This we did because Gauteng is a hub of talent and a sanctuary for dreamers from all over our country and continent. We are a province of ambitious, entrepreneurial and hard-working people who are driven by creative energy and the urge to make something out of nothing.

It is for this reason that as the ANC-led government we have been working together with the people to invest in skills, provide services, build and maintain infrastructure and institutions that empower citizens to take full charge of their lives and pursue their dreams, while contributing actively to the creation of a society underpinned by justice, equity and inclusion.

One of the core mandates of the fifth administration has been the Transformation, Modernisation and Re-industrialisation of the Gauteng City Region so that it can offer a better life for all. This is consistent with the overwhelming mandate that was bestowed on the ANC by the people of South Africa, during President Nelson Mandela’s tenure in 1994. This is the spirit that continues to drive Team Gauteng, to build a better life for all.

Education has been one of our key priorities to break the cycle of poverty and open much-needed opportunities for the youth of our province. It is for this reason that the ANC-led provincial government invested lots of resources towards education as a deliberate tool to dismantle Hendrik Verwoerd’s apartheid-designed schooling and human development patterns.

It is within this context that education, training and empowerment of the children and youth of our province remain the number one priority of the ANC-led provincial government in the effort to transform, modernise and re-industrialise Gauteng. Investing in people is the most decisive act of national development. It is through education that we can unleash creativity and cultivate the spirit of resilience among citizens.

Over the past 25 years of our watershed democratic breakthrough of 1994, Gauteng has transformed the once highly racialised and class-divided public education system, inherited from the heinous apartheid past, into a qualitatively improved system that offers a better education to all learners, including those from poor and working-class townships.

The ANC-led provincial government has made huge investments in the transformation, modernisation and expansion of educational infrastructure and human resources to cater for the growing population and meet the needs of the new economy and society in the digital age or Fourth Industrial Revolution. We have accelerated the introduction of pro-poor policies to increase school attendance and educational achievement among children from poor households. These include the provision of free school nutrition, uniforms and dignity packs.

Over the past five years alone, the ANC-led provincial government has provided 1.2 million learners with dignity packs; 1.1 million learners with free meals daily, and 500,000 learners with school uniforms. These are massive interventions in making sure that no learner or girl child drops out of school.

It is not by coincidence that Gauteng is now the best performing province with regards to national senior certificate results. Eight out of 10 best performing districts in the country are in Gauteng and all districts performed above 80%. To put the cherry on top, our golden province contributed the largest number of (43%) of bachelor passes nationally in 2018.

Much to the chagrin of the architects of grand apartheid, schools from poor and working-class areas have undergone significant transformation and modernisation, and are producing top performing learners in the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). This re-positions Gauteng as a pioneer in our country in gearing our education system for the future deployment of ICT to improve learning and teaching.

One of our biggest achievements is the continued rollout of schools of specialisation and re-opening of technical schools as part of preparing our children for the digital revolution. This will contribute significantly to the development of artisans and technicians who are in high demand in the economy.

During his State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa made a policy decision for our democratic and people-centred government to invest in early childhood development (ECD). This is a game changer that will have a far-reaching impact on the future of our children. Already, Gauteng is taking a lead in this revolutionary change. In the past four years alone, the ANC-led provincial government has increased access to ECD from 83,000 to more than 480,000 children.

In the words of United States civil rights activist and martyr Malcolm X, “education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today”.

We are proud, as the ANC-led government, that we have given the youth of Gauteng a passport to a prosperous future through education, and in line with our unflinching commitment and continued investment in education, a glorious future belongs to those scores of young people who are in schools and institutions of higher learning, eager and preparing for it today. DM