Chairperson of the NCOP, the Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, Minister and the Deputy Minister, government officials and members of the public in the gallery, hon members, I greet you all.
I rise here on behalf of the Eastern Cape government to support and affirm the Budget as outlined by the hon Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande. This Budget is in line with the election manifesto of the ANC and is a true reflection of the demands and aspirations of the people when we were interacting with them during our election campaign.
At a fundamental level, the social function of education and training is articulated by a Greek Philosopher, Plato, when he speaks of education as a means to achieve justice, both individual justice and social justice. These progressive ideals reaffirm the
notion of education and training as a social instrument of individual and social empowerment of the people.
The South African context reflects how education has been used as an instrument to perpetuate colonial and apartheid socio-political goals, which in the main were about entrenching a value system, which stands in direct opposition of liberation and self determination. In our case, this has resulted in an education, which is linked to discrimination and inequality, which saw the African majority as inferior beings to receive an inferior education.
The major interventions by the ANC-led government in the last 25 years, has revolved around increasing and broadening access and success for all South Africans through funding and expanding the Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Tvet, institutions. The outlined speech by the hon Minister has reaffirmed government's support through National Student Financial Aid Scheme of South Africa, NSFAS, and through social partners.
We must commemorate and celebrate the undying contribution of student leaders who have dedicated their time and energies fighting for quality and free education for all. Education in a progressive
context has been about how the people can reimagine and redefine themselves in relation to both the present and the future.
As Tata Nelson Mandela exclaimed and I quote:
It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.
I dedicate this speech to all the student activists from all generations who without seeking self-glorification have led student struggles and demanded free quality education, not just in monetary terms but also the transformation of the curriculum content.
The Budget Vote presented by the hon Minister reflects how far we have come and commitment in creating the higher education sector we want.
Amongst the crucial social ills that impact higher education is the scourge of gender based violence across our universities. Just last year, a student of Rhodes University named Khensani Maseko committed
suicide after reporting a case of being sexually assaulted by a fellow student, this is just but one out of the many tragic stories of gender based violence in our universities.
We must intensify our fight against gender based violence both in our institutions of higher learning and society in general. The fight of gender based violence can't be rhetoric. We need practical steps. As government, we must be concerned with the trend of suicide in our universities. It reflects the deep problem of social anxiety amongst our youth and society in general.
Amongst many of the problems in higher education is the problem of student accommodation. Our government must accelerate its efforts to in ensuring that universities have decent and affordable student housing.
There is still a huge impact on how resources are channelled to infrastructure development between the former privileged universities and former disadvantaged universities, in particular in the Eastern Cape Province.
In this regard, we must support the pronouncement by our government through the Minister of Higher Education of strengthening and
developing the Post-School Education and Training, PSET, sector by investing in infrastructure to provide quality teaching, learning, and research and innovation spaces. Equipments and teaching resources which includes a conducive student living and learning environment will also be prioritised.
We are faced with a challenge of a rapidly changing labour market because of the advancement in technology. The reality is that society and the global economy is rapidly changing and this means that the universities too must change how they teach and the curriculum content to keep up with the changes in the market.
The world is changing, and the new economy demands different skills set and our government through the state needs to drive development. This means that we must support the decision by our government to invest in the Tvet sector and the building of skill and innovation hubs to equip young people with skills that will be required by the digital economy, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, data analytics and robotics.
In response to the high levels of unemployment in South Africa, the Department of Higher Education and Training has introduced measures to stimulate entrepreneurship development at universities. Higher
education institutions are well-placed to catalyse entrepreneurship and innovation for the development of a new economy. A vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystem at universities in South Africa would, amongst others, encourage students to consider entrepreneurship as a career path.
The National Development Plan, NDP, acknowledges that the single most important investment any country can make is in its people. Education has intrinsic and instrumental value in creating societies that are best better able to respond to the challenges of the 21 century. This means that we need to work together and diligently in building the higher education and training sector we want. I thank you.