President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his State of the Nation Address (SoNA), said that access to quality education for all is the most powerful instrument to end poverty, announcing that the country will expand its vocational education and training system to produce the required skills through the implementation of the Three Stream Model. The President addressed citizens from the Cape Town City Hall on 9 February 2023.

The President emphasised the need to commence the education journey with Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes, providing children with the foundation they need to write and read for meaning. “The Department of Basic Education (DBE) is streamlining the requirements for ECD Centres to broaden support and enable thousands more to receive subsidies from Government,” he added.

The Class of 2022 were applauded for attaining a matric pass rate of 80.1%, with all provinces showing improved results. The share of bachelor passes in no-fee schools improved from 55% in 2019 to 64% in 2022. “There is a silent revolution taking place in our schools – the performance of learners from poorer schools is steadily improving.”

The Sanitation Appropriate for Education Initiative (SAFE), together with the Accelerated School Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) has built 55,000 appropriate toilets with resources from the public and private sectors to ensure the dignity and safety of our learners. In addition, schools must be safe and allow for effective learning and teaching. Violent crime takes a heavy toll on every South African citizen and the South African Police Service (SAPS) will be strengthened”.

“To build society to overcome the great difficulties of the moment, we need to work together. We need to stay the course. We need, as a nation, now more than ever, to reveal our true character. We need to work together and leave no-one behind,” the President concluded.