WATCH | Ramaphosa urges SA to prioritise early childhood development

President Cyril Ramaphosa says government should have prioritised early childhood development 30 years ago when the ANC came into power.

Ramaphosa was addressing education leaders at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni, during the Basic Education Sector Lekgotla, on Thursday. 

"We should have understood what Bantu Education or apartheid education did to the people of this country, and we should have immediately decided to remedy that," he said.

“But 30 years ago, we were blindsided, and we should have realised that to get this country to be put on a much higher plane of development, we should have started with early childhood development then." 

Ramaphosa said the history-breaking matric pass rate achieved last year reinforces the commitment to developing the nation's valuable resource – the youth. 

“This achievement shows that we are in the steadying of undoing apartheid's legacy of intergenerational poverty, disadvantage, lack of opportunity and indignity,” he said. 

“These impressive outcomes stand in stark contrast to what we see in the early years of education. We are all aware of the 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study in education.”

The study found that grade 4 learners in SA have low reading comprehension skills.

Ramaphosa said basic education is the foundation of an effective education system. 

“Basic education is the most crucial determinant of whether an education system succeeds, falls short, or fails. In this recent South Africa economic update, the World Bank singled out basic education as one of the three sectors with the greatest potential to drive inclusive growth and to transform South Africa into a high-income country,” he said.  

Ramaphosa also pointed to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, warning that many traditional jobs are disappearing.  

“At the top of the pyramid, the jobs that are growing fastest are in big data specialists, user interface engineers, data warehousing and renewable energy. At the bottom of the pyramid, jobs that are in decline include bank tellers, data entry clerks, cashiers and telemarketers. Many of these occupations are entry-level positions for young people entering the job market after school,” he said. 

He urged the sector to eliminate the stigma around vocational training with the growth of AI learning. 

“Vocational training should not be seen as just a fallback option for learners who have been identified as unlikely to obtain the marks needed for university entry. It should be seen as an attractive proposition for all learners,” he said. 

The president also emphasised the importance of teachers. 

“When parents give our educators their children, they expect that they will do the best that they can to make sure that those children are well educated. It is your responsibility as an educator to make sure that you get that child to be the best that they can be,” he said. 

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