Baie dankie ook vir die Masters of Ceremonies Mnr. W. Ladewig, Prinsipaal van die Hermanus Hoërskool
Mnr. Clive Hirschohn, NBI Wes-Kaapse Voorsitter
Mnr. Henri Kuiper, Voorsitter van die Enlighten Education Trust
Mej. Lois Kleyn, Projek Bestuurder van die EET
Mnr. E. Bucchianeri, Prinsipaal van Hawston Sekondêr
Mnr. A. Ngqameni, Prinsipaal van Qhayiya Hoërskool
Die Laerskool Prinispale mnre. Cilliers, Tshabalala en mnr. Hull
Amptenare van my departement
Dominee D. Koert en alle belangrike Gaste
Ouers, Leerders en Opvoeders
Dankie ook aan al die leerlinge wat sulke pragtige opvoerings en sangstukke lewer.
I have attended quite a few ceremonies of the NBI's Equip launches or exit programmes. And I can never express too much appreciation for the wonderful work they are doing.
Indeed I have noted some of your achievements, of which you can rightfully be proud of. Your valuable contribution is in line with our emphasis on effective governance, good management and sound curriculum delivery.
Some of the successes include the Rural Schools Project, which deals with schools where educators teach more that one grade in the same classroom.
I am told that this multi-grade demonstration project was piloted in Piketberg schools. It proved to be successful; was adopted, expanded and rolled out to all 352 multi-grade schools in the Western Cape, funded by Old Mutual.
You also supported the Education Department in the training of the officials in the Multi-functional Team approach of supporting schools and their development, thanks to the support of Engen Petroleum.
It is no accident therefor that four of the 18 secondary schools that have participated or are participating in this Education Quality Improvement Partnership project, have been the recipients of Ministerial Awards for sustained improvement in grade 12 pass rates.
Very significantly, almost all of the schools involved in Equip have been put on the Khanya Project after demonstrating their ability to use learning support material in an effective way. No doubt, it could only have been achieved through sound leadership, management and governance.
Through Equip, most schools have been able to access additional government support for capital projects, which is a direct result of the success of the School Management and Development programme.
Your continued and hopefully increased investment in education in this province could not have come at a better time.
Premier Ebrahim Rasool put the vision of this Provincial Government clearly, when he said we need to build this province as a Home for All. In order to build this Home for All, we have adopted an economic development strategy - Ikapa Elihlumayo - which means "Growing and Sharing the Cape".
To truly build this province as a Home for All, we have serious challenges in providing the knowledge, skills, values and attitude for iKapa Elihlumayo. But we are committed to quality education to produce the human resource personnel to grow the Cape.
The levels of numeracy and literacy among our learners in all grades, and the performance of our schools in mathematics and science, are important indicators of our reversal of, and liberation from, the legacies of apartheid in education.
For this reason the Premier has instructed us to finalise our Provincial Human Resource Development Strategy with a focus on youth, to meet the demands of the new economy, by mid year.
To this end, ladies and gentlemen, I can announce that we are hosting a provincial education conference on 23 and 24 March, which is in three weeks' time, as part of developing our human resource strategy to Grow and Share the Cape.
Probably the two biggest challenges this conference must start to address, are fighting poverty and fighting HIV/Aids.
The influence of this pandemic on our education system is potentially so huge, that it could take years and years to undo the damage done to our future generations.
Therefore we must not delay any measures designed to push back the scourge, which means creating an awareness and understanding, and extracting a commitment from each one of us to actively participate in the struggle against Aids.
At the moment, about 1 in 4 people in South Africa, aged 14 and 49, are HIV positive; 16 million are younger than 15; and without effective prevention, 40 - 50% of this group is likely to become infected in the course of their lives.
More than half of those newly infected with HIV are between 15 and 24 years old. By or before the age of 16, one in every second young person has had penetrative sex. One in two sexually active teenagers will have had more than one partner in the past year.
Reviews of sexuality education programmes internationally show that open communication about sex and sexuality promotes less risky behaviour, and helps reduce teenage pregnancy, STI's and HIV.
Therefor your Youth Initiatives programme can make a valuable contribution in terms of empowering our young people to make informed choices.
Some of the biggest areas of growth in the job market in the next few years, are going to be in the fields of engineering, science, information technology and accountancy.
In an article last month, the Business Day (of 21 February 2005) says "Sasol cannot find the mechanics, welders and riggers it needs among South Africa's 4.6 million unemployed workers as the country's biggest firm alters its refineries to meet government demands to phase out leaded fuel…". This amounts to about 2,000 qualified artisans.
A well-known economist Prof Iraj Abedian estimates that South Africa, right now, has as many as half-a-million vacant posts for computer technicians, financial managers, artisans and other professionals!
One of the main reasons for this, analysts and research say, is a shortcoming on our part of the education system. Because last year, in the whole of the country only 5 percent of almost 500,000 candidates passed maths on the higher grade, which is needed to study subjects such as engineering and accounting at university.
In the Western Cape alone, of the 4,268 Maths Higher Grade Candidates, only 1,478 are non-white. Even worse, only 305 African learners passed Maths Higher Grade.
Our country needs to produce at least 13,000 engineers each year in order to cope with the expected economic developments in the next few years. Last year the Engineering Council of SA registered just over 3,000 engineers.
So clearly, this is not sustainable. We have too few black, and we have too few women engineers. We are a nation in crisis. As a department and as a Government we are being challenged.
It is against this background that we are going to work hard to ensure the successful implementation of Further Education and Training from next year. As a department, we have to prepare our learners, teachers and parents thoroughly for FET.
For too long has our education system been academically driven. We need to balance this with FET, which is designed to give our children practical skills to assist them in acquiring jobs relevant to the economy.
And therefor the subjects of mathematics and science will be critical to the implementation of FET in schools and colleges. It will be compulsory for all learners to take mathematical literacy as a subject.
In addition, there will be another subject called mathematics, and there will be no distinction between higher or standard grade. So we must encourage as many of our learners to study the subjects.
We have initiated various interventions in previous years to improve learner performance in numeracy, maths, science and technology. This includes teacher training, developing support materials, regular diagnostic testing and special interventions.
In addition, as part of our April delivery targets, we need to have allocated at least 80 bursaries to maths and science teachers. So therefor I am confident that we have laid a sound foundation for good and excellent performances.
And therefor ladies and gentleman, this Education Quality Improvement Partnership project of the NBI and EET here in Hermanus and Hawston, could not have at a better time for our learners. You have entered the scene at a very critical stage in the history of our education system nationally and in the province.
We know that your interventions in the fields of Curriculum Delivery, School Management and Development, Arts and Culture, Youth Initiatives, Foundation Phase Literacy and the Feeding Scheme, will strengthen this Provincial Government's Human Resource Development Strategy to build this province as a Home for All.
The task of education provisioning requires significant investment, both in terms of human and financial capital. Government therefor welcomes and embraces partners like yourself.
The challenges of improving under performance in our schools; the implementation of the new curriculum; accommodation problems and the lack of resources and facilities, are huge and Government alone will not succeed in overcoming them.
The involvement of business in schools creates opportunities for business to transfer skills and share ideas directly with schools in their development. These networks also provide a platform for business and government to talk and strategise together.
I want to urge the teachers and the learners who are going to participate in this programme, to make use of the opportunities and show leadership.
The Equip program will provide you as teachers with managerial and developmental tools, to enable you to strengthen your schools to the extent that you can independently find your own way, in pursue of centres of quality education for all our learners.
If indeed we are going to improve the quality of our education system, we have to improve our management and governance of schools. This in turn should lead to improved self reliance, teamwork and discipline, which should help address the learner retention rate.
So, I want to express my sincere gratitude to all involved, for the exceptional contribution you have already made to our schools over the past years, and the continued role you play in pursuit of a better life for all our people.
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
