Thank you for joining us this morning. This is a special occasion for all of us, as we celebrate yet another milestone for education in the Western Cape.
We are living in exciting times, as far as education is concerned. We are currently introducing a whole raft of initiatives to ensure quality education for all, on both the provincial and national levels. We are now moving rapidly from dreaming to planning and implementation.
Recent examples include:
- Expanding the number of Dinaledi schools in the province, which focus on maths and science, from 10 to 50.
- Launching 28 focus schools, that will specialize in Arts and Culture; Business, Commerce and Management; and Technology and Engineering.
- We are on the verge of launching a massive Literacy and Numeracy campaign for the province.
- We started introducing the new national curriculum for Further Education and Training in schools this year.
- We are recapitalising our FET colleges, to produce learners with special skills and knowledge we need to grow and share the Cape.
Today we celebrate another key milestone in the development of our education system - the Learner Tracking System. You may remember that we announced this project in August last year.
Our first step was to design the instruments we needed for building this system, followed by a major census of every learner and teacher in the province. This has been a massive undertaking.
We have now completed this process and we start using the Learner Tracking System on the 1st of April this year. This is no April Fools joke. The system is now in place. Peter Present, the WCED's Director of Research, will look at some of the detail of what this project has involved to date in a moment.
I would like to look at the big picture, to show you where this project fits into our thinking.
Our President provided a clear indication of where we are going in his State of the Nation address in February. He said that the country was entering an Age of Hope as we discover our identity as a winning nation.
He announced the government's Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative, or ASGISA. The initiative has two key components, namely, a R370-billion drive to invest in public infrastructure and a concerted effort to acquire the skills the economy needs.
These two elements will drive the government's efforts to achieve an average growth rate of 5% between 2004 and 2014, hopefully, to halve unemployment in the country.
In the short-term, ASGISA will address skills development by encouraging large corporations such as Transnet and Eskom, to take on large-scale training of artisans needed most to build the country's infrastructure.
In the longer term, the national and provincial departments of education will expand FET colleges and do everything possible to improve learner performance in literacy and numeracy in schools.
All of this work will have to be data-driven to ensure meaningful results. The Learner Tracking System will play a key role in providing this data in the Western Cape.
The Premier of the Western Cape, Ebrahim Rasool, referred to the President's theme of an Age of Hope, when he delivered his State of the Province address, also in February.
The Premier said that the Western Cape stood on the threshold of prosperity. He quoted statistics, which indicate that the Western Cape has every reason to be hopeful.
For example, the provincial economy has grown by 5.3% for the second consecutive year, fuelled by strong sectoral growth. The buoyant local economy attracted direct foreign investment of R1.4-billion in 2005.
While we have every reason to be hopeful, the Premier also reminded us that we cannot be complacent. He said the provincial government is painfully aware that 26.3% of our citizens are unemployed. Most are youth, which points to the massive skills challenge we face.
He said our prosperity would only be sustainable if we grow and share the Cape. For this reason, the province is fully committed to the Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative.
The provincial government plans to intervene to accelerate growth rate of the Western Cape by 6% by 2010. The Premier announced an eight-point growth battle plan to achieve this objective. Key elements of this plan include a Micro-Economic Development Strategy, known as MEDS, and growing the skills base of the province.
By now, you should be familiar with the province's iKapa Elihlumayo strategy to grow and share the Cape, and to achieve the province's vision of a Home for All. The provincial government launched the strategy in 2003 to ensure social and economic development.
The goals of iKapa Elihlumayo are to reduce unemployment, poverty and income inequality by stimulating economic growth and participation in the province.
The strategy has ensured greater provincial spending on skills development and investment in large infrastructure projects to attract private investment and to stimulate the economy.
The province is balancing this long-term strategy by increasing support for the poor through the payment of grants and improved delivery of social services.
Ikapa Elihlumayo has eight lead strategies, namely, to develop human capital, social capital, micro-economic development, strategic infrastructure, communication, financial governance and greater interdepartmental coordination.
The provincial government has appointed the WCED as the lead department responsible for human capital development. This is a cornerstone of iKapa Elihlumayo and will guide education planning in the Western Cape for many years to come.
Interest in human and social capital development is not confined to South Africa. Governments around the world have taken a special interest in the importance of human and social capital for social and economic development.
UNESCO's Institute for Statistics, for example, took up this theme in a report entitled: "Financing education - investments and returns - analysis of the world education indicators: 2002 edition".
The report stated that: "There is now robust evidence that human capital is a key determinant of economic growth and emerging evidence indicates that it is also associated with a wide range of non-economic benefits, such as better health and well-being.
"Investment in human capital, and by implication in education, has thus moved to centre stage in strategies to promote economic prosperity, fuller employment and social cohesion.
"As a result, education is increasingly considered an investment in the collective future of societies and nations, rather than simply in the future success of individuals."
The WCED believes that building human and social capital cannot be left to chance. Government must intervene directly to ensure human and social development, especially in our poorest communities.
About 50% of learners who enter Grade 1 do not complete Grade 12, primarily black learners from poor communities. Only 23.4% of the population has matric, while only 11.2% has a tertiary qualification.
The HCDS includes strategies for systemic change, as well as strategies for each education phase. The strategy is committed to transforming education, by ensuring access, redress and equity, and to ensuring quality education for all.
Our various interventions are designed to meet the objectives of the Human Capital Development Strategy. This includes the learner tracking system, which will provide the in-depth data we need to ensure fine-grained responses to the immense challenges we are facing. We have to know exactly who we are serving to provide the most effective service possible.
Essentially, the Learner Tracking System provides a single database of all learners in the Western Cape, from Grades 1 to 12. This will provide a powerful education management tool for both schools and the administration.
The main advantages for the department include the following:
- Accurate learner numbers
- Management and administration of learners (transfers, dropouts and promotions)
- Profile of learners leaving system prior to Grade 12.
- Monitoring inter-provincial movement of learners.
- Tracking the movement/progression of learners over time
- Management information of educators
- Efficient allocation of resources to schools
Advantages for schools include the following:
- Schools will not have to complete the time-consuming Snap and Annual surveys each year
- Schools will be able to capture Information on new learners and staff members immediately during the registration process
- Schools will be able to allocate resources on real, current needs and not historic needs.
- Schools will be able to upload data they need for new administration systems directly from the central database.
In conclusion, I would like to make a number of points about the significance of this project.
- 1. Firstly, this is a major achievement. We have reached a key milestone in this project. It was hard work and there were many challenges overcome in the process. We celebrate our success and thank the schools, stakeholders and service providers who took part.
2. Secondly, the project is already delivering results. This project will benefit the WCED, schools and ultimately to the learners because it will give decision makers access to better management information, which will allow for better decisions, "smarter" allocation of funds, and more efficient and effective management of education in the Western Cape.
3. Thirdly, the WCED has shown leadership in this project. This is the first project of its kind in the country. We will willingly share the lessons we learn with our colleagues in other provinces.
4. Fourthly, we are using our installed technology optimally. It is important to note that the investment the WCED made in technological infrastructure has formed the backbone of the success and efficiency of this project. This project re-emphasises the value of technological infrastructure to the better management of the schools in the Western Cape.
5. Fifthly, we have forged new partnerships with our schools and our service providers to complete this project. This project would never have been possible without the schools' commitment and we would like to honour and recognise schools in the Western Cape who were outstanding contributors to the success of the project. We also acknowledge all the hard work of our service providers and our Research Directorate in driving this project.
6. And lastly, this project will play a central role in building human capital in this province. We have moved from counting heads to counting people.
Building human capital is not about reducing people to economic units. Instead, it recognises the intrinsic importance of every single person in our system.
Our mission is to ensure that all of our learners realise their full potential and acquire the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes they need to contribute meaningfully to social and economic development.
The Learner Tracking System is specifically designed to acknowledge the importance of every single learner in our system, and to enable us to provide every single learner with the best possible education.
By building people, we build the future. We thank everyone involved in this project to date for all your hard work, and wish you all the very best as you take this project forward.
Thank you
For enquiries:Gert Witbooi
Media Liaison Officer
Office of the MEC for Education
Western Cape
Tel: 021 467 2523
Fax: 021 425 5689
Email: gwitbooi@pgwc.gov.za
Visit our website: http://wced.wcape.gov.za
