Councillor Joseph Thee, representing the Mayor of Cape Town
Head of Education Mr Ron Swartz
National and provincial education department officials
Centre managers, learners, ladies and gentlemen
The 2004 Awards for Adults is indeed a celebration of achievement, not only for the learners and centre managers but for the officials who have selflessly toiled away in a sector that is often a Cinderella sector in education.
In January this year I received a letter from Mr Nellie from Villiersdorp thanking the WCED for the opportunity afforded to him to further his schooling via the ABET programme. And I want to read from his letter:
“I joined our local ABET centre in 1999 and completed my Matric Certificate at the end of 2000, despite the fact that I left school through Grade 8/Standard 6 in 1971. I started working at our local municipality as a Law Enforcement Officer/Traffic Warden in 1999. After I passed Matric I was sent to the Gene Louw Traffic College to qualify as a traffic officer.
"I recently received qualifications to be a testing Officer for Driving Licences, and I also qualified myself as an Examiner of Motor Vehicles. I obtained numerous diplomas and certificates after having completed my initial Traffic Officer training.
“… I would like to express my gratitude towards all the educators who went out of their way to educate us in the evenings at the ABET centre.
“Today I am able to hold my head up high and proclaim that this government really wants to provide a better life for all those who want to take hold of the opportunities created for everyone.”
This letter by Mr Nellie emphases the importance of our ABET programmes and I have committed myself to attend to the extension and proper support to our ABET centres in the future.
The WCED is committed to Adult Basic Education and Training and have been pioneers in the field of particularly the assessment of ABET. It remains one of our key weapons in the struggle against poverty.
Highlights include providing opportunities for learners to write national examinations twice a year, providing centres with placements in languages and mathematics, training teachers as assessors and providing comprehensive recommended items for portfolios in each of the ABET learning areas. Tonight is another highlight - the first time that we publicly celebrate the achievements of adults in the examinations as a province.
The Western Cape has witnessed the increase of the number of centres from 2002 to 2004 while the number of learners attending ABET level 4 classes have increased significantly over the same period.
Fifty years ago, the Congress of the People adopted a resolution in Kliptown, which called for the doors of learning to be opened. Today, we can proudly pronounce that communities are opening the doors of learning by their own efforts and actions.
Our provincial government is working towards the realization of the vision set by the Premier of the Western Cape being a Home for All. The strategic path to achieve this vision is our economic development strategy Ikapa Elihlumayo - to grow and share the Cape.
There are a number of lead strategies, which underpin Ikapa Elihlumayo, and Education has been mandated by the Premier to develop a Human Capital Development Strategy with a focus on youth. It is our duty to provide the knowledge, skills and values for iKapa Elihlumayo.
The provisioning of education to any citizen, irrespective of age, is important to the department. I firmly believe that it is only through availing the opportunity to learn that this provincial government will contribute in assisting people to better their living conditions.
Our centre managers have been trained with the distinct strategy of improving the human resources of the province by focussing on financial planning, governance, advocacy, marketing, managing curriculum and assessment and dealing with HIV and AIDS.
A crucial new development has been the increase in the number of partnerships forged by the department and other government departments as well as important stakeholders within the adult education and training arena.
Here one thinks of the establishment of an ABET Board, an ABET curriculum committee and the reporting of ABET at the Examination Board and Provincial Assessment Committee.
Contract centre managers and site co-ordinators have been employed for a three year period that has allowed the system greater stability now than anytime before in the past.
Curriculum services to centres have included supplying placement tools, policy documentation, ABET assessment resources and examination papers without any cost to the centres.
Regular workshops by district officials have allowed centre managers and educators to become au fair with the outcomes based approach used within the ABET sector.
Specialised training by NGO's and universities have included a literacy course and Ancillary Health Care course provided by the University of the Western Cape.
Further training included tourism, mathematical literacy and HIV/AIDS orientation. A new initiative currently underway involves the restructuring of the levels for ABET level 1 to 3.
Participation is a crucial aspect of ABET, we all realise that not all adults come to Public Adult Learning Centres to gain a qualification but rather to fulfil specific needs within themselves.
ABET centres go far beyond providing centres with the tools to acquire a qualification - they provide opportunities for skill development as well as for changing preconceived attitudes and revisiting important values.
In this way, ABET centres provide a pathway toward lifelong learning. By making sense of themselves, learners gain better understanding of their communities, their environment, their fellow human beings, the economy and so on.
The registration data shows us that in 2002, 1,868 candidates registered while in 2004, 2,273 candidates registered. This represents an increase of 22%!
At the same time, the turnout rate, ie number of registered candidates that actually wrote the examination in the Western Cape, has increased progressively over the last four years since national examinations were first written in this country. (64,8% in 2002 and 76,9% in 2004)
Learning areas have also shown tremendous improvement in participation in that 1,847 more ABET level 4 learning areas were written by candidates in 2004 than in 2002.
Besides fundamentals of languages and mathematics, ABET assessment offers core learning areas such as Arts and Culture; Economics and Management Sciences, Natural Sciences, Technology as well as Life Orientation.
Furthermore, in line with the move to provide a curriculum with strong emphasis on literacy and numeracy as well as skills foci, the growth in electives such as Ancillary Health Care, SMME, Tourism and Agriculture are very encouraging.
The assessment currently is made up of an examination component as well as a site based portfolio component, which carries equal weight. Quality assured by UMALUSI, the GETC currently offered by the department is attracting interest from other sectors besides public adult learning centres, including several SETA's as well.
The recipients of awards tonight are the first that we will honour and in particular, it is fitting, in light of National Women’s Day tomorrow, that we specifically honour the women that have written the examination.
My congratulations to all that will receive the awards tonight - we share in your joy and are very proud of your achievements. Those that could not come to the awards because of whatever circumstances, are also commended for their excellent work done, often in very difficult and trying circumstances.
Thank you all for accepting our invitation to be part of this celebration and please enjoy the formal function and make it memorable for the learners and centre managers.
I thank you
For enquiries, contact Gert Witbooi: 082 550 3938, or gwitbooi@pgwc.gov.za.
Gert Witbooi
Media Secretary
Office of the MEC for Education
Western Cape
Tel: 021 467 2523
Fax: 021 425 5689
Visit our website: http://wced.wcape.gov.za
INtshona Koloni - iKhaya loMntu wonke
Die Wes-Kaap - 'n Tuiste vir Almal
