South African education must impart knowledge and the needed skills to students as part of the country’s economic recovery and reconstruction plans, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday.
Ramaphosa said this when he gave a keynote address to the 2021 Virtual Basic Education Conference from his Pretoria base on Thursday.
The annual Basic Education Ministry gathering is meant to address key challenges facing the sector and to set plans in line with the National Development Plan, and the government’s Medium-Term Strategic Framework, with the support of the State of the Nation Address he delivered weeks ago.
The president reminded the country’s educators that the future of this country was in the hands of the youth, and that this year’s gathering was about “equipping learners with knowledge and skills for a changing world.”
“Not only must we adapt to new ways of learning, but our curricula have to respond to the changes in the world of work,” Ramaphosa said.
He added: “In addition to having the right content, technologies and a safe learning environment, we also must ensure that our young people are grounded in ethos of learning and industry.”
Ramaphosa paid tribute to teachers who died as a result of Covid-19 pandemic, and congratulated students in the final high school class of 2020 for passing their exams with flying colours.
The president encouraged those who did pass the final exams this year to take advantage of the opportunities provided through the Second Chance Programme by writing the tests again this year.
NM/jn/APA