Hon Chair, hon Deputy Minister and hon members, children are the future of our beloved country and it is our duty to show them how to dream towards it and make them experience their dreams coming true. It all starts by growing up in a healthy environment where children can have a sense of belonging and feeling safe.
The power of education to transform societies cannot be underestimated. Education breaks the generational cycles of poverty and disease and it is the key to national development and prosperity. Quality education equips and empowers boys and girls with the knowledge and skills needed to lead healthy lives, protect themselves against HIV and shape the course of communities. Girls in particular benefit tremendously from having their right against gender-based discrimination asserted and can then take charge of their lives.
South Africa has the ability to transform its education sector into one of the continent's best. The groundwork has been done. South Africa adopted an approach of education for all and development and informed initiatives towards these goals are integrated in national strategic plans, policies and programmes. As custodians, it is our duty to see to it that these are followed through on so that our children can reap the benefits.
Education is definitely one of the highest national priorities. As a result children's access to basic education is extensive and most children stay in school at least to the end of the primary-school phase. The education of girls is one of the main achievements of the postapartheid education system, with boys and girls enrolling in school in almost equal numbers.
Educational opportunities for children from previously disadvantaged backgrounds are now considerably better than before. While South Africa is very close to achieving the Millennium Development Goals of universal primary education and gender equality in education, the education system still struggles to deliver quality education. The failure of government to achieve this national priority is actually alarming.
Many children experience a broken journey through school. Their school careers are interrupted by irregular attendance, absent teachers, teenage pregnancy and school-related abuse and violence. High levels of poverty continue to deny thousands of children access to quality education.
Another problem is the limited provision of preschool and special education. The majority of children between birth and four years do not have access to quality early childhood care and learning. The poverty rate in South Africa is the highest among children from newborn to the age of four years, becoming slightly lower from the age of 5 and older. This is perhaps because older children are able to contribute more to the family through working than younger children are capable of doing.
Poverty means more than just the lack of money. The poverty that these children live in affects their access to school and health care and their chance of growing up in an environment that could possibly help them break free from poverty. Most children in South Africa who are living in poverty are malnourished from birth. The lack of nutritious food affects the physical and mental growth and development of children as well as their overall health.
The lack of access to clean water and adequate sanitation methods leads to health problems among these groups. Diseases are spread quickly and easily when they are caught, especially among children in South Africa. Communities have been torn apart by HIV/Aids, leaving young children without proper care and protection. Parents become ill and are unable to work and help their family. Special medicines and the diet needed by HIV- infected parents may be costly and difficult to get. This added stress on a family leads to depression and further illness as immune systems are lowered.
A study of the impact the global economic recession has had on children indicated that poverty remained high at 65,5%, compared to 52% of other countries with children. Because of poverty, child labour has crept into communities. Child labour deprives children of their childhood, potential and dignity. Commercial sexual exploitation is one of the most hazardous forms of child labour. Child labour should be eliminated and employers of such children should be dealt with harshly.
Child abuse and the rape and murder of children is currently reaching alarming figures and the culprits of these actions should be brought to book as they have no place in a democratic society. If we look only at the past two months, the murder and rape of children were on the front pages of all the newspapers. A schoolgirl was kidnapped at gunpoint as she walked to school. Her burnt body was found on a farm in Magaliesburg. Two weeks ago, a three-year-old boy's butchered body was found stuffed into a suitcase at the neighbour's house in Gugulethu in the Western Cape. Just over a month ago, two sisters, aged eight and 12, were stabbed and raped in Khayelitsha. The younger girl died from her injuries. These are only a few examples of horrifying images stuck in my mind of innocent children who had their lives ahead of them.
Let's take the first step by protecting our children and by educating them so that their dreams can come true.