Hon Speaker, the achievement of quality education for all requires a renewed purpose and action from the Education department officials, school principals, teachers, learners, parents and communities. Government launched the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign in October 2008. Each of the role players - government, communities, civil society, business, media and other sectors - are called upon to make a commitment to a code for quality education, which describes the responsibilities required of them.
On 7 August, I met with the two Education Ministers, Premiers, MECs and more than 1 500 school principals from all provinces to share our vision and hear their views on how we can revitalise education and improve results. We agreed on certain non-negotiables.
Departmental officials are required to support schools and ensure that all teaching resources are provided on time. They should improve their own skills base to better assist schools and regularly monitor teacher and learner attendance and facilitate teacher development.
Teachers are required to be on time, be well prepared for all their lessons, teach for at least seven hours every school day and improve their own skills and knowledge. Learners are required to attend school regularly, work hard in school, respect their teachers and adhere to the rules of their school. Parents are required to support schools and educators and also create a conducive home environment for their children to study.
The community is required to ensure that every school-going child is in school and that schools are not vandalised. They are also supposed to report problems in schools to relevant authorities. They must also ensure that all role players carry out their responsibilities and that co- ordinating structures are being set up at national, provincial and regional levels.
We recognise that the improvement of learning and teaching has to be accompanied by strong support mechanisms and performance monitoring with clearly stipulated outcomes. The Ministry in the Presidency responsible for performance monitoring and evaluation, together with the Department of Basic Education, is developing a set of performance measures. These will form the basis of performance agreements between the President, the Minister of Basic Education and the respective MECs.
The performance agreement will ensure that non-negotiables relating to the department are catered for. For example, the department will develop an integrated plan to ensure that all schools have the necessary resources. Government will intensify efforts to ensure that all schools have safe and supportive environments for all children. We urge all hon members to support us in this campaign to make education an apex priority for our country. I thank you. [Applause.]