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Ladies and Gentlemen of the media

The challenge of reconstruction and development of our society is a national task that calls for the mobilisation of the whole nation into a partnership that will culminate in a better life for all. I have already hinted that I plan to mobilise the whole nation around building a national consensus on education. I have accordingly instructed the Department to look at how this mobilisation can be initiated.

This mobilisation will concentrate on the priorities for the next five years, building a solid foundation for life-long learning by focusing on age and nutritional preparedness of learners entering school, and the competence of all learners as they exit the foundation phase.

In particular, I foresee a need for the Ministries of Education, Health and Welfare to co-ordinate their activities in the Early Childhood Development phase, so as to immediately have maximum impact in this area.

Crime in schools

Dealing with crime is one of the key elements in our endeavour to ensure safe, functional and effective quality schools. On the one hand, crime impacts negatively on schooling itself, as criminals begin to use children and educators as members of gangs and criminal groups, or as targets. The recent attacks on teachers and principals in schools are an example of this. On the other hand, education can contribute meaningfully to the reduction of crime. As people become more skilled and employable, they are likely to move away from crime.

Education should therefore be an integral part of the multi-disciplinary interventions in specific targeted areas. However, even in areas that fall outside these targeted areas, we should be able to mobilise other Government Departments to work with us in ridding schools of crime. Communities will have to be mobilised to protect the schools from vandalism, to require accountability from teachers and learners alike, and to ensure that all our schools are drug-free zones.

Corruption in education

Corruption in education is very dangerous and in some cases has the potential to destroy lives and the futures of many innocent children.

Much work has been done to uproot corruption in education, especially within the context of examinations. The fact that in three years all provinces have been able to do away completely with paper leaks and stealing of examination papers, which has been in the system for decades, is a great achievement in itself.

The Mpumalanga saga has highlighted the fact that other areas of the examination process also need to be given equal attention. We must take extraordinary measures to prevent a repeat of the Mpumalanga scandal.

The Ghost Busting exercise in Provinces like KwaZulu-Natal, has also sent a clear signal to Public Servants, that the government will act swiftly and strongly against corrupt public servants.

I have accordingly directed the Department, to work together with my provincial colleagues, to evaluate progress that has been made so far, identify any new areas of potential corruption, and eliminate all possibilities for abuse of systems by public servants, whether it is in examinations, employment of teachers, or payment of cheques.

Teachers who do not adhere to their professional Code of Ethics as promulgated by the South African Council for Educators, and who are also corrupt should be dealt with. The enforcement of the Codes of Conduct for learners and educators should also be a priority, and principals and District Offices should account openly and publicly as to what steps they have taken to ensure such enforcement.

I have spoken about the need to ensure that when schools are built, they have water and sanitation, they are electrified at the same time, they are properly staffed, and they are supplied with the necessary equipment and materials, and that they are protected.

The delivery of services to the people

My ministry has also identified the mobilisation and effective use of resources as a priority in the coming five years.

Through the policy reserve fund we have introduced financial managers to assist provinces to manage their budgets effectively, and to examine areas of wastage. This will go long way towards improving the quality of spending in education.

There are many other activities being undertaken in this regard. The examination of the whole process of textbook acquisition and delivery also has some link to this attempt. These efforts will have to be intensified, together with efforts to more clearly understand the nature of education spending in South Africa today.

Training of Teachers

The in-service training of teachers will be undertaken as a national programme, focused, systematic, and sustained. Preliminary thinking in this regard suggests that the focus may begin with foundation phase teachers, as well as teachers within the last three matric years.

Learning and teaching in schools

Our task is to create an environment where learners learn, where educators educate, and where managers manage. In other words people must do the job they are paid for above everything else.

To achieve this, we have to intensify the implementation of the measures that have been created to ensure regulation of the work of educators and managers. The implementation of the agreements on job-descriptions and workloads will be a priority for the next two years.

Disciplinary procedures will have to be reviewed to examine their swiftness and effectiveness. Communities will have to be mobilised to ensure support for principals who take action against teachers who do not fulfil their teaching responsibilities.

Communities should be made aware of what their schools are doing in this regard, and they should be able to hold the schools publicly accountable for the behaviour of teachers, and learners, and managers at all levels of education. In this regard the public will have to be made aware of all cases that are being brought against educators and managers. And such cases should never drag beyond three months. No official should remain on suspension for long periods, being paid a salary, without charges against him/her being finalised.

In this regard all attempts will have to be made to enter into a clear social contract with unions and student organisations never to disrupt schooling as their first response to problems, not even to hint at an intention to do so. The unions have to be persuaded to commit themselves publicly to this, and if necessary public opinion should be mobilised towards binding them to this commitment. The ground is very fertile in this regard, as public opinion seems to want to be assured of this.

Finally, my month long listening programme will assist me in preparing for an effective and targeted response to the expectations of the millions of our people who have placed their trust in us.

And, we shall not fail them.

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