Over the past twenty one years of freedom and democracy, as government we have made significant interventions aimed at improving access and the quality of education as well as our learning outcomes. I refer here to our no-fee school policy, our free school uniform programme, our school nutrition programme and many other interventions aimed at providing an equal opportunity to every child, regardless of their socio-economic background, to reach their potential. Currently in Gauteng, 60% of our schools are no-fee schools. We also provide more than 1 million learners from poor families with meals, scholar transport and uniform. Equally, we continue to make specific interventions aimed at improving the performance of our learners. These interventions include our internationally acclaimed Secondary School Improvement Programme targeting priority schools, mainly in our townships. We continue to make interventions aimed at strengthening the teaching and learning of Maths, Science and Technology as part of our ongoing endeavors to develop the kind of skills required by our modern and dynamic economy. This, we can say without fear of contradiction that we are making progress, gradually, step by step, to push back the legacy of apartheid education and to open the doors of learning and culture to all, as directed by the Freedom Charter, whose sixtieth anniversary we mark this year. While acknowledging the progress we are making, we are alive to the many challenges that still lie ahead. Part of our interventions to address some of the challenges we face include the emphasis we are placing on giving our learners a firm footing early on in their schooling careers. In this regard we continue to expand access to Grade R, to train our Grade R educators and to reduce the number of those who fail to reach and complete Grade 12. Our interventions to introduce technology and modernize the provision of education - our classrooms of the future initiatives, are aimed at strengthening the work already done to improve the quality of education we provide to our learners.
Over the past twenty one years of freedom and democracy, as government we have made significant interventions aimed at improving access and the quality of education as well as our learning outcomes. I refer here to our no-fee school policy, our free school uniform programme, our school nutrition programme and many other interventions aimed at providing an equal opportunity to every child, regardless of their socio-economic background, to reach their potential. Currently in Gauteng, 60% of our schools are no-fee schools. We also provide more than 1 million learners from poor families with meals, scholar transport and uniform. Equally, we continue to make specific interventions aimed at improving the performance of our learners. These interventions include our internationally acclaimed Secondary School Improvement Programme targeting priority schools, mainly in our townships. We continue to make interventions aimed at strengthening the teaching and learning of Maths, Science and Technology as part of our ongoing endeavors to develop the kind of skills required by our modern and dynamic economy. This, we can say without fear of contradiction that we are making progress, gradually, step by step, to push back the legacy of apartheid education and to open the doors of learning and culture to all, as directed by the Freedom Charter, whose sixtieth anniversary we mark this year. While acknowledging the progress we are making, we are alive to the many challenges that still lie ahead. Part of our interventions to address some of the challenges we face include the emphasis we are placing on giving our learners a firm footing early on in their schooling careers. In this regard we continue to expand access to Grade R, to train our Grade R educators and to reduce the number of those who fail to reach and complete Grade 12. Our interventions to introduce technology and modernize the provision of education - our classrooms of the future initiatives, are aimed at strengthening the work already done to improve the quality of education we provide to our learners.
Premier%20David%20Makhura's%20Address%20to%20Gauteng%20Children's%20Parliament.docx