Basic education minister prioritises glitz, not substance

The decision by the Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga, to scrap hundreds of thousands of specially watermarked papers for matric certificates, so that new ones with a larger South African coat of arms could be printed instead, shows that her priorities are in completely the wrong place.

The DA fully supports the inclusion of the coat of arms on the matric certificate, it is an important mark of national pride. But the coat of arms is already prominent on the certificate. If its size and position need to be changed, the change could have waited until next year, where no additional expenses would have been incurred.

For security reasons, the certificates are printed on watermark paper which is produced overseas. If the cost of the paper for each of these certificates was R10, then the cost of the scrapping exercise would have been a staggering R6m. It may well have been more, depending on the cost of the certificates. The DA will be asking parliamentary questions about the exact cost.

Add to this the inconvenience and cost for universities - who now have to pay the department for statements confirming results - and the strain being placed on learners, it is impossible to justify this act.

There have been several other indications already that the new minister is out of touch with the realities of South Africa. While some children still do not have classrooms or desks, the new minister stinted herself nothing in her decision earlier this year to buy, at state expense, two cars worth a combined R1.7-million.

She also failed to attend a Minmec meeting earlier this year in favour of supporting Jacob Zuma at his trial, claiming that she was an employee of the ANC, not the government.

It appears that the minister is focusing on everything except improving the dismal quality of education that most South African children get.

Statement issued by Junita Kloppers-Lourens, MP, Democratic Alliance, August 17 2009

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