Hon Speaker, this month, October, 60 years ago, the 1953 Bantu Education Act was promulgated. The funding for Bantu children was 14% of that allocated for white children. Gardening was part of the Bantu education curriculum! White children, however, were exposed to art and to science. The opportunities for Bantu education learners were severely limited.
It is this outcome that we cannot allow to continue to haunt us. We cannot allow the quality of education we provide for our young people to be determined by the circumstances of their birth.
Today there is one curriculum for all children, but the achievements of learners are still powerfully linked to the circumstances of their birth. Our children are disadvantaged if they are poor. They are disadvantaged if they live in rural areas. They are disadvantaged if they live in dysfunctional provinces such as Limpopo and the Eastern Cape.
The argument that the Bantu education system was better than the system we have now is nonsensical. [Interjections.] It is nonsensical! There was little or no potential for excellence within the Bantu education curriculum. There is potential for excellence now but that potential must be harnessed.
Our learners deserve the best, no matter the circumstances of their birth, and it starts with quality education everywhere. [Applause.]