‘Honour teachers who kept freedom’s flame alive’

TRIBUTE:  President Cyril Ramaphosa pays tribute to educators who stood firm against apartheid repression and calls for safer schools, stronger support and renewed respect for the teaching profession…

By Monk Nkomo

South  Africans must always remember the teachers who provided guidance, knowledge and leadership during times of repression and instability in the country, according to President  Cyril Ramaphosa.

Addressing the 26th National Teaching Awards in Ekurhuleni this week, Ramaphosa said the nation must also remember the teachers who were imprisoned, tortured, banned, exiled or killed for their role in the struggle for liberation. ‘’ They understood that teaching was never only about what happened in a textbook.

Constrained by the injustice of Bantu Education, and often themselves subjected to repression, many teachers became sources of strength and wisdom to young people. They kept the flame of learning alive in dark times.

Ramaphosa also called on South Africans not to forget the struggle by the students in 1976 against Bantu Education. ‘’ We rightly honour the courage of the young people who took to the streets to reject an education system designed to diminish their humanity and limit their future.’’

 The National Teaching Awards  to honour educators who had devoted many years of their lives to the development of South  Africa’s children and communities, was launched by Prof. Kader Asmal, who was Minister of Education. Asmal believed in education as an instrument of social transformation.

Ramaphosa said if the country wanted better educational outcomes, it must invest in better teaching. Teaching must be restored to its rightful place as one of the most respected professions in our society.

‘’ We must address overcrowding, protect teaching  time and act firmly against violence , intimidation and disruption in our schools. We must create the conditions in which teachers are able to do what they entered the profession to do : to teach. Teachers cannot be expected to overcome every weakness in the education system on their own. Government must provide safe and suitable school infrastructure.’’   

Ramaphosa  said this was the moment when the whole country should turn its attention to the classroom and declared that we honoured those who teach.

These awards showed that excellence was found across every phase of education, across different subjects and in schools serving vastly different communities. They showed that excellence could  be found in a rural school with limited resources, in a township school confronting difficult social conditions and in a well-resourced urban school. It was the country’s  responsibility  to ensure that such excellence was recognised, supported and replicated.

According to Ramaphosa, no teacher succeeded alone. Behind every excellent classroom was a principal who protected teaching time, a district official who provided meaningful support, a province that delivered learning materials on time and families and communities that ensured that children attended school at an early age.

He also called on government officials to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens, strengthen professional development and ensure that teachers received the support they needed throughout their careers. Teachers were central to the transformation of the education system and to the development of the country .

The President recognised the more than 133 teachers who participated in the national adjudication process in Gauteng earlier this month. He congratulated all the finalists and all those who received   awards.

Teachers, parents, relatives, religious leaders, traditional leaders and community elders must work together to raise a generation defined by mutual respect, tolerance and equality. For generations, teachers have been regarded as standard-bearers of integrity and development in our communities. The teachers of today must carry these values forward.

‘’They must prepare young people not merely to find their place in the world, but to change the world for the better’’.