Chairperson, Michelangelo is reported to have said in the 1500s that, "the greatest danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark." It is absolutely relevant to our discussion today. In determining where our aim should be set, we first have to determine why we do what we do. Why is the right to basic education constitutionally enshrined? Why does the President refer to basic education as an apex priority? Why do we all consider basic education fundamentally important?
Allow me to attempt to answer this very personally. My alma mater is Kimberley Girls' High School. Their mission statement is in the form of a short rhyme:
We recognise each diverse soul, And aim to educate the whole - That every girl, in every deed, May think, discern, adapt, succeed.
The school the Minister chose for her daughters is Parktown High School for Girls. That school proudly states:
We have a vision of confident and courageous young women ready and willing to meet every challenge on the way to achieving their dreams.
A selection of mottos from our country's top schools will emphasise the point: Kearsney College, carpe diem; Roedean School, inspiring a life of significance; Leap Science and Maths Schools, educating future leaders.
All of South Africa's top schools focus squarely on why they educate. They start with their vision of the adults their efforts will produce. And so should you, Minister. When you do, you will quickly realise that this is not a tick-box exercise for you or for any official of your department. Unfortunately anyone reading the department's Annual Performance Plan would be forgiven for thinking otherwise. Nowhere does the reason for your existence as a department and the reminder of your accountability to every child appear. There is a flagrant lack of commitment to producing courageous, confident and capable adults.
Before we consider your plan for this year, let us pause for a moment, and reflect on the current situation, which can best be described as tragic. Only half of Grade 3 learners are literate; 13% of Grade 9 learners achieve a 50% pass mark in mathematics; the World Economic Forum ranks our maths and science education second last in the world; the International Mathematics and Science Study of 2012 ranks South Africa third last for mathematics; the International Reading and Literacy Study of 2012 placed South Africa fourth last; 20% of our schools have no or reliable access to water; 79% of our schools have no library; 80% of teachers of the deaf are not fluent in sign language; 80% of teachers of the blind are unable to read Braille; We have one of the world's highest teacher absenteeism rates; 60% of Grade 6 teachers cannot pass tests their learners are expected to pass; half of the children who start school never finish; only 35% of children who start school ever receive a Grade 12 certificate; more than 10 000 unqualified teachers are employed in our schools.
The achievement so often proudly touted - access to schooling for all our children - pales somewhat in significance when we consider the immense failure in ensuring access to quality education in our public schools. Now, is it acceptable, in light of the current abominable situation in public education in this country, to take incremental steps towards improvement? The answer has to be a categorical no.
We cannot afford another year of producing Grade 12 learners who predominantly have no connection with values and principles, who cannot make career decisions, who are not capable of tertiary study and who do not have the confidence or initiative to become entrepreneurs nor are considered teachable by many prospective employers. We need massive change in at least three senses: the change must be massive in that much must change; the change must be massive in that it must be radical; and the change must be massive in that every one of the hundreds of thousands of children who need that change must feel that change.
Recall the earlier quote about setting the aim too low. Setting the aim too low is exactly what your department has chosen to do. Not taking any chances on being found wanting with respect to achievement of outcomes. The only meaningful target - and that is questionable - that has been left in the Annual Performance Plan is the matric pass rate. Guess what, South Africa? The target is exactly the same as last year, 74%.
Every other target that might be used to measure the immediate effectiveness of the department has been removed. We have no targets for the percentage of schools with a basic level of infrastructure, access to a library or percentage of learners with a textbook for each subject. The Minister's verbal commitment was welcomed, but it appears nowhere in writing. We have no target for the percentage of Grades 3, 6 and 9 learners who are numerate or literate. We have no target for the number of Grade 12 learners passing mathematics or physical science or achieving bachelor's passes.
We are very grateful to every school in South Africa, both independent and public, that understands why it is educating children. It is clear that the department needs, urgently, to support these schools and to duplicate their efforts to benefit every child. Successful independent and public schools understand the concept of accountability. They are accountable to their funders, whether they are corporate or parents. If the schools fail to perform, fail to produce young adults who can utilise every opportunity to fulfil their potential, they lose their funding, and they cease to exist. The crises in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape demonstrate vividly the results of the collapse of accountability in the education system.
These schools understand that children cannot develop skills and talents without exposure to as wide a spectrum of resources as possible. They are the breeding grounds for the Chad le Clos and Lindiwe Mazibukos of the future. They would never have to be instructed by a court to provide desks or textbooks or fill teacher vacancies or to attend to unsafe structures.
These schools understand the need for positive role models. Teachers are properly qualified, constantly developing and truly professional. The thought of employing unqualified teachers, of regularly absent teachers or of teachers using learners as pawns in political battles would be absurd. The work ethic in these schools is exceptional. Not something the department expects. It has yet to take action against those Eastern Cape teachers who were on strike for a full term last year.
I use this opportunity to welcome the apparently amiable end to the South African Democratic Teachers Union, Sadtu, work-to-rule campaign yesterday. Many matters raised by Sadtu, and they are real matters that deserve attention, remain unaddressed, and, of course, the necessary action must still taken Sadtu striking members for causing learners to lose out on learning hours.
Successful independent and public schools have principals who are managers and visionary leaders. Sadtu has demanded - and the department is about to agree sign off on - no management requirements at all for appointment as a principal. These schools appoint on the basis of expertise, not on the basis of union affiliation. These schools understand that education is more about learning than it is about teaching. These schools understand discipline and a culture of continuous learning. They do not teach the tests, they do not need to cram knowledge into winter and spring camps.
Despite a budget of R17,6 billion and a slew of policies, your education system does not work. If you believe it does, then I am afraid that you are in denial. Admit failure. Until you do, you will never make the massive changes that are required for this country to succeed. Understand why you are educating; understand that education is the foundation for the future, for every child, and for this country. Commit to success and to removing every obstacle to success. That will include removing Sadtu. Sadtu immobilises almost any attempt to reprofessionalise teaching and provide quality education.
The Minister is in charge and has to make that unconditionally clear. Massive change cannot happen overnight. But it cannot happen incrementally either. And it will never happen if we accept plans such as that presented by the department this year. I challenge the Minister to surround herself with expertise and to publicly commit to realistic but challenging targets to change our education outcomes, to produce capable and courageous adults.
I challenge the Minister to gazette her commitments. The Minister has mentioned her plan. We do not believe it to be bold enough. Be bold. Call your policy South Africa's plan for successful education. The Minister cannot continue to fail our children and, directly, our nation. I remind you, the greatest danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark. [Applause.]