D Peters: World Teachers' Day

5 October 2006

Programme Director
Members of National Executive Committee of the South African Democratic
Teachers' Union (SADTU) in particular Comrade President William Madisha
Deputy President Comrade Thobile Ntola
General Secretary and President of Education International (EI)
Comrade Thulas W. Nxesi
Provincial Leadership of SADTU
Director-General of the Department of Education, Comrade Duncan Hindle
Representatives of the national Association of School Governing Body
Mayor of Sol Plaatjie Municipality, Mr Patrick Lenyibi
Representatives of various teachers' organisations present here today
Officials of the Northern Cape Provincial Government
Comrades and friends

On behalf of the Northern Cape Provincial Government, I would like to pass a
special word of gratitude to the leadership of the South African Democratic
Teacher Union, for choosing the Northern Cape to be the host of this auspicious
occasion. It is an indication on your side that the Northern Cape is not only a
place blessed with natural beauty of flowers, hills and mountains, a place with
diverse cultural and traditional heritage, but it is also a place to spend time
at, to workout strategies and ways of further advancing the interest of our
people.

Comrade Programme Director, firstly, I would like to applaud the new elected
national Executive Committee of SADTU who emerged with a renewed mandate at the
sixth congress that recently took place in Gauteng and further wish you a
successful term of office. Amandla!

Comrade Programme Directors,

We are gathered here today, in the heart of the diamond city, to recognise
and applaud the contributions as well as the achievements of teachers as we
join millions of people on the continent and across the globe to celebrate
World Teachers' Day.

As we celebrate the World Teachers' Day, we wish to take time to most
sincerely thank our teachers for their hard work, sacrifices and the fortitude
that they have shown and continue to show as they strive, day in and day out,
to prepare our learners to be citizens of substance tomorrow.

Programme Director,

While we celebrate World Teachers' Day, we do so appreciatively mindful that
many of our teachers perform and continue to perform extraordinary tasks beyond
their normal call of duty under the leadership of SADTU. To them, our
children's future and their aspirations for a better tomorrow, is the driving
force behind their noble actions.

Therefore occasions such as these, afford the rare yet much needed
opportunity to recognise and honour these unsung heroes and heroines; loyal and
dedicated teachers who perform their tasks unnoticed and unappreciated
throughout the year; disciplined and exemplary teachers who never make the news
headlines.

Comrade Programme Directors,

They are not making news headlines because they are not raping our
children;
They are not making headlines because they are not abusing our children;
They are not making headlines because they stay sober and they are committed to
their profession.

The teachers that we honour here today are teachers who are defined by
values such as hard work; respect for women and children and an insatiable
appetite for knowledge; teachers who work with a passion and are committed to
excellence. Teachers, who are an inspiration to their learners and fellow
teachers and who use the advantage of their education to contribute to the
upliftment of our communities.

It is for this reason that we should celebrate their efforts, because there
are the people who provide us with hope for a better life. We all agree that
the driving force for any education system is its teacher corps. With all other
factors being equal, the quality and dedication of the teachers, determine the
success or failure of an education system.

Comrade Programme Directors,

The commitment we have made, to build the education system which is
accessible, free and fair, most of all responsive to the needs of our people,
requires all of us to take the view that our country requires no ordinary
solutions. It requires that we insert into the credo the assertion that our
country needs leaders of unquestionable loyalty, dignity, selfless and willing
to be of service to the people at all times.

Comrades and friends,

As we're gathered here today, we understands the fact that we have the
opportunity to model our society and fulfil the societal obligation in ensuring
that we deal with the scourge of HIV and Aids, problems of unemployment, lack
of proper housing and sanitation, alcohol and substance abuse and so on.
However, all this problems confronting our society can never be addressed
through ordinary solutions. It is therefore our task as revolutionaries and
cadres to come up with creative solutions (extra ordinary solutions) to deal
with these issues affecting our communities.

As we celebrate World Teachers Day, we acknowledge the crucial role that
many of us here play as we seek to build a new society from the ashes of the
old. In seeking to build this new society, we acknowledge that there are many
paths and many roads. As teachers and educators, many of us know that the road
less travelled is often the most difficult and lonelier, but ultimately the
more enriching and rewarding.

As teachers and comrades you have on countless occasions been called upon to
judge on many pivotal issues and you have often chosen the road less travelled
by challenging what passes for conventional wisdom and you have asserted your
profession. Today we honour your calling on behalf of our children, our people
and our African brothers and sisters across the continent, for the right to
design our own future.

Comrade Programme Directors,

Our historical past eroded the dignity, integrity and self-respect of the
majority our people, particularly with regards to the teaching profession. The
grinding poverty that apartheid and its beneficiaries burdened us with is a
form of violence and abuse that those who have never had to sleep on an empty
stomach cannot ever comprehend.

Many of us have therefore chosen this profession, not through blind faith,
not just because you wanted a job, but through a conscious decision born of a
desire and commitment to serve and lend your support to a carefully constructed
future of dignity and prosperity for our children, our people and our
country.

As a result of that decision and because of your leadership, we can envision
an Africa free of poverty. As a result of that decision and because of your
leadership, our people can boldly assert in public our right to speak our
languages, our right to choose our own leaders and heroes, our right to reclaim
our history and fashion, our future free of interference from those who seek to
trap us in the past.

Comrades and friends,

At present we have the opportunity to design a better future that would
serve the interests and aspirations of our people. Through the role you
continue to play, you create the space and means for us to find our place in
the world. Allow me to say congratulations to all of you across the country,
the continent and the globe, for the outstanding courage, dedication and
commitment you've displayed in our schools, family and community.

We pride ourselves with you, simply because through your work we can cherish
the dreams and hopes to produce future professionals who are fully capacitated
and equipped to stand for the challenges facing our country today.

Comrade Programme Directors,

Last week on Friday we hosted the Northern Cape Provincial Teachers' Award
ceremony honouring the best teachers who execute their duties to the best of
your ability. On behalf of the Northern Cape Provincial Government, I take this
opportunity to also congratulate all of those who have been awarded with
distinctions and commendations.

Comrade Programme Directors,

When we celebrate in this occasions, we do not just to ponder the fancies
around us, but we celebrate most of all, to create a way to encourage parents
and our children to build inspirational 'real' teachers, who through their
outstanding work, brings tremendous achievements out of our children. It is our
task as government, private sectors, unions, parents and the broader community,
to ensure that the quality of education in our country improves, by promoting
excellence and providing support for best practices in education.

It for this reason that we say, "it takes a village to raise a child",
because we believe in our teachers, for they spend maximum time with our
children in schools, at home with our parents and with the rest of our
community at large, to build acceptable values and morals relevant to a
democratic society, wherein we can all live in harmony.

Comrade Programme Directors,

The aim of education should not only be about the knowledge of fact, but it
should also include knowledge of acceptable values and morals we should teach
our children to uphold.

In conclusion comrades and friends,

It remains a fact that our country is experiencing a serious shortage and
growing need for educators more especially in fields, such as mathematics,
science and technology. However, we would be of disservice to our country and
world in general, if we continue to discourage our learners to take maths and
science subjects as part of their curriculum more especially on higher grade
and to ensure that we provide schools and teachers with adequate support.

We make this call simply because it is through education that we can
transmit civilisation, since we're currently living in a globalised world,
dictated by the growing science and technology. We therefore call upon all of
us to embark on a serious campaign, to encourage learners to excel in these
subjects hence they hold lots of promises to a better future for all of us in
many respects.

Let us continue to learn day by day, year by year, to broaden our knowledge
and the horizon. The more we increase our knowledge as teachers, the more we
become interested in our profession and the more we enjoy teaching others.
Aware of the circumstances facing our learners, more especially those coming
from poor communities, we urge all of you to continue supporting them beyond
the classroom, to ensure that their conditions becomes better through
education.

It should always be our commitment to treat people with mutual respect,
dignity and with honesty at all times and help them to become what they are
capable of being. Remember, that you are in education to improve the lives of
others and to ensure that you would leave your community and world better than
you found it.

Lastly, we wish good luck to all of our children as they would be starting
with their final examinations that would take them to the next step of their
lives. Here in Kimberly we speak, Tswana, Xhosa, English and Nama, but most of
all Afrikaans, therefore welcome to the Northern Cape and enjoy the rest your
stay here at home with our people.

Amandla!

Issued: Office of the Premier, Northern Cape Provincial Government
5 October 2006
Source: Northern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.northern-cape.gov.za)