Chairperson, hon Ministers, Deputy Ministers, former Deputy President, MECs who are my colleagues and are present here, stakeholders in education and hon members, I cannot but agree with the hon Lovemore that what we require in our country is massive change and by merely dealing with matters in a fragmented way, we will not be able to turn the situation around. I do not disagree with the hon Lovemore when she says that indeed our vision must be cast high. Our attitude and altitude must be such that we are motivated to do even better; and by setting goals which are moderate, we certainly will not be able to turn things around.
Hon members, it is rather instructive that hon Lovemore chooses Kimberley High and Parktown High, two schools which were privileged, as examples of models of excellence. I would, on the other hand, like to choose three schools that I visited two weeks ago in the Free State. These are schools in the rural area which are committed to mainstream education and function under very difficult circumstances. These schools recognise and realise that the disparities that occur have not occurred by accident, but as a result of the legacy of the past. But, when we talk about differences and disparities in infrastructure, we do so recognising that these were not imposed by the current government, but were inherited as a result of the demeaning colonialist past that we have had. That is something that we have to recognise.
Hon members, the schools that I would like to speak about are the following: Letlotlo Primary School, which is in the rural area of the Free State, is committed to mainstream education, ensuring that learners receive the opportunity to enhance their ability to read and write, read with understanding, and improve their literacy and numeracy skills. Quite interestingly, in this particular environment we see the instructional and institutional leadership that is present and a committed principal who understands that the curriculum is central to doing well. This is what Nidu says, that there has indeed been a move away from the understanding that the principal is no longer merely an administrative leader of the school, but indeed an implementer of the curriculum.
There was recognition of the fact that children who come from poor circumstances ought to be provided with a caring and loving environment to ensure that they enhance the opportunity of providing quality education to them. Quite interestingly, in that school there were more than 50 learners in a class. Notwithstanding the fact that overcrowding was a reality, there was a commitment by each and every educator to ensure that those children who come from poor economic backgrounds should not be disadvantaged. What I am saying to you is that we have a particular responsibility to instil hope in our people, and that the rural child who suffers deficits is not ignored. Indeed we must acknowledge, applaud and laud those thousands of educators who work under very difficult circumstances to ensure that we provide quality education to our children.
Let me give you another example. On the very same day we visited a school called Manthatisi Secondary. The school has more than 320 learners, but provides hostel accommodation for more than 1 000 learners from nearby areas. The difference here is that the principal of that particular school and the educators recognise that those children are not children that are cohort learners in that particular school but, notwithstanding that, provide their time and energy to ensure that those learners are taken care of; they take pride in those learners, and the hostel facilities are indeed protected, looked after and cared for by those educators. That means they understand what the meaning of being in a caring and humane society is all about. These are the people who inspire hope in our people.
Similarly, if one goes to Leswane Full Service Primary School in the area, we have a principal - in fact, we were received by a community of more than 200 people who were very excited that the district director and the Deputy Minister were there, and wanted to hear from us what we brought to them. Wherever we went, we saw hope in the eyes of children, progress and a belief that indeed tomorrow will be better than yesterday.
Hon Chairperson, indeed we have challenges in our country. We have never pretended that literacy and numeracy are not a problem. We were bold enough to say that we would subject each and every child, from Grade 1 to Grade 6, to a literacy and numeracy test. We knew in advance that the children would not perform well, but we wanted our parents, society and nation to confirm the reality that indeed we have challenges in literacy. As a result thereof, there was an awakening in society to say that surely, as parents, we have a responsibility to ensure that we too contribute to the meaningful progress of the child in school. The result of that is that after having tested 5 million, 500 children are already in the second year as a result of the resources that we provided, the emphasis being on content knowledge, motivation, and accountability mechanisms, our children - Grades 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 - have indeed improved.
I am not saying that is optimal performance. What I am saying is that there is a clear sign of progress. What the opposition is not saying to you is that in the past three years, we have consistently had progress both in primary and high schools. It is this Minister that has brought education, early childhood development, ECD, to the centre of attention of society. [Applause.] It is this Minister that has indicated to society to please not look at our performance in Grade 12, but to look at our performance right from the beginning, ie from Grade 1. [Applause.]
Indeed, it is this Minister that has provided more than 55 million workbooks in 11 official languages to our children. Even Nidu and every educator say that those textbooks have contributed significantly and substantially to the improvement of the ability of learners in terms of both literacy and numeracy. These are massive changes.
Massive changes are when you do not just feed 100 000 children; massive changes are when you feed more than 8 800 000 children every day, and you say that you are taking care of your children. Massive change means that you are not providing for only certain privileged children, but massive change means that you are providing workbooks in literacy and numeracy from Grade R to Grade 9 to all children across all quintiles in the system. [Applause.]
Massive change means that you are not testing only a cohort of 100 000 learners. Massive change means that you are testing 7 200 000 learners so that we can say, in each and every class, school and district, we are able to compare the ability of our learners and determine where indeed progress has been made. [Applause.] Massive change means that from here to there, there has been a 15 000 increase of in terms passing matric. Massive change means that in the past five years we have more than doubled the number of matric passes Massive change means that in the past five years more than 70 000 learners have indeed qualified for a bachelor's degree. [Applause.]
These are significant changes that we must say we have made together. That does not detract from the reality that our challenges in the country are enormous. That does not detract from the reality that indeed we have to instil greater discipline. That does not detract from the reality that as a collective across all political party lines, parents and society, we have to recognise that the challenge of education is so huge that we have to pull together indeed to make a difference.
What is it that we should do? What is it that we believe we have done right? The hon Lovemore should do what a curriculum implementer does. She should look at the delivery agreement. What are the key issues that we set out in the delivery agreement? That is an agreement that was signed between the Minister and the President to which we and the MECs of education are all bound. That agreement says, firstly, that early childhood development is at the centre of a successful programme in education.
Today we can celebrate the fact that approximately 90% of our learners, some 880 000 learners, are in Grade R and have received at least one year of formal training. Today we can celebrate the fact that every child that goes to Grade R receives a workbook on literacy and numeracy free of charge from this particular government. [Applause.] This never happened before, not in the past 50 years. [Applause.]
Today we can celebrate the fact that the Department of Social Development is going to embark on a One Thousand Days campaign so that the child, from birth to three years of age, receives important cognitive, emotional, educational health support. That means that ECD is a reality in the lives of South African children.
What is the second point? The second point is accountability. We said that we cannot have a system and make massive changes unless there is accountability amongst educators, the principal of the school and the district. Every quarter of every year this Ministry meets with every district director across the country to determine what the challenges are, learn from each other, and determine the path for the future. This has contributed to a consistent improvement in the achievement of our learners across the system and that is indeed the reality.
In the schools that we visited we discovered that indeed for the first time, subject advisers were visiting schools. The district directors were indeed recognising their roles and responsibilities. Look at where the Free State was and why it has improved. It has done so because it recognises the importance of districts. It recognises that everybody has to play a particular role. We cannot pretend that these changes are not realities. We cannot pretend that when we go to the Eastern Cape that new schools are being built.
We recognise and affirm the fact that there are huge challenges in relation to sanitation and electricity, but let us not be blind to the fact that changes are indeed taking place in our country. I think one can only say that those who are parochial, those who do not want to see something positive, those who want to demotivate our children and instil in them the belief that they can never be successful are those who stand on podiums and say nothing has changed, the past was better than the future.
Who amongst you went to school in Grade 1 and received four books? Not one amongst you! [Applause.] You received an exercise book and an exercise was written on the chalkboard. But, today every child receives it and then you say, "our children do not receive books". Those are the realities. You are the product of apartheid education and some of us have gained from it. There are those on the right, others still remain on the left. That is the reality of apartheid.
Hon members, let us recognise one thing, that education itself ... [Interjections.] oh please, could I say in a kind and polite way, shut up, you make no sense! You can object if you want to. I am telling you to shut up! Hon Chairperson, I do not wish to take any questions. [Interjections.]