fresh Start Schools (FSS) which started with its full-roll-plan at the beginning of 2016 is appreciated and we hope it will impact positively and improve learner performance in the Bojanala District. Plans are currently in place to expand the project to other non-FSS schools in the District.
2017 will be the year of action as far as sport development is concerned. We will launch VTSD games to encourage mass participation in sport. These will include VTSD Soccer games, VTSD Golf challenge, a liberation marathon from Zeerust to Groot Marico and fun walk in all municipalities in order to fight social ills.
We, however, present this budget today, deepening our faces, having lost three young souls from Kagisano Molopo in a fatal accident on the N4 Rustenburg road while returning from the handover of the Library in Moretele, we further lost a child in Bloemhof and we still await for the post-mortem of the cause of death without speculations.
Honourable members, it was Nelson Mandela who once said “I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made some missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended”.
Indeed Honourable Speaker we will not rest until our learners in Kagisano-Molopo, Madibogo, Tshidilamolomo and other areas around Ratlou are not used as fighting tools for service delivery. Our learners are always victims of service delivery protests and they lose many learning and teaching hours while their peers in former Model C schools are continuing with their studies. We need a radical approach in addressing these challenges.
Indeed with freedom come responsibilities. It remains our responsibility to ensure that the child of a farm worker receives decent quality education in a healthy environment with all necessities like a child of CEO of a reputable company in an affluent suburb. No child in our school should go to street and demonstrate for provision of sanitation and water, it is our responsibility and we must deliver.However, we have come to realize that after climbing the biggest hill, we notice that there still are many more hills to climb. Full speech [PDF]
