Madam Programme Director
The Head of Education - Mr Swartz
Officials of the WCED
Guests from the National Department of Education
Partners from provincial government departments
City of Cape Town officials
Abet centre managers
Adult learners
Ladies and Gentlemen

I think it is important that we constantly remind ourselves that communities put us into positions, with specific mandates and expectations. As government we were elected on the mandate of building a people's contract to fight poverty and create work.

It is not only that we have to fight poverty and create work, but it is also the way in which we do this, that is important. The centrality of partnerships with our communities, schools, organisations and business communities, and the manner in which we interact with one another, is critical in achieving the National Objectives.

We shall never succeed without working together, and all of us must work in ways, which build confidence within communities. This means engagement, consultation and implementation on the basis of a mandate.

In the last decade, the South African government has prioritised the development of our human resources, which included the transformation of our education and training system. In this respect it has consistently increased the financial allocation to education and training, and introduced transformatory legislative and strategic developments at national and provincial level.

With the result that ABET level 4 is now placed on the first rung of the national qualifications framework and is an important step towards ensuring that persons who have been unable to obtain a formal qualification or basic education in the past, can access the NQF and continue their learning.

I am happy to say that, last year, the external agency Umalusi declared that the WCED had improved on its site based assessment and that the 2005 examination was conducted in a manner that upheld the integrity of the assessment.

Last year was a significant year for Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) in the Western Cape. We had more learners writing the ABET level 4 examinations, as well as a higher percentage of registered learners writing the examinations than ever before. Last year we also hosted the first ever Awards for Adults.

Fifty years had passed since the call for the "doors of learning and culture to be opened" was made and we still heed this call within the realm of adult education today. This is not only a government priority but should be important to business, communities and the individuals themselves.

Yesterday we commemorated Human Rights Day and we reflect on Comrades that perished under a hail of bullets in 1960 at Sharpville. Their crime - protesting against pass laws that stripped them of their basic human rights and dignity.

Today we have a Bill of Rights enshrined within our Constitution that protects all who lives in this beautiful country of ours and which gives real meaning to our vision of a Home for All.

In his State of the Nation Address, President Thabo Mbeki has called on us to "move faster to address the challenges of poverty, underdevelopment and marginalisation confronting those caught within the Second Economy, to ensure that the poor in our country share in our growing prosperity"

Premier Ebrahim Rasool, in his State of the Province Address said there are signs "that we are indeed on the threshold of prosperity. But the prosperity has to be shared by all, otherwise it will not be sustainable."

And therefore, about two weeks ago we have launched our Human Capital Development Strategy, which is one of several pillars of Ikapa Elihlumayo, the provincial government's development and growth plan.

Our Human Capital Development Strategy document acknowledges that our current throughput rate in both basic and further education at adult centres is poor, and we aim to change this through offering more appropriate programmes and through improved delivery mechanisms.

This is important, because we have to open the doors of learning and culture. However, it is often easier said than done. Years of oppression have taken its toll on the psyche of our people and many still do not come forward to claim what is by right theirs.

'Everyone has the right to basic education including adult basic education.' To provide real meaning to this statement from the Bill of Rights, we are therefor looking seriously at how adult education is provided in the Western Cape.

This year we will celebrate five years of the Learning Cape Festival, which is an initiative that highlights and profiles education, training and development opportunities in the Western Cape, through debates, events and workshops with the aim of popularising and promoting the concept of lifelong learning as an important vehicle for achieving equity and redress.

The WCED has been an active participant in the annual Learning Cape Festival and has contributed actively to ensuring that the concept of lifelong learning has taken root in the minds of our people in the province.

The evidence shows in the increasing number of enrolments of adults in the various programmes offered through our ABET centres, known popularly as Community Learning Centres (CLCs).

These programmes make it possible for many adults to continue their education that was interrupted for various reasons, or for those who have had no exposure to education at all.

In this respect, I want to pay tribute to probably our oldest learner in ABET, Mrs Anna Ernest from the Worcester Community Learning Centre's Touws River satellite centre, who is 97-years-old.

She could not read and write her whole life, and at this day and age has decided to enrol for her Abet level 1 course. People like Mrs Ernest is truly an inspiration to all of us, and to entire communities.

She is the product of the commitment and dedication of our EMDC officials in the Boland/Overberg, who have recently launched a sustainable intervention campaign in their Abet programmes.

Tonight is as much a celebration of inspirational people like Mrs Ernest, as it is about our officials and teachers, who continue to display limitless energies in the struggle against poverty.

The WCED views Adult Basic Education and Training as a key component of our Human Capital Development Strategy, we have set ourselves the following objectives for the period 2005 - 2014, and that is to:

• develop partnerships between WCED Abet and other government departments
• increase the number of learners by 2,500 through Expanded
• Public Works Programmes and partnerships
• pilot level 1 - 4 skills-based qualifications
• provide computers to all Abet sites
• maintain government partnerships and develop new partnerships with industry
• increase the number of learners by 2,500 each year
• provide level 1 - 4 skills-based qualifications according to need;
• and to provide ICT skills for all learners

There are businesses and private institutions providing ABET and adult further education and we welcome their contribution to skills development in the Western Cape. The duty of government is to provide a relevant, needs-driven, quality adult education system for our people.

Currently, we have over 320 sites of learning for adults across the Western Cape whom we fund directly. We also have partnerships with the Department of Correctional Services and the City of Cape Town where we provide professional and institutional support.

On the issue of partnerships, I want to say that our provincial government is committed to seamless government. As the different spheres of government, we don't have a choice but to work together in the interests of fighting poverty and creating work.

I have noted a document from the City of Cape Town entitled, "Initial Report of the Intergovernmental Integrated Development Task Team for the City of Cape Town Functional Region" dated 28 February 2006.

Section 3.10 of the document deals with human and social capital development. This section of the report pledges that "the different spheres will work together to ensure a range of co-ordinated interventions that maximise opportunities for human capital development at all stages of life, from educare and pre-school through to secondary school, tertiary and adult education."

Some areas of action, which the document proposes, include:

• improving the functioning of education and skills institutions and expanding learning and internship programmes;
• targeted integrated youth development programmes linked to schools, sport and recreation, including maximizing the benefits of 2010 investments; and
• the provision of safe and secure public environments, including transport facilities, schools and commercial districts.

It therefore means that both spheres of government, together with the support of national, must inter-act closely and strategise jointly. The WCED is in the process of compiling what we call our Education Provisioning Plan.

This plan consists of the overall matrix of every municipal district, and look at immediate needs and future development objectives. Still far from complete, par of the idea of this plan is for our Circuit Managers and EMDC directors to liaise and work closely with councils, in looking at ECD, safety, transport and other issues.

I am looking forward to hear from our City of Cape Town, on how we could all work together in equipping our youth with the necessary knowledge, skills values and attitudes, for them to be able to contribute to the reconstruction and development of our city, our province, our country and continent.

Let me get back to our Abet Awards of tonight. In conjunction with the national Department of Education, the WCED conducts two full-scale ABET level 4 examinations each year - in June and October.

The top learners from specific learning areas in these examinations will be honoured this evening and our congratulations go to all those that will receive awards.

I want to commend all the centre managers and teachers for their work done during the year in motivating learners to write the national examinations.

I want to salute all those learners for their perseverance, effort and courage in writing the examinations and promoting lifelong learning. We also are appreciative of employers that observe basic rights in giving learners time off to write the examinations.

We call on all employers to observe this basic right to be allowed the opportunity to write examinations for courses that one has worked so hard toward. Promoting ABET among employees will not only be beneficial for the learner themselves but also to their families and employers.

In this regard I want to site what is happening in Ireland for example. I have come to learn how Ireland managed to turn their economy around.

It was based on two key elements, which was entry into, and participation in the European Union, which then led to direct investments in their education system. In other words, capacity building through networks.

Believe it or not, even the UK have similar problems to ours when it comes to the levels of literacy and numeracy. However, what was interesting, was that their definition of literacy includes the use of everyday technology.

Ireland, for example, had established a dedicated independent national agency, funded by government, to run literacy programmes. Workers who want to participate in these programmes, are given time off by their employers. The President of the country is the patron of this agency, which is a clear indication of the seriousness with which they are tackling the issue.

I have already identified and committed myself to making literacy and numeracy one of my five key priorities during my term of office. The others include school safety, infrastructure provisioning, successfully implementing the National Curriculum Statement in schools and FET Colleges, and the re-engineering and transformation of the Western Cape Education Department.

Literacy and numeracy in the context of an increasingly globalised world, knowledge-driven economy, continue to pose new challenges for us in Africa, and but also all over the world.

I regard all challenges in education as very important. But reading, writing and counting, in proper, safe facilities, are absolutely fundamental to quality education. This is fundamental to cultivating a nation, which can build, develop, grow and maintain its economy.

Research done in Kwazulu Natal indicates that employees who have undergone ABET classes were better at doing their work, had better attitudes to work and were more likely to participate in further work related courses than those that did not attend ABET classes.

I therefore want to call on all employers to encourage their employees that do not have a General Education and Training Certificate (Grade 9) or its equivalent, to support their employees in gaining this certificate.

We further urge employers to consider providing financial incentives for gaining a GETC as the benefits of a general education are all too important to ignore in an ever-changing world driven by the current knowledge society. This is an important aspect of iKapa ehlilomayo - growing the cape requires a better educated and skilled people.

The Human Capital Development Strategy of the Western Cape aims to increase the adult learners in ABET programmes through skill based ABET level 1 - 4 curricula.

The WCED has already restructured the ABET levels 1 - 3 programme in association with partners Correctional Services and the City of Cape Town so that a new modular format will be piloted at centres during this year.

The province has already conducted training of all centres within district meetings and will monitor the progress of implementation of the project during the course of the year.

At ABET level 4, we will continue to work with the national Department of Education and Umalusi to improve the assessment practices and systems.

We are currently rolling out the programme of supplying all public adult centres with an administrative computer, printer and modem. Our current partnership programme with other government departments is thriving and we shall endeavour to strengthen this partnership further during the next year.

We also wish to extend our partnerships to include industry - how this will work needs to be worked out in association with the relevant industry role players during the coming year.

There are, however, challenges in terms of funding as we are currently fully committed to a programme that focuses on the youth within the mainstream school environment.

Furthermore, capacity of teachers and management at centres needs to be developed further to cope with the demands of providing ABET and adult further education.

In this regard, better monitoring and support systems need to be set up within the districts to ensure that the service rendered to the learners meets the needs of both the learner and the province as a whole.

In 2005, fifty six candidates gained GETCs compared to 23 in 2004. Congratulations to all learners that achieved this milestone in their lives and we wish them well and trust that they will continue with their studies. We also applaud the learners that have passed some of the learning areas that they entered for last year.

Minister of Education Naledi Pandor, has approved a list of the top ten GETC candidates for the country in 2005. Five of the top ten are from the Western Cape and we are certainly very proud of them and their achievements.

Lastly, I want to quote from Rosa Maria Torres, former Education Minister of Ecuador, who visited our country last year:
"If the children are the future, one must realise that there is no future without the present and adults are the present. Adult education is critical as the adults are important role models and provide support in the education of children."

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