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Premier, Rev. Makhenkesi Stofile
Honoured guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

At the beginning of the year, particularly this one which has been greeted with great enthusiasm and sense of commitment by all education stakeholders and members of parliament, it is opportune to salute you all today as we congregate to announce the performance of our grade 12 learners.

We have reached a stage where after twelve years of schooling, for our learners, educators weaving a spell of magic in the classroom, transforming learners from caterpillars into bright and beautiful butterflies, time to appreciate our work of art has come.

Educators have done their best to induce a metamorphosis among learners - lifts them beyond their imaginations and circumstances to new planes, lead them to a world of enquiry, discovery and development.

Beginning of the year, I made a Call to Action to all our schools in the light of continued poor performance of our grade 12 learners. I indicated that grade 12 results are but one measure of how the education system perform. This then called on us to develop strategies to enhance the quality of our classroom delivery and support.

All schools that performed below 50% were targeted for intervention programmes. SWOT analysis was conducted in all these schools led by their school management teams with education development officers availing time for analysis of the outcome of this process. I believe serious introspection was demonstrated by all our educators through the indicated strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats contained in their reports.

To build on that, school development plans were developed, indicating benchmarks to be progressively attained over a three year period. Subject Committees were set up in all our districts embracing the principle of collective wisdom. Examiners were appointed from committee members for setting common papers at Regional and District level. Principals were taken through workshops on all facets of school management and education development officers monitored and supported them.

This raised levels of enthusiasm to succeed from most educators as they felt the developmental support rendered by officials. Syllabi, Pace setters, videos were provided to struggling schools to help focus our educators and ensure that they complete the syllabi.

The process of rationalization and redeployment assisted in providing an educator to most learners who were sited with none, faced with a bleak future. That journey of discovery to many educators was an eye opener and the department salutes them for being committed to the cause of bettering the lives of our children.

It is important that this year's results are placed within a proper context. Some of our grade 12 learners were without textbooks. Educators struggled without syllabi. Professional support in the form of subject advisors and education development officers was conspicuous for their absence. A comprehensive in - service programme co-ordinated centrally for our educators was not in place. Learners and educators struggled when it comes to provision of materials for practical subjects.

Ladies and gentlemen, despite all these challenges, those engaged in moulding the future of our children refused to submerge their heads in the sand hoping that thins will fall into place by chance. School community members played their part and today we are all to witness their efforts.

In our Province, 80 672 full-time candidates were registered and 74 563 wrote at the end of the year. Those candidates attained a pass of 49.8 percent. This represents an increase of 9.7 percent, as the pass percentage last year was 40.1 percent. This is indeed an incredible performance and this indicates that with commitment and dedication we can succeed.

Our matriculation endorsements for this year is 7.1 percent, an increase from last years 6.6%. This represents an emerging increase in the quality of our candidates who enter for matric endorsement. 332 candidates received A averages compared to 314 of 1999. This improvement is as a result of improved raw marks of our candidates. Forty-five (45) schools obtained 100% pass rate, compared to 39 schools in 1999. Fifty-eight (58) schools obtained a pass rate of between 90 and 99 percent compared to 43 of last year. Five thousand three hundred and one (5 301) candidates obtained matric endorsement and 31 817 obtained a senior certificate pass. This improvement is indicating that we re on the right track and there are activities that we are doing right to support our schools.

This has been further evidenced by the continued outstanding performance of our learners and schools.

The top student in our Province this year is Lauren Marie Meyer from Union High School in Graff-Reinet. She registered for seven subjects and obtained A symbol in all of them. She was not content with such an achievement, as she obtained full marks for Accounting Higher Grade and Mathematics Higher Grade. This is a performance worth applauding and emulating by all our children.

I had also asked to be provided with the top candidates from the historically disadvantaged schools and Thozama Andrie Tshisa from Sophakama High School in Port Elizabeth is that candidate. This indicates that all our learners have the ability to perform at their best and they need our support and motivation. We applaud her, and want to encourage them to be our ambassadors as they pursue their studies.

This year we wanted to present to you our top three candidates which are Laurren Marie Weyer, second being Martinus Beuner from Cradock High School and the third student is Antony Michael La Grange from Aliwal North High School. Well done, you have done us proud.

We also pt into place the matric intervention programme to support schools that performed below 50% in 1999. The following three schools came on top that is Cunningham High School in Butterworth they moved from 13,49% to 90,48% an increase of 76,99%. Second is Siwani High School in Lusikisiki who moved from 15,79% to 82,35% an improvement of 66,56%. Third is Lukhozi High School from Alice, they got 18,80% in 1999 and they moved to 84,75% an improvement of 65,96%.

WAYFOWARD
1. The department will continue to avail space and support to all learners who want to succeed and are of schools going age by ensuring that they are accommodated in our schools. This does not mean that we condone apathy but we emphases with them. Do not miss this opportunity. To the over-age learners, efforts will be made to accommodate them in vocational institutions to acquire skills.
2. The department will accelerate its delivery of services in our institutions by providing in service programmes for our educators to improve their subject proficiency, especially in subjects like biology, history, agriculture and science subjects.
3. Structured staff development programmes will be a strong feature of our school development plans.
4. Learner support material in the form of books, stationery, teaching and learning aid has been procured to support our learners and educators. Thus ensuring that no time is wasted at the beginning of the year.
5. 75 Million is being spent on addressing the structural backlogs using the principle of equity of our Province. We intensify the process of educating the dilapidated and mud structures that together alternate as an accommodation for our learners during the day and goats at night.
6. Most of our technical institutions have workshops that stood with no technical equipment, denying our learners an opportunity to sharpen their skills. Procurement of technical equipment will be accelerated early next year as institutions submit their needs.
7. Parental involvement in the education of their children through participating in school governing bodies clearly demonstrates the democratization of our education system. Now that new governing bodies have been elected late this year, programmes to capacitate them on governance issues will begin early next year.
8. Officials are tasked to emerge from their offices and embrace schools with programmes that would lead to the upliftment of the morale of our teaching corps and enthuse our learners.

Your success is the success of the nation as we continue to break the back of illiteracy that adds an assault to human dignity.

The department will continue to work with all our partners in education to strengthen our education delivery and help raise a permanent edifice of lifelong learning of which our Province can be proud.

I thank you.

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