Education Minister Kader Asmal defended his department’s education policies on Tuesday and praised the progress made since 1994, saying the extraordinary damage done by the apartheid education system should not be forgotten.
”By working together…we have come a long way in education,” he told a Cape Town Press Club luncheon.
”As we review our progress over the past five years ‒ and celebrate our 10 years of democracy and freedom — we need to remember the extraordinary damage that was done to us in the past by the previous educational system,” he said.
Christian national education — which was not Christian, national or truly educational — contributed to the militarisation and polarisation of society.
Bantu education, designed to ”cripple our people”, left lingering wounds, and all efforts had to be directed towards recovering from the damage done in the name of education, Asmal said.
The fact that the education priorities of five years ago remained priorities today should not be taken to mean that ”we have failed to meet these challenges”.
”It means that they were the right priorities.”
These areas defined the enduring challenges in creating and sustaining an efficient, effective, and quality education system to meet the needs of the people and open the future for society.
Asmal said his department was well aware of the challenges in scarce skills needed for social and economic development.
To meet this goal, it was necessary to increase the number of pupils passing grade 12 (matric) with maths and science, provide greater access to information and communication technology, and increase the number of students enrolling at further education and training colleges.
”We are seeing tangible improvements in that,” he said.
Turning to higher education, Asmal said the process of creating truly South African universities was well under way.
Now that the comprehensive national plan for higher education was in place, the department had taken on the challenge of implementing the plan in earnest.
This included taking to its logical conclusion the process of merging 36 institutions into 21 new institutions, and transforming academic programmes.
This year saw the establishment of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the new University of South Africa (Unisa), North-West University, and the Tshwane University of Technology.
”Reports from these new merged universities indicate that, although there have been challenges, the process of creating truly South African universities is well under way.
”Whoever is the next minister of education will be able to build on a solid foundation,” Asmal said. – Sapa