ADDRESS BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE VINCENT TSHABALALA EDUCATION TRUST, PAUL MASHATILE, ON THE OCCASION OF THE TRUST’S ANNUAL BURSARY AWARDS CEREMONY; CENTRAL JOHANNESBURG COLLEGE
27 January 2015
Programme Director
Members of the Vincent Tshabalala family
Friends, Sponsors and partners of the Trust
Members of School Governing Bodies
Our principals and teachers
Our learners
Members of the Board of the Vincent Tshabalala Education Trust
The community of Alex
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Last year, in 2014, the Vincent Tshabalala Education Trust marked the historic milestone of its tenth birthday.
To us this was a significant moment!
Not only was it a moment of reflection on where we come from as a Trust; but also it was a moment to draw fresh inspiration and renew our dedication to the work of the Trust.
We marked our tenth birthday under the theme: “Promoting Community Solidarity and Dignity: One family at a time.”
Guided by this theme, we embarked on the following activities among others.
We collected and distributed underwear to one hundred and fifty children at Emfundisweni Primary school.
This follows the distribution in 2013 of school shoes in partnership with Wachizungu and the Put-foot Foundation.
In the spirit of Mandela Day, we launched Mandela Weekend from the 18th to 20th of July.
On that occasion as a Trust, our beneficiaries, our sponsors and friends we adopted ten child and granny headed families which we have committed to supporting until Mandela Day this year.
In addition, twenty families received groceries. Some homes were cleaned,repainted and plumbing as well as electrical work was done.
Through these acts of solidarity we were making our own contribution to restoring the dignity of members of our community.
Restoring the dignity of members of our community is at core of the work we continue to do as a Trust.
Programme Director, we emerge from our tenth birthday celebrations even more determined to ensuring that the Trust achieves the goals it has set for itself.
Now more than ever before we are resolute that the legacy of Comrade Vincent Tshabalala in whose honour we established the Trust shall never fade.
This is thelegacy of expanding access to quality education, thus ensuring that we open the doors of learning and culture to all.
This afternoon we are meeting, once again, to take forward the work of the Trust.
We are here to honour those of our learners and schools who have done us proud by excelling in their studies.
To those learners who sat for their Grade 12 examinations last year, today is a culmination of a journey that began about twelve years ago when you started school.
You will today be rewardedfor the hard work, the resilience, the dedication, and the tenacity you displayed throughout your schooling careers.
We are aware that many of you have had to overcome countless obstacles.
We know that your road to success has not been an easy one - you have had to beat many odds.
All of this makes today extra special for you. You can take a bow as we applaud you on your extraordinary achievements.
This day also belongs to the teachers, the parents, the school governing bodies and the community of Alexanda at large; all of whom have played a significant role in moulding our learners; ensuring that they achieve the level of success they have achieved in their studies.
As the ancient African proverb teaches us; “It takes a village to raise a child.”
We also know that when it comes to education, it takes the whole community to make a difference.Education is indeed a societal issue!
Programme Director, we note that the Matric Class of 2014’s total pass percentage is 70.3%, which is lower than the 83.4% achieved by the Class of 2013.
We however also note that a total of 1 144 learners sat for their matric exams last year compared to 736 learners in 2013.
Equally, the total number of students who passed is higher than that of the previous year.
While the percentage pass rate may have declined compared to the previous year, we wish to indicate that the Class of 2014 was the first cohort of matriculants to write their Grade 12 examination under the new Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS).
These leaners therefore have set a new (and we wish to add) decent, standard!
They have given us a new benchmark from which to measure future performances.
We wish to argue therefore that while there is much room for improvement, there is also a reason to celebrate the performance of the Matric Class of 2014!
Therefore, on this day as a Trust we wish to say; well done to all the bright starts of the Class of 2014 from Alex. You are the pride of our community!
A bright future beckons for all of you. The onus is now on you, through your continued hard work and dedication, to reach for the skies.
The bursaries we will be awarding to you this afternoon, we believe, are a worthy investment in you; our young people, our future.
These bursaries are our way as the community of Alex of saying continue doing the good work you are doing; continue making us proud; continue inspiring those that come after you.
We also take this opportunity to say to those of our learners who have not made it that; this is not the end of the world.
Do not despair.Yours is a temporary setback.
We wish to remind you that many great achievers in the world today have had to deal with setbacks at one point in their lives.
We urge you to hold your heads up and look to the future with confidence. Take your destiny into your hands. Your community needs.
Programme Director, we note that many in the Class of 2014 were born after the 1994 democratic breakthrough.
They are therefore among the first products of our democratic system of education in its entirety. This is the kind of education Comrade Vincent Tshabalala and many other brave martyrs like him paid the ultimate prize for.
Throughout their schooling journey, the Class of 2014, witnessed a number of significant government interventions aimed at improving access and the quality of education.
Many of them have benefitted from progressive and pro-poor policies of our government such as the no fee school policy, the free school uniform programme, the school nutrition programme and many other interventions.
In many ways the Class of 2014 are the beneficiaries of our maturing public education system.
Others especially here in Alex, have also benefitted from a number of direct interventions we have made as a Trust to enhance the culture of learning and teaching in our schools.
This work includes the refurbishment of schools, incentives for our educators as well as the work done by current beneficiaries of the Trust to conduct extra lessons to those that come after them.
We also know that for many years nowthe Vincent Tshabala Education Trust has become a major source of inspiration and a beacon of hope for learners in Alex.
Many of them aspire to become part of the Vincent Tshabalala Education Trust family.
The work done by the Trust encourages them to dream big in the knowledge that their dreams will come true. It constantly reminders them that regardless of where you come from your dreams are valid.
Programme Director, the performance of the Class of 2014, therefore, is a reflection of the progress we are making as various stakeholders working together with our government to expand access to quality education.
It is a reflection of the progress we are making as a collective, step by step, to open the doors of learning and culture to all, as directed by the Freedom Charter.
It is also a measure of the road we have travelled towardsthe kind of South Africa envisaged in the National Development Plan; “a country where opportunity is not determined by birth but by ability, education and hard work.”
We take this opportunity to thank all our partners, our sponsors as well as the friends of the Trust.
We appreciate your ongoing commitment to the work of the Trust.
Without all of your generous contributions as a Trust we would not have achieved all the things we have achieved.
We ask you to continue working with the Trust as we seek to touch, in a positive way, more and more learners from Alex.
Ladies and Gentlemen this occasion belongs to all those who contributed to the success of the Class of 2014; our learners, teachers, principals and their schools.
Once again, Kwabhekilanga is our best performing school in the Matric Class of 2014, with a total pass rate of 94.11%!
Kwabhekilanga was also the best performing school in 2013.
We congratulate them for their sustained good performance.We say to them to keep up your good work.
Second place goes to Alex High with an 83% pass rate.
Our third best performing school is Eastbank High with a total pass percentage of 69.2%.
This afternoon we will be awarding all our three best performing schools with prize money that will go towards renovating these schools.
Despite the fact that the prize money for school renovations is R 50 000, we have in the past done renovations far in excess of this amount based on the needs supplied to us by the schools.
Last year, with the help of our generous sponsors we did renovations in excess of R 90000 respectively to Kwabhekilanga and Alex Highwho were our best performing schools for 2013.
This work included the refurbishment of the staff room, the school kitchen, renovation of a science laboratory, repairs of ablutions facilities,broken windows and doorsas well as the supply of plasma television sets and coffee machines, among others.
Teachers at these schools also received a year’s supply of groceries.
We did all of these thingsas part of our ongoing commitment to improving teaching and learning conditions in our schools.
This year our schools recorded a total of 76 distinctions. We congratulate Minerva for achieving 30 distinctions, which is the highest number of distinctions.
The total number of bachelor passes is 237 and Alex High achieved the most number of bachelor passes at 68.
Like we have done in the past we will again this year be awarding prizes to the best performing Grade 10’s and 11’s.
We are doing this to motivate these learners and to show them that indeed hard work does pay.
We are encouraged with the pattern that is developing where our top Grad 10’s and 11’s also do well in Grade 12.
Programme Director, in order to ensure sustained improvements in our matric pass rate, as a Trust we are today making a commitment that we will continue to strengthen our interventions aimed at supporting those of our schools that are still struggling.
We will work with our educators, the learners and School Governing Bodies to see how best we can improve all round performance in our schools.
We will also draw lesson from those of our schools that do better on a sustained basis.
I take this opportunity to welcome all those who will be receiving bursaries this afternoon to the Vincent Tshabalala Education Trust family. This is a warm, supportive and loving family.
As a member of the Vincent Tshabalala Education Trust family you are an asset to your family and your community, now and in the future.
Congratulations to all of you!
We hope the Class of 2015 and all those that come after you will draw inspiration from your achievements.
Thank you!
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