Hon Chairperson, thank you very much. It has been said that there are some, such as a drunkard who leans against a lamp post for support, while others go to the lamp post for enlightenment and illusion. So, one has to distinguish between those two. Comments that come from some quarters would be regarded in the appropriate way.
Hon Chairperson, what I am saying is that education is indeed an Apex Priority. It is the collective responsibility of all of us to ensure that we indeed make our contribution. The challenges, we will say, are enormous and indeed more has to be done. We take comfort in the fact that indeed there is a collaborative spirit between Sadtu and the department and we have to build on that. This is because we cannot sacrifice millions of our children at the altar of political expediency. I think all unions must recognise the fact that we have that particular responsibility. Overall, there has been recognition of that fact.
As we go to places such as the Free State and North West, which we will be visiting on Friday, we recognise that thousands upon thousands of Sadtu educators are working under difficult circumstances, are passionate about education, and indeed want to make a difference. We do believe that they, as a collective, have the responsibility to ensure that the few that seek to tarnish the image of the professional person indeed do not succeed.
Chairperson, at the heart of what we are doing is that we have to ensure that what occurs in the classroom is optimally for the benefit of the learner. It is called ``backward mapping''. It is called looking at the way real education and learning has to take place. We have established 114 teacher resource centres to ensure that in-service training, inset, and pre-service training and preset education take place; that content knowledge is being passed on; the workbooks that we are disseminating are being used productively by the educators; and the methodology is correct, especially in the foundation phase so that our children can indeed benefit from that particular exercise. This is not by accident. This is massive change. That means in every district in the country you would have a teacher resource centre, where there would be community practices of learning, and where unions would get together and ensure that, as a collective, they make a difference in the lives of our children.
Hon Chairperson and hon members, I am optimistic. I think we recognise our collective responsibility across political lines, of this particularly important Apex Priority. If indeed South Africa is to develop in the right direction, it means that we have to take the burden that we have imposed on ourselves as parents and adults to ensure that we provide whatever support we can to our rural learners in particular, but to our learners generally. It is us who must motivate and inspire them. If we fail to do so and diminish their belief in their ability, capacity and potential, then certainly we are betraying the future of these very children that we see and say we represent. I thank you most kindly. [Applause.]