Mohl Modulasetulo, mohl Tona ya t?a Thuto ya Motheo, mohl Motlat?a Tona wa t?a Thuto ya Motheo, lefapha la thuto go t?wa diprofenseng, ba mphato e lego maloko a hlomphegago le baeng ba kgole le kgauswi, ke a le dumedi?a.
Ka Sepedi re re, kgole ke mo re t?wago, kgauswi ke mo re yago. Tsela ya thuto e nale mohlala, moo mmu?o wo o bu?ago wa go etwa pele ke ANC, o ka ipethago magetla wa re ke there?o. Le ge go ka ba le mo go sa nago le go ?alela morago, fela re re lesedi le a bonagala. Le bona bagadit?ong ba ba leng ka letsogong le, ba a le bona lesedi le bona.
Ge re gopola morago ka thuto ya kgatelelo, go be go sa kgonagale gore thuto ya dipalo le ya mahlale di rutwe bana ba batho ba baso. Ba be ba rutwa thuto yeo e sego ya maleba ebile e le ya maemo a fase. Seo se ile sa dira gore bana ba batho baso ba ?alele morago, ba seke ba itshepha, fela e se gore ba a palelwa, lebaka e be e le mmu?o wo o bego o le gona ka nako yeo. Thuto ya dipalo le ya mahlale di be di diret?we batho ba bohlale, e lego ba mmala fela. Sepedi se re, t?hiwana e sa hwego e leta monono.
A re lebogeng mmu?o wo o etilwego pele ke mokgatlo wo o bu?ago wa ANC ka lebaka la gore re re mma o tlile, tlala...ke t?haba go rogana ka Sepedi! (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[Ms A C MASHISHI: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister of Basic Education, hon Deputy Minister of Basic Education, provincial education departments, hon members and distinguished guests, I greet you all.
There is progress with regard to education in our country and the ANC-led government can attest to this by patting their shoulders. Even if there might be backlogs here and there, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Members of opposition parties can also confirm this.
During the apartheid era black students were denied the opportunity to learn maths and science in schools and they were only exposed to a low quality education. This led to lack of confidence in black students and their lagging behind as compared to their white counterparts. Quality education was meant for white students only. We should be grateful to the ANC-led government that makes quality education accessible to all the people.] We applaud the department for focusing on Grade R as a crucial preparatory period for a child's time in school. Participation in Grade R is thought to be a crucial determinant of success in the first years of primary school.
We also applaud the Department of Education for engaging Statistics SA in making more precise the collection of household data on Grade R and ECD participation in general. Our education system has the resources to assist those children in crches and preschools so that when the time comes for them to go to school, they will be well equipped.
This government has made education not only accessible but of quality ...
... go na le bothata? [... is there any problem?] ... we need to applaud President J G Zuma, who made education a number-one priority in his call for action. This is how things happen: you take one step, and then things go differently.
The department has started distributing literacy and numeracy workbooks in schools, especially for Grades R to 6, where schools will focus largely on preparing learners in Grades R to 6 for annual assessments. All schools will use the same textbook that our government is working on.
Re hlohlolet?a batswadi go ba karolo ya thuto ya bana ka go hlokomela me?omo ya bana ba bona. [We encourage parents to get involved in the education of their children by helping them with their school work.]
We applaud the department for its plans to support Dinaledi schools. The Department of Education, in collaboration with the interprovincial committee for maths, science and technology, developed a plan to support schools.
We also applaud the department for this initiative in that 23 of the 49 Dinaledi schools, overall, achieved a pass rate below 60% in the 2008 national senior certificate examinations. These schools were visited by subject specialists of the Department of Education as part of the programme of support for underperforming schools.
In 2009, the Department of Education set out to train mathematics and science teachers in Dinaledi schools on subject content. That is the effort that our government goes to, because education is of key importance to this government. We must see all parties singing the same song. As South Africans, together we can do more in education.
As the ANC, we support the Budget Vote. Ke a leboga. [I thank you.]