Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, the director-general and your administration, the department's entities and the public, warm greetings. Life is very interesting. People create chaos and when the situation is chaotic and you are addressing it, they later come back and parade a lack of understanding, and claim ignorance and innocence. [Applause.]
At times, when you have created a problem, you think you have an inherent knowledge of the solution. We led South Africa out of apartheid and we are focused on leading the way to a better life for all. We are accommodating the opposition as well in this regard. Together, we can do more.
It is always a rare privilege for one to be part of a debate on the budget of one of the most critical and prioritised departments. Education is key in our endeavours to redress the social, political and economic ills of the past. President Jacob Zuma has emphasised the vital role of the education system in improving productivity and competitiveness in the economy. Whereas significant progress has been made towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal on Universal Education regarding access to basic education, the government and the president of the ANC are mainly concerned about the quality and not just the quantity of our learners.
At this point in our history, more than ever before, we have a responsibility to raise the bar and ensure that we leave our country and its people the legacy of a solid and quality basic education. This must enable all young children in our country, despite their economic and social backgrounds, to have access to education and must ensure that we can improve their potential and opportunities for future development. It is against this background that the ruling party and the government of the day, the ANC, deliberately and consciously declared improved quality basic education as priority outcome number one.
It therefore requires of all of us to make an extraordinary effort so that this objective is realised for the benefit of all the children of our country, without discrimination. We cannot and must not fail to ensure that we harness our collective energies to deliver on this important assignment that the generation of young people today are giving to all of us who are in the business of the education of our children. We therefore welcome the developments that we have noted with the work of the Ministry of Basic Education to date.
It is important to acknowledge that despite the challenges that still exist, the system has begun to show signs of improvement. We applaud you for the development of the action plan to 2014, a sector plan that gives us clear targets and indicators by which we have to measure ourselves. It is in the spirit of this development that we recognise that basic education is showing signs of improvement.
We congratulate you, Minister, and the entire education sector on the achievements of the class of 2010 in the National Senior Certificate Examination. [Applause.] Many had wanted to distract us from celebrating this achievement, and we are happy that we have demonstrated that these learners have succeeded in obtaining the pass rate they did, having gone through the National Curriculum Statement. We therefore recognise curriculum as an important tool for quality education to our learners. In this regard we are reminded that the Grade 12 class of 2010 was the third cohort of learners to write the National Senior Certificate Examination after having gone through the National Curriculum Statement.
It is appropriate and proper that we must recognise the relevance of our curriculum to the demands of a developmental state, as anticipated by the ANC. We are therefore pleased to note that the National Curriculum Statement, or NCS, has been declared internationally comparable by studies carried out independently by Umalusi and the Independent Examinations Board. This demonstrates the high levels of quality that we seek to maintain for our children. We must always strive to ensure that our curriculum remains relevant and responsive in order that it can open up opportunities for better future prospects for our young children.
Despite the good report on the international comparability of our curriculum, we have noted a decline in the levels of literacy and numeracy among our young people. These have manifested themselves in the extent to which our young people have been unable to acquire appropriate levels of competencies in the foundational skills of learning. Although there could be numerous factors contributing to this process, we are pleased that the department has intervened decisively in this matter of the curriculum through the development of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement, which will be incrementally implemented in the Foundation Phase and Grade 10 in 2012.
It is our considered view that we must ensure that all preparatory processes are put in place in order that implementation will be smooth. The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement, or Caps, must be relevant for teaching in the classroom and responsive to the different contexts in which different schools in our country find themselves. We must make sure that Caps can take us closer to the realisation of an accessible curriculum for all teachers and learners for a skilled future generation.
Furthermore, we must ensure that we promote support in mathematics and science in order to contribute to addressing the shortages of skills that have been reported in this area, previously neglected by apartheid - I think you'll know. It is in this context that we must congratulate the department regarding the report on the Dinaledi schools to the extent that their contribution is valuable in addressing the skills development challenges of the country. We need to fight illiteracy on all fronts and with all the resources at our disposal.
We have noted the progress the department has made with regard to the Kha Ri Gude programme, especially as it relates to the number of learners that have access to the programme. It is our view that we should remain relevant and steadfast in mobilising our resources to ensure that we eliminate the levels of illiteracy, also among adults. What is also encouraging is that this programme is able to respond to job-creation initiatives, with currently over 39 000 volunteer educators, supervisors, co-ordinators and monitors.
The support for special needs education requires attention. Although there have been good developments in isolated cases, it is important that we move with speed and pay attention to special needs education. This will ensure that we provide access to education to all children of our country so that we can remain relevant and responsive. However, the report from the schools of skills around the country shows that the curriculum for learners with special needs in these schools is not responsive and learners are not given certificates when they complete their education.
Learners who are at these schools, who are not academically progressive, are still expected to do academic subjects as prerequisites to be registered at these schools. At some point these schools don't even have relevant learner-teacher support materials. The department has a lot to do in this regard.
Mutshamaxitulu, vana hinkwavo va tiko ra hina ra Afrika Dzonga va fanele ku nyikiwa dyondzo ya xiyimo xa le henhla. Dyondzo leyi nga ta va pfuna eka ku tilulamisela vumundzuku lebyinene; dyondzo leyi nga na ntikelo na nkoka. Va fanele ku kuma tidyondzo leti pfumalekaka, kambe ti ri leti lavekaka eka ku hluvukisa tiko ra hina na ku kurisa xiyimo xa ikhonomi. Tidyondzo leti nga ta endla leswaku va amukeleka hi ku olova etiyunivhesiti na le tikholichi leswaku va yisa emahlweni tidyondzo ta vona. (Translation of Xitsonga paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, all the children of our country are supposed to receive the best education. An education that will help them prepare for their future; an education that is of high quality and value. They must receive tuition in scarce subjects, especially those that are needed for the development of our country and for economic growth.
The subjects which will make them eligible for admission to universities and colleges to further their education.]
We hope that the department will use the budget allocation of R1,8 billion for this programme to further address the challenges around the curricula in our education system. The need for stable, coherent, responsive and relevant curricula cannot be overemphasised. The ANC supports the budget. [Applause.]