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Representatives of the Embassy of Japan,
The DG Murray Trust,
The R Haggard Trust,
The Robin Hamilton Charitable Trust,
Distinguished guests,
Officials from the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education,
Community organisations and structures,
Teachers,
Parents,
Learners.

Sanbonani - Greetings to you all

I am very pleased to join you in celebrating this partnership initiative between the public and private sectors. Of course, I am also always happy to be back in KwaZulu-Natal where I grew up.

This initiative represents a good example of the creative collaborative efforts of the private and public sectors in bringing quality education to our people, particularly the poorest of the poor. I would also like to commend the organisers of this event for bringing us together today, for it is in such events that we are able to share ideas and renew our commitment to pursuing the goal of education for all.

This brand new education facility is the result of a cooperative effort on many fronts. I am told that the principal and staff of Nansindlela School first approached Funding SA with a request for support. Funding SA then linked the school up with the Japanese Embassy, the R Haggard Trust and the DG Murray Trust, who also happened to be friends of the school. The school went on to approach the Robin Hamilton Charitable Trust with a request to equip the laboratory, and Eskom to connect the electricity.

Funding SA and the Embassy of Japan chose to respond to the request made by the school, which is in line with the request made by our former President Nelson Mandela, for foreign donors and local business to play an active role in providing schools for learners, especially those who are forced to receive education under extremely poor conditions due to lack of proper school facilities.

The DG Murray Trust and the R Haggard Trust, as part of their ongoing involvement and support to the school, then chose to partner Funding SA and the Embassy of Japan in the thrust to contribute to the provision of proper school facilities.

In turn, the Robin Hamilton Charitable Trust and Eskom chose to partner Funding SA, the Embassy of Japan and the community of Ingwavuma by honouring the request to supply the school with laboratory equipment and electricity respectively.

The community of Ingwavuma chose to work with all the above agencies to ensure that their children would have better school facilities.

The common action from each of the partners in this venture is that they all chose to invest in the education of our children. Each one of them, I am sure, has particular reasons and goals for their involvement - and there is nothing wrong with that - but collectively they all believe that education needs ongoing investment. And investment in education is not simply about money, it also involves huge investments of time and energy. It requires the investment of people and organisations, founded on a strong belief in this country and a commitment to education.

Ingwavuma now has some excellent additional educational facilities, in the form of five new classrooms and a fully equipped laboratory at its disposal. It is only by ongoing investment that the community will benefit fully from these facilities. To the local community, educators and learners of Nansindlela Primary School, I urge you to accept and cherish this source of renewal and regeneration for your community. The facilities provided will undoubtedly enhance the quality of education. The community will need to invest its time and vigilance in ensuring that the school is free from vandalism, that the grounds, furniture, textbooks and equipment are looked after, that the ethos of the school reflects our constitutional values, that the achievement of its learners can be celebrated, that the professionalism of its staff is exemplary, and that the country can share the pride of this community in its school and the education it represents.

I challenge all parents and local civic organisations to consider investing at least one weekend a term when the entire school community - the parents, the teachers, the school management, the school governing body, the learners and the organisations that are active in the school - could gather to do general maintenance, spring cleaning, minor repairs and the beautification of the school and its grounds. Such an investment will benefit the school enormously and will help to unify the community. Parents and organisations could also invest their skills, knowledge, and wisdom to support and develop the school as a community resource such that it emerges as a centre of community life.

The question of public-private partnerships has been promoted and largely embraced over the past few years in South Africa because, as we all know, the government lacks resources to fully carry out its desired mandate to establish and develop democracy in South Africa. This is primarily because the reconstruction demands are enormous; to say nothing of the debts we still carry, which were incurred to finance apartheid.

I am convinced that the private sector is now more willing than ever before to assist in the building of our nation. This sector is now part of the democratic dispensation and increasingly feels the need to support government's effort. Their acknowledgement that government cannot do everything on its own in this country, together with the view that the private sector has an obligation and responsibility to the development of this country is most welcome.

For us as government to succeed in our agenda of transforming education, we need to take the opportunities and challenges afforded by partnerships. Issues of education require collaboration at all levels of society, and the South African Schools Act of 1996 highlights the need to develop partnerships in education.

The greatest resource South Africa has is its people. Our people have struggled for centuries to remove the blight of apartheid. Our people have demonstrated a sense of maturity; wisdom and vision in the way we conducted our negotiations. Our people demonstrated a commitment to peace and justice. Our people have shown an incredible acceptance of diversity. Our people have been through two national elections and have evidenced patience, the ability to reconcile and a deep appreciation of the democratic process. We must use our people in whatever way we can to ensure we build this nation.

Our focus of attention at the moment is on improving the quality of education. The results of the matriculation examinations are one indicator of this, and I hope we will repeat, if not better, the improvements of last year. Allow me at this stage to wish all candidates, and their teachers, success in their endeavours. But the matric exam is not the only indicator, and for this reason we have introduced a national assessment at Grade 3, and will do the same at Grade 6, to ensure quality throughout all levels of the education system.

We have also introduced a system of Whole School Evaluation, where teams of qualified educators will visit schools and assess their effectiveness. This will ensure that dysfunctional schools, including those that have produced dismal results year after year, will be identified and supported to improve the quality of service they produce.

The quality of education and overall improvement of learner achievement cannot be accomplished without the central role of our educators. Thousands of our educators are already doing their best under difficult conditions, and we must give them support, increase their level of commitment, and boost their morale so that they can double their efforts. But sadly, many educators are not pulling their weight and my patience and that of their communities is rapidly running out. We cannot tolerate 'free-riders' when there is so much to be done.

In addition to providing ongoing educator professional development on teaching skills and strategies, our focus will include intensive improvement of educators' content knowledge base. I have asked my provincial colleagues to pay urgent attention to strengthening the curriculum advisory services and Learning Area Committees in their provinces. I have also requested provinces to streamline their disciplinary procedures to act promptly against teachers who do not perform. Together with the South African Council of Educators, they must uphold the integrity and ethics of the profession, in order for it to earn the status it deserves.

I raise these initiatives in this ceremony because they have direct relevance to the local community, the educators and learners. Here at Nansindlela, in a remote part of KwaZulu-Natal, and through an admirable act of partnership between the private and the public sector, resources have been mobilised to make a difference to the learning experiences of the children in this area. I wish this could be replicated a thousand times in other parts of this country.

We are today launching a vital educational community resource. I hope you will treasure it, care for it, and use it to the maximum. I hope also that it will be used to serve both our young and old, as the community lifts itself out of the past, and prepares for a brighter future.

I thank you.

Issued by: Ministry of Education, 29 October 2001