Chairperson and hon members, education is one of the most effective redress mechanisms available. Those with a good education are much better placed to escape the ravages of poverty than those without, and are better equipped to make a positive contribution to the advancement of society in all its fields of endeavour. Yet, in our country it is the children of the poor who bear the brunt of the weaknesses of our education system. Some of us have batted on that education wicket and can say with conviction that we, the adults, are failing our young. There is nothing wrong with our kids, but we as parents, teachers, officials and other drivers of the education system are failing them.
The recently released study by the UCT Children's Institute, called the South African Child Gauge 2008/2009, confirms what we have always known, that our kids at primary school cannot read, write and calculate. The Department of Education has conducted an assessment of its own and came out with more or less the same results. It has been said that, generally speaking, the ability of our kids in reading, calculating and comprehension is equal to that of kids two or three grades lower in other countries.
It is mostly the children of the poor who are underprepared for higher education or the world of work, making their escape from poverty even more difficult. Owing to this poor preparation, their dropout rate at universities is high, denying the country an adequate pipeline of skilled people. Our plea is for the two brand-new Ministers of Education to lead us in a collective charge to improve the education of our young. The education of our children is not something to fight about, but something over which we must all hold hands. In the classrooms and lecture rooms all over our country, we do not have DA, Azapo, ANC, Cope or IFP children. We just have our children. [Applause.] We just have our children who require our nurturing, and that educational nurturing is our collective responsibility. Thank you! [Applause.]