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Premier
Cabinet colleagues
Members of the House

I believe in the future of our province. I believe in the future of our children. I believe in the future, because I believe in education.

Ndiyakholelwa kwikamva eliqaqambileyo lephondo lethu: ndiyakholelwa kwikamva eliqaqambileyo labantwana bethu, ndiyakholewla kwikamva eliqaqambileyo kuba ndikholelwa kwimfundo.

I am exceedingly proud to stand here today and report that education in our province is on the threshold of a new era. We have to a large extent broken with the legacies of the past and we have made steady progress towards providing quality education to all communities in our province.

I am proud today because we are succeeding in our efforts to put learning first in the Western Cape. We are increasingly making headway in building our system of education as a fountain of knowledge and a foundation of prosperity for the future of our people.

Our future starts here.
Hier begin ons toekoms.
Esi sisiQalo seKamva Lethu Sonke.

Our future starts with education.

The role of education in the future of our province is captured by the proposed new logo of our department. It gives me great pleasure to launch the proposed new logo today.

The logo reflects education through the shape of an open book that grows through different layers that represent the tiers of education from the primary-, to the high- and to the tertiary level. This movement implies growth from the foundation onwards in the image of a fountain - a fountain of knowledge. The fountain opens like a flower watched over or nurtured by the sun. With the yellow circle, it also takes the shape of a person that represents our people, the teachers, parents and learners, who are all part of education in the Western Cape. The use of the primary colours blue, red and yellow indicates that through education we will unleash and enhance the potential and colourful diversity of the people of the Western Cape for years to come.

Ek is oortuig daarvan dat hierdie nuwe embleem van groot waarde sal wees vir almal betrokke in onderwys en opleiding in ons provinsie deur as inspirasie vir ons te dien. Hierdie embleem is egter nie net 'n dinamiese inspirasie nie, maar ook 'n simbool van ons eenheid en van die gemeenskaplike bestemming waarheen ons op pad is.

The provincial budget for education has this year increased by 7.5% to R5.031-billion, and accounts for 30.7% of our total provincial budget. This reflects the commitment of our Province to learning and our continued contribution to build a united and democratic South Africa.

Education plays a central part in iKapa Elihlumayo, in creating prosperity for all and giving new hope to all people of our province. Quality basic education for all is absolutely essential for sustainable development and to ensure that we achieve our vision of a world-class province.

As our future starts here with education, all of us must take part in building education in our province. In this spirit, we are distributing education kits in the form of lunchboxes to you today. You won't find much food in the kits, because they represent an education toolkit that you must distribute to a learner in need. These boxes contain reminders about what we need to do to realise the potential of our learners and build education in our province. Each of the items in the box represents a particular strategy of my department to we overcome the challenges we face in education, and at the same time each item is usable in the everyday learning activities of a child. By receiving this box you have the opportunity to become actively involved in education by giving the education toolkit to a learner in your neighbourhood, or a learner at a nearby school or to a learner who is in need of such a lunchbox.

I call on you to become part of the education-process as we seek to realise our vision of effective education for all, and ensure that our learners acquire the knowledge, skills and values they need to lead fulfilling lives and to contribute to the development of our province and country.

Key Objectives

We have five key objectives. These are:

* Firstly, to ensure access to quality basic education for all children of school-going age in the province.
* Secondly, to equip educators in their efforts to provide effective education.
* Thirdly, to ensure effective management and governance in our schools, colleges and support structures.
* Fourthly, to ensure safe school environments needed for effective teaching and learning; and lastly
* To promote accountability on all levels, in line with our legislative mandate.
Challenges and strategies

We face extensive challenges in our endeavours to reach our objectives. We are meeting these challenges head on.

1. Low pass through rate

Our main challenge is simply this: More than 50% of the learners in the Western Cape do not complete their matric. Enrolment trends for the years 1998 to 2001 indicate that only 48% of children in the Western Cape who begin Grade 1 reach Grade 12.

Die rede hiervoor is die algemene gebrek by leerders aan die kennis en basiese vaardighede wat 'n leerder nodig het om te slaag op hoërskool. Dit is veral die geval met leerders uit arm gemeenskappe. Dit gebeur dikwels dat leerders in arm gemeenskappe die skool verlaat om te gaan werk ten einde die inkomste van die gesin aan te vul, of omdat daar geen inkomste is om hul te onderhou nie.

We are meeting this very serious challenge by providing appropriate interventions to improve the literacy skills of learners in Grades 1 to 9, expanding opportunities to study at Further Education and Training Colleges and providing second chances for studying through Adult Basic Education and Training.

We have assessed the reading and numeracy results of Grade 3 learners in all our schools and have developed targeted support to schools.

In particular, every Grade 1, 2 and 3 classroom in the Western Cape will receive 100 reading books in 2004 - approximately 600 000 books. These sets of 100 books contain books in the three languages of the Western Cape.

In this way we have also for the first time created a substantial market for isiXhosa books (as we will be ordering in the region of 100000 isiXhosa Foundation Phase books).

Ngesi sizathu sidale amathuba abonakalayo okuthengwa kweencwadi zesiXhosa (njengoko siza ku-odola iincwadi ezikwisithuba se-100000 zesiXhosa kwiSigaba seSiseko)

In the toolkit you will find a reading badge that indicates that we believe that readers are leaders. This indicates our commitment to get children to read!

2. Bringing education in line with our economy.

Poverty challenges our province as a whole. Most of the children who do not complete their matric are poor. On a broad front, the Western Cape Education Department will continue to play its part in combating the scourge of poverty, by assisting the province and the country in providing the human resources we need for sustainable development.

For this reason my department has embarked on a process to develop a comprehensive human resource development strategy. We will work in close collaboration with our colleagues in other departments such as the Department of Economic Affairs who is working on a major economic development strategy, which will identify key areas for economic growth, and the human resources needed to ensure this growth. Together we will ensure that we bring education in line with our human resources requirements.

This applies particularly to our work in Further Education and Training (FET) in both public ordinary schools and our FET colleges.

3. Quality of passes

Another key challenge is to improve the quality of passes at every level of our school system.

We celebrated the start of a new era in education in our province with our matric pass rates in 2002. The Western Cape achieved the highest matric pass rate ever achieved in the province with 86.5%! The real number of matriculants passing also increased, along with the quality of passes, measured by the number of candidates passing with endorsement, merit and distinction.

We must now improve results at all levels of the system, in every grade, and encourage more learners to study subjects on the higher grade, especially in mathematics and science. We are implementing various strategies aimed at increasing our pass rates and improving the quality of passes.

During June last year my department implemented a special matric maths intervention in disadvantaged schools aiming to improve results in the subject in these schools. The intervention consisted of 40 hours of small group tutoring by "master teachers" as phase one and a 27-hour intensive coaching camp just prior to the June examinations as phase two of the intervention. Of the 47 candidates exposed to both phases of the intervention, 43 passed maths and the average mark increased by 7% from June to October.

You will find in our education toolkit a pencil and writing pad to remind us that continued studying and hard work always bear fruit and deliver good results.

Another intervention took the form of our Learning Schools Campaign, which for example, continued to improve matric results at schools that achieved matric pass rates of less than 60%. The campaign was instrumental in reducing the number of schools in this category from 47 in 2001 to only 28 in 2002.

4. Revised National Curriculum

A key challenge for the next few years will be the implementation of the Revised National Curriculum from Grade R to Grade 9.

The revised curriculum will do much to improve the quality of education by offering very clear benchmarks, or outcomes, for learner development, and clear guidelines on how progress can be assessed.

Our curriculum plans include preparing the ground for introducing the Revised National Curriculum for Grades R to 9, starting with the Foundation Phase, from Grades R to 3, in 2004.

We are also preparing the ground for Outcomes-Based Education in the Further Education and Training Band, or FET, in high schools, which cover Grades 10, 11 and 12.

5. Die belangrikheid van stabiliteit

Dit is van groot belang dat ons alles in ons vermoë doen om stabiliteit in ons onderwysstelsel te verseker. Dit beteken veral dat ons wat posvoorsiening betref ons bes moet doen om skole sover moontlik tegemoet te kom. Ek kan die versekering aan skole gee dat die inkorting van poste as 'n laaste opsie beskou word. Ons het 'n plig om ons skole betyds van inligting, ook met betrekking tot posvoorsiening, te voorsien sodat skole behoorlike beplanning kan doen.

Ons en die nasionale departement het ook die verantwoordelikheid om te verseker dat ons nie, wanneer dit byvoorbeeld by die implementering van nuwe beleid kom, te veel druk op skole te plaas nie. Ek is daarom besonder bly dat die Wes-Kaap met die nasionale minister kon ooreenkom om die nuwe VOO-kurrikulum eers in 2006 te implementeer, en nie reeds in 2004 soos aanvanklik beplan nie. Dit is 'n uitstekende voorbeeld van inter-regeringssamewerking tot voordeel van stabiliteit in ons skole.

6. Mathematics, Science and Technology Strategy

Please find in your toolkit a Maths Protractor. It represents another major, ongoing challenge, which is how to improve learner performance in mathematics, science and technology.

We have implemented a range of pilot projects and special interventions to address this issue. Although remarkably successful results came from these projects, the interventions were used in a haphazard way and did not necessarily affect performance in other parts of the province. We were in need of an overarching strategy to direct and stabilise our efforts in this regard.

Earlier this year, I announced a well-integrated Mathematics, Science and Technology Strategy, designed to improve average learner performance throughout the province in these vital subjects. Our future starts here in this strategy.

The strategy will integrate our plans to roll out the new curriculum in the General Education and Training - and Further Education and Training bands between now and 2008, and will also include special interventions, teacher training, the development of learner support materials, and diagnostic testing at regular intervals.

7. Mathematics, Science and Technology Academy

Another platform from where we will launch the future of education in our Province is our recently launched new Mathematics, Science and Technology Academy. The Academy will serve our future by enhancing the skills of learners with potential in these fields, especially learners from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Die Kaapse Akademie vir Wiskunde, Wetenskap en Tegnologie sal ook 'n wyer rol speel deur as 'n hulpbronsentrum te dien vir onderwys in die vakgebiede regdeur die provinsie. Dit sal dien as die enjinkamer vir die ontwikkeling van onderwys en opleiding in die wiskunde, wetenskap en tegnologie in ons provinsie.

We plan to accept the first intake in 2004.

An Academy of this nature was our first priority in terms of the needs of our economy and the development of our province.

But, as part of the vision for the future, I must emphasise that we need a similar academy for the arts, and I will explore options for such an academy with my department.

8. Literacy Strategy

Research has shown that the reading comprehension skills of our learners fall far short of what we require for a world-class province. Our economy needs people who can understand what they read, and who express themselves clearly.

For this reason my department launched the Reading Schools Programme in 2001 which require all primary schools to set aside 30 minutes a day to reading. It also involved an advocacy programme to promote reading in schools and encourages donations for reading materials.

Although the Reading Programme delivers good results and was expanded to high schools in 2002, this intervention functioned outside of and without a comprehensive strategy for the sustained development of literacy in the education system and in the whole of our province.

We therefore also began this new era in education in our province by launching our new Literacy Strategy in March this year. The strategy includes programmes to develop teaching skills, learning support materials, research, advocacy and special interventions.

Please find a reader and a pamphlet regarding our strategy in this regard in the toolkit you received.

Materials that will be distributed as part of the strategy will for instance include 100-book reading kits for every classroom in the Foundation and Intermediate phases and reading laboratory kits for the senior phase, as well as textbooks.

The Literacy Strategy will complement our new Maths, Science and Technology strategy.

9. Further Education and Training

To mark the start of our future in education we are promoting the national "Year of FET" in 2003 in the Western Cape to raise awareness on important changes in Further Education and Training.

In your toolkit you will find a magnifying glass that indicates the importance of this track in our education system.

The process of merging 38 technical colleges sites in the Western Cape into six FET institutions in September last year marks this year as the first year of the restructured vocational and technical training at FET level.

None of the existing sites have closed down, but will instead be administered by the larger institutions.

10. Language of instruction

The innovative work of my department with regard to the issue of language of instruction in our schools heralds yet again a sound foundation in education for our future.

Umsebenzi omhle owenziwa lisebe lam ngokubhekiselele kumbandela wolwimi lokufundisa ezikolweni uhlaba ikhwelo lesiseko esisiso kwimfundo yekamva lethu.

Ek het verlede jaar 'n Ministeriële Taakspan aangewys om hierdie saak te ondersoek en ek het hul verslag in Desember in ontvangs geneem.

The report makes two central recommendations, namely, that the WCED should:

* Implement a policy of mother-tongue-based bilingual education in Grades R to 6 in all primary schools in the Western Cape; and
* Provide incentives to guide all children towards choosing the third official language of the province as their second additional language.

The report also suggests the introduction of the first additional language as a subject as soon as possible in the Foundation Phase, including Grade R, the year before Grade 1. The department is currently assessing the implications of the report's recommendations, including the financial implications of introducing them.

11. Teacher training and retention

Turning now to teacher training, development and retention, I would like to express my deep appreciation to the thousands of dedicated teachers who are committed to making a difference to the lives of our learners in every community.

As I have said before, they are the champions of our continued battle against illiteracy and poverty. I salute them!

We are instituting measures to ensure that we reward good performance in all schools, and that we offer alternatives to teachers seeking promotion. Till recently teachers had to leave the classroom for management positions to achieve promotion. But, because we value teachers as our most precious resources, we ensured that a national agreement was signed by members of the Education Labour Relations Council in April this year that will implement a comprehensive system to recognise good performance and to reward teachers accordingly. The system will take effect from the 1st of July. This is in line with our thinking that hard work and commitment should be rewarded.

We contributed in getting members of the same Council to also sign an agreement for career pathing for teachers. The new post and salary structures for educators set out in Agreement 3 of 2003, specifies four possible career paths for educators, namely in teaching, in management, as office-based educators, and as therapists and psychologists.

Hierdie nuwe struktuur sal verseker dat goeie onderwysers in klasse behou kan word, terwyl hul steeds bevorder kan word tot senior onderwysers en onderwys spesialiste met dieselfde range as skoolhoofde en hul adjunkte.

Our research on supply and demand indicates that almost 1800 teachers should have enrolled for teacher training at Technikon and Universities in 2003 to meet our requirements for 2007. While overall enrolment increased from 700 to about 900 students, enrolments fell short of what is required. Although we are pleased to note that there has been an overall increase in the number of students registering at tertiary institutions this year to train as teachers, we will also launch a teacher recruitment drive later this year.

Meanwhile, we are fully committed to developing the knowledge and skills of teachers already in service, through well-planned, focused, in-service training.

An outstanding example of this is the Cape Teaching Institute, which we launched in September last year. The institute provides intensive, in-service training to groups of teachers at a time, for periods of between six to eight weeks. The institute plays a major role in ensuring that our future starts with quality education.

12. School Effectiveness Strategy

To ensure further stability and service delivery in future, my department will roll out its School Effectiveness Strategy later this year.

We have included School management paper clips in the toolkit to symbolise effective and efficient management in our schools.

Our new Education Management and Development Centres will play a key role in implementing this strategy, by bringing management and development support closer to schools, where it is needed the most. We have also founded a Quality assurance unit that will assess the management of schools.

In this context, I would like to mention our Multigrade Schools Project, designed to support schools in rural areas that accommodate more than one grade in a class.

For example, about 45% of the schools in our Overberg/Breede River district run multigrade classes. Multigrade teaching poses special challenges to a teacher, so that our support includes teacher training, as well as materials development and information technology specifically designed for this application.

Meanwhile, we will introduce Whole School Evaluation in all our schools to identify specific problems needing attention. We will not tolerate schools that persist in being dysfunctional, in spite of all the assistance available to them. Although we will take a developmental approach, we have no room for schools that do not change and will not teach.

We are specifically looking into the issue of discipline at school, and we are developing alternative approaches to discipline and policy in this regard through our Special Education Services directorate.

13. 'e-Learning' projects

The knowledge-based future of our province is driven by our commitment to e-Learning. You will find access to our network through the web address on the e-learning bookmark in your toolkit.

We have just completed the final phase of our five-year Telecommunication Project, which has provided at least one Internet point at every school in the province where such a connection is possible. Our Khanya and Dassie projects are also making impressive progress on developing innovative ways of using ICT to enhance teaching and learning in the classroom.

14. Communication

As part of a new approach to communication in education in our province, we recognise than face-to-face interaction is the best way of communicating and of building real communities.

Njengenxenye yenkqubo entsha yonxibelelwano kwiSebe leMfundo kweli phondo lethu, siyayiqonda into yokuba ukuthethana ubuso ngobuso yeyona ndlela ibalulekileyo neyakha uluntu olululo.

We embarked on this transparent and inclusive road to the future by meeting representatives of school management teams, governing bodies and teachers face to face earlier this year. The WCED's top management and I held a series of road shows in every district and discussed various issues with regard to education in all our communities.

We will expand this approach to communicating in our system by establishing Education Councils on both district and provincial levels, representing all stakeholders, to discuss issues of mutual interest in education, and to propose solutions to problems.

We also plan to hold an Education Summit in the province later this year, which will seek to achieve consensus on our future direction. The summit will include leaders of all representative groups in education in the Western Cape.

15. Safe schools

The safety of our learners and teachers is of paramount importance. It is a key objective to ensure that we provide safe school environments for effective teaching and learning.

Ons Veilige Skole Program gaan voort daarmee om te verseker dat ons toenemend aan leerders hierdie veilige omgewings voorsien. Ongeveer 900 skole neem reeds deel aan die program.

The programme has helped considerably in ensuring safe school environments in the Western Cape, especially in communities on the Cape Flats that are plagued by gangsterism and crime.

Please find the contact number of the Safe Schools Call centre in your toolkit, as well as a HIV/Aids ribbon as a reminder that the safety of our children and our future also include the impact of this pandemic.

We are currently considering the development of after care at certain schools, specifically those schools that have a pass rate lower than 60%, to provide safe environments for learners to do homework and engage in suitable activities off the streets.

16. Physical resources

Meanwhile, sufficient classrooms will remain an important challenge, given our population growth rate, and population shifts within the province and from outside the Western Cape. Research indicates that about 48 000 new migrants settle in the Western Cape each year.

We are implementing a range of exciting strategies to meet this demand. We are currently in conjunction with the honourable Minister Essop exploring the possibility to sell unused land owned by schools and the state and to plough some of these funds into schools where the need is the greatest.

Other strategies include expanding existing schools, using mobile classrooms, and using the same classrooms for separate classes in the mornings and afternoons - the platooning system.

The province will complete three new, additional high schools in 2003, each with 36 classrooms, in Khayelitsha and Wesbank; as well as three new primary schools each with 28 classrooms, in Wesbank, Marconi Beam/Phoenix and Crossroads.

We will complete 77 prefabricated classrooms this year, while deploying 21 mobile classrooms.
17. Service delivery

Along with all these strategies to build our future through education, we are committed to effective service delivery. For this reason, we will open a new Call Centre and Walk-in Centre for the WCED, to improve our service to both members of the public and our employees, especially our teachers. We will also develop a more efficient file management system, to facilitate the work of the Call Centre.

The provincial Work-Study unit has assisted us by studying the business processes involved, and in designing the facility, which is taking shape on the second floor of our head office in Cape Town.
18. Accountability and partnership

As part of our commitment to service delivery, our commitment to accountability runs through all the strategies and programmes I have described today.

My department and I are duty bound by our Constitution and legislation to delivering a quality service to our citizens, but at the same time, all of us here today have an interest in education.

We are all therefore inevitably partners in founding our future in education.

Earlier this month, we launched the Western Cape Education Foundation, which aims to improve the quality of education in the Western Cape through effective public/private partnerships. The Foundation must play an initiating role in delivering partnerships for education.

We are also looking at developing partnerships between schools to share resources and learn from one another's experiences.

19. Education Vision 2020

In conclusion I would like to announce the development of a comprehensive plan for education in the Western Cape for the next twenty years.

Education Vision 2020 will inform our long-term, strategic planning for education in the province, and our contribution to the national effort. It will be the foundation from which education in our province will grow and become the fountain of inspiration for a learning future for our people.

Through a review of how education has developed to date in the Western Cape, current structures, policies and programmes, strategic goals, and what we have to do to achieve these goals, this Vision will put a firm framework in place to direct and sustain education over the long term.

Next year, as we will celebrate the first 10 years of democracy in South Africa, we will have a clear picture and will be able to envisage a bright future for the Western Cape, because we know where our future starts. Our future starts here with your involvement in education.

I would like to thank and salute all those in my department who have worked so hard to prepare our budget for 2003/04. I would like to thank our new Head of Education, Mr Ron Swartz, for the excellent leadership he is already showing in the WCED since his appointment last year.

I also thank my colleagues in the Cabinet, the Education Standing Committee and the House, and associated departments, for your excellent support. I look forward to working with you as we grow a world-class province, in the true spirit of iKapa Elihlumayo.

Education is the gateway to our future of prosperity. Our future starts here.

I therefore urge each of you who have received an education toolkit here today to ensure that it is delivered into the hands of a learner.

Become part of education. Become part of our future.

I thank you.

Issued by Western Cape Provincial Government

3 June 2003