Address on the state of education at ANCYL NEC Lekgotla by Mrs Angie Motshekga, Minister of Basic Education, St George Hotel, Pretoria

12 Feb 2012

Programme Director
Leadership of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL)
Comrades,

Thank you for inviting us to this ANCYL National Executive Committe (NEC) Lekgotla during the season of reflection for better action. Traditionally, this period is set aside by the democratic government and our revolutionary movement to chart a way forward for the year ahead.

Each year, our strategic assessment and dialogue on national priorities begin in earnest with the historical January 8 statement which has over decades of struggle and exile ensured unity of action within the movement and among its disciplined and revolutionary cadres. This year was no exception. With sober minds, on 8 January, in Mangaung, the birthplace of the African National Congress (ANC), we made 2012 'The Year of Unity in Diversity'.

Just three days ago, the president of our movement and the republic delivered the State of the Nation Address in which he invited the nation to join government in a massive infrastructure development drive. These important developments play out in a momentous year for our people the ANC Centennial Celebrations. February looks at the life of former ANC president Sefako Makgatho, who led from 1917 to 1924. Logic dictates that this conversation should impress upon future leaders among us how critical it is to take a leaf from the life of this giant of the struggle.

The ANCYL must help translate into reality what former President Makgatho meant when he said in 1919:

"The ANC aims to unite Africans, not just in South Africa,... to spearhead a common struggle for freedom".

You would have made your country proud were you to deepen the struggle for unity and freedom in all its facets. It is in this manner of proceeding that we can resolve challenges facing the youth - unemployment, poverty and inequality.

A much more focused and properly aligned ANCYL, driven by a clear vision and critical consciousness, is key to the articulation and attainment of progressive programmes of the movement. This task embraces conscious mobilisation of our people inside and outside the ANC, under the banner of ‘unity in diversity', for social cohesion and construction of a better life for all.

It is in this spirit that we congratulate the ANCYL for convening this Annual NEC Lekgotla. We trust that this ANCYL, beyond the burden of divisive diversions and distractions, will be ready to advance with the rest of us the collective vision of creating a united, democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous society.

This vision, of a transformed society, was articulated eloquently by the 1944 ANCYL Manifesto which called for a"struggle for development, progress and national liberation." The manifesto said, and that task remains relevant today, the "youth must be united, consolidated, trained and disciplined because from their ranks future leaders will be recruited" (http://www.anc.org.za)

Economic empowerment remains a challenge, particularly for women who've had over centuries of colonialism to content with triple oppression in race, class and gender terms. We know that without quality education there can be no "development" or progress," or full liberation particularly in the current context of the global economic crisis. Education and the battle of ideas are central to our strategy and tactics.  

Were we to falter on this national priority, the blood of Solomon Mahlangu would have been spilled in vain. Our task is to work with the people to defeat illiteracy, joblessness, poverty, underdevelopment, crime and poor health.Education is very key in this regard and thus it is our apex priority.

It is a fact. We have inherited vast disparities. That is why in the South African Schools Act of 1996, we have set out to build an education system that will truly "redress past injustices in educational provision" and "provide an education of progressively high quality for all learners" (Preamble). And this is exactly what we have done and will continue to do!

Contrary to perception, there is progress in education. In fact, we have turned the corner, irreversibly so. There is evidence to show that the titanic is back on track since we took over as the ruling party and a government at work.The education system is more equitable and pro-poor than it had been in 1994. Although quality and efficiency are still areas of concern, access has greatly improved.

Our country's per learner expenditure is relatively good by international standards. About US$1,383 is spent for every primary school learner in South Africa, against US$167 in Sub-Saharan Africa and US$614 in Latin America. We have built a relatively stable schooling system that is spreading the right to education to over 12 million learners in 27 000 schools. Compared with 1999, in 2009 there were 85 937 more learners in school, taught by 47 620 more teachers. This is an uncontested achievement.

Currently, we have employed no less than 365 447 educators and there has been a significant improvement in their qualifications. In 2010, 95% of educators were appropriately qualified compared to 64% in 1994. The biggest improvement occurred among African educators - 54% were appropriately qualified in 1994, the figure increased to 91% in 2005.

Current achievements signify exceptional delivery on the requirements of the Constitution (Section 29) and a progressive shift towards a social reality wherein "everyone has the right to a basic education". Three years ahead of the 2015 target, we're certainly fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals with almost 100% of children of compulsory school-going age (7 to 15 years) having enrolled in an education institution.

We've made primary education accessible, affordable, compulsory and free for the working class and the poorest of the poor. Between 2007 and 2010, there was an increase in the number of schools offering Grade R, from 12 480 schools to over 16 000 schools. We have doubled Grade R enrolment from 300 000 in 2003 to 705 000 in 2011.

This means we have and are continuing to expand early childhood development. Studies have shown that if you don't do well at primary school level it shows in later years. More young South Africans are completing Grade 9, from 80% in 2003 to 88% in 2010, and more are completing Grade 12.

A higher percentage of males than females aged 16 to 18 were enrolled in education institutions for the period 2002 to 2009. A major factor affecting attendance and completion by girls is pregnancy. In 2008, 45 599 learners became pregnant, and here we need active support from an agile ANCYL.

The adult population is a fundamental component of primary education. Literate parents and communities would do best to assist their children to succeed at school. As a responsible and responsive government bent on empowering society, by imparting critical skills and knowledge requisite for authentic liberation, in 2008 we launched the Kha Ri Gude Programme.

We wanted to accelerate the eradication of illiteracy. By 2011, over 2 million people (2 231 364) completed the programme. Free schooling and school meals are central to our pro-poor policies. Currently, over 8 million learners (69% of learners) in 20 000 public schools (over 80% of public schools) benefit from the no-fee school policy.

Over 90% of schools in Limpopo, Free State and Eastern Cape are no-fee schools. This exceeds by far the target set by the ruling party at the 2007 Polokwane conference which set the target at 60%.

Working closely with teacher unions, and in keeping with Polokwane resolutions, we have increased focus on teacher development to advance 'the Triple Ts' - teachers, textbooks and time. We launched, in 2011, an Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development.

We have completed the curriculum review process to promote and improve focus on curriculum delivery and coverage, using a new and simplified curriculum.

We have made progress on learning and teaching support materials for better learning outcomes. In 2011, we provided high-quality workbooks to around 6 million learners; some 24 million books were provided in all South African languages.

We have administered the first widescale Annual National Assessments involving 6 million learners (in 2011). This was done to diagnose problems and determine steps for intervention so as to improve performance in literacy and numeracy, among other things.

There is progress on school infrastructure, and we're happy that going-forward the nation will focus even more on this area. Through the Accelerated School Infrastructure Delivery Initiative, contractors have been appointed for the construction of 49 schools in Lusikisiki, Libode and Umtata regions. They have been given 7 months to complete all 49 schools.

Contractors have also been appointed for the provision of water and sanitation to 88 schools in the Eastern Cape and for 78 schools in the Limpopo Province. KwaZulu-Natal has started implementing 88 projects of which forty eight are in construction stage. Other provinces are also engaged in school infrastructure projects, including Gauteng and the Free State.

In line with the imperative to make education a societal issue, we have prioritised School Governing Body (SGB) elections, in partnership with the Independent Electoral Commission. These elections will be conducted in all provinces next month.

SGBs will help in improving school governance and in mobilising communities to support education in accordance withthe Quality Learning & Teaching Campaign and the NEDLAC Accord on Basic Education. Needless to say, the ANCYL has a critical role to play in this regard.

You were right to say as the ANCYL that progress in matric provides a very firm foundation for the intensification of teaching and learning (ANCYL Press Statement, 04-01-2012).

As you know, we have maintained, consistently, the increase in the pass rate. It now stands at 70.2%, from 67.8% in 2010 and 60.6% in 2009. This pass rate of 70.2% is a true reflection of the performance of the Class of 2011 - an achievement we should welcome and be proud of as a serious nation.

This fact was confirmed, without reservation, by Umalusi, the quality assurer. Umalusi affirmed the credibility of the results when it said that the 2011 NSC examinations were fair, valid and credible and all processes met standards.Our focus is now on sustaining this upward trend and improving the quality of passes as well as deploying more support to underperforming schools and districts.

Stakeholder mobilisation being a major pillar of our education reform strategy, this year we will devote more time and energy to this area, ensuring schools, districts and provinces are ready to enlist and enrich the support of individuals and communities.

We welcome the ANCYL's decision to focus more and more on the state of education and means to further improve access, success rates and quality. This will enrich the work we're doing guided by the long-term strategy for the sector: Action Plan to 2014: Towards the Realisation of Schooling 2025.  

A question you must interrogate is whether the schooling system is there to produce, exclusively, only students for universities or to open a range of possibilities for the young. You've listed, as some of the options, "vocational training programmes, the national youth service, entrepreneurial development and rewriting the National Certificate examinations" (ANCYL Press Statement, 04-01-12).

An ANCYL that will live to see and celebrate the ANC Bicentenary is one that will learn and teach its members the value of education, the merits of healthy lifestyles, the dignity of work, the essence of industriousness, the power of unity, as well as the pitfalls of the vicarious tendencies of the "leisure class" (Thorstein Veblen, 2003) and the folly of the culture of entitlement.

I trust that from you we can expect more strategies for improving schools and tactics for inspiring the young to take education seriously and an inventive war-plan for revitalising the culture of learning and teaching. Building a strong, agile, focused, energetic and disciplined ANCYL is the only way to make the ANC live forever. It is most fitting to close with a message to the youth from the founding father of the Youth League - Anton Lembede - who said: "We are not called to peace, comfort and enjoyment, but to hard work, struggle and sweat. We need young men and women of high moral stamina and integrity; of courage and vision. In short, we need warriors. This means that we have to develop a new type of youth of stoical discipline" (Http://wiki.ulwazi.org).

I thank you. 

Amandla!

Issued by: Department of Basic Education 
12 Feb 2012

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