29 May 2008
Ladies and Gentleman
Today we launch the official provincial programme for Youth Month. June is a time when all the structures of government; civil society and young people come together to rededicate ourselves to making this province a better place for Youth. It is a time when we focus our attention on tacking stock of the progress we have made and rededicate our energies to tackling the complex and challenging issue of promoting the development of young people.
It is also a time when we remember and pay tribute to the important role young people have played in the struggle for our democracy . We salute those who lead the Defiance Campaigns of the 1950s and those who stood up to the might of the Apartheid Regime in 1976 with little more to defend them than their incredible courage and their strong sense of moral right. We come here to the Hector Petersen Memorial Site to remember their personal commitment and supreme sacrifice. We come here to promise that never again will our young have to carry the burden of leading a nation to freedom.
This does not mean that young people today are not faced by burdens and challenges. Perhaps the greatest of their challenges is summed up by the words of Jomo Kenyatta, first President of Kenya when he said:
"the vigour and the quality of a nation depends on its capacity to renew itself with each generation"
Inherent in Kenyatta's statement is the understanding that youth development is integral to the development of society as a whole and that society itself cannot progress without the active involvement of young people.
It is perhaps important then to note that Gauteng 's own Youth Commission will next month celebrate two years of its existence. Two years of consistent advocacy and activism to ensure that the provincial and local governments of Gauteng prioritise the needs and aspirations of young people. Looking back we can say with certainty that the Commission has come a long way since that Sunday morning two years ago when it first came into being. Through its constant struggle to ensure the mainstreaming of Youth Development and Economic Empowerment, the Gauteng Provincial Government has:
This year the Gauteng Provincial government is paying particular attention to confronting the challenge of assisting young people to effectively move from the world of education to the world of work. In this regard our approach is to ensure that young people have access to quality education that appropriately skills them for the labour market.
In his opening address to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in February 2008, Premier shilowa said that during this year provincial government will implement key initiatives to provide the educational foundations for the Gauteng City Region, including the GCR balanced curricula. This includes mandatory programmes and targets in gateway learning subjects, including financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
Maths, Science and Technology education will continue to be prioritized, with a public awareness campaign to encourage young people to pursue subject choices and careers in these and related areas. The number of Dinaledi schools were increased to 101 in 2007 as part of the emphasis on Maths, Science and Technology.
The Thuthuka Project implemented in 100 schools continues to stimulate interest in these subjects. Learners from schools in the Thuthuka Project have received bursaries to pursue engineering and accounting careers at various South African universities.
The 2007 matric results have shown that improvements do occur when under-performing schools receive support from government. Results in schools that were identified for hands-on support improved last year.
The Gauteng Education Department has committed itself in the year ahead, to provide support to those in the 2007 class that failed matric. A total of 51 centres are providing tuition to learners who will sit for their exams in May/June this. The phasing out of the old curriculum on a part-time basis will continue until 2011.
During 2008, we have also introduced a province-wide literacy programme in support of the national literacy strategy. The revised curriculum framework for Adult Basic Education and Training focuses on technical and vocational skills required in the economy.
The Provincial Government has also established a Gauteng Skills Partnership with representatives of organised business, Higher Education Institutions, labour and JIPSA to ensure effective collaboration to achieve our skills objectives.
In pursuit of our mission to skill Gauteng , we will continue to forge closer working relationships with Further Education and Training (FET) colleges, Sector Education and Training Agencies (SETAs), industry and government. Memoranda of understanding have been concluded with 19 of the 23 Setas to assist 46 000 FET students acquire the relevant skills.
Currently the provincial government awards bursaries worth R 6.581 million to 120 full time students and 368 part timers. To improve the availability of scarce skills in critical areas, we will this year pool our resources to establish a single province-wide bursary fund coordinated by the Global City Region Academy (GCRA). The fund will target 1500 learners in the 2008/9 financial year. Students pursuing studies in critical skills such as Information and Communication Technology, Science and Engineering are given preference.
While young people are equipping themselves with the skills they will need to take their rightful place in Gauteng 's economy it is also important to encourage them to become active citizens in our democracy. As we all know there will be an election in 2009 and voter registration will take place in November this year and January next year. The Independent Electoral Commission has estimated that there are as many as 2 million unregistered voters in this province, with substantial numbers falling into the under 25 years of age category. We therefore welcome the decision of the Gauteng Youth Commission to step up its programme to train young people on electoral processes, voter registration and the importance of elections in building participatory democracy in June this year.
Let me conclude by highlighting some of the provincial government events that will be hosted during youth month: on 11 June the Premier and all MECs will join the Youth Commission at six regional youth izimbizo that will take place in Soweto , Tembisa, Mogale city, Sebokeng, Winterveld and Rethabiseng. These izimbizo will allow young people to share their concerns with the Provincial Government and and allow the Provincial Government to share information on its key programmes to promote youth development. On the 16 June we will together with the City of Johannesburg host the Memorial Service at the Hector Petersen Site and move to the Johannesburg Stadium for the Youth Day Rally to be addressed by Premier Shilowa.
Thank you!