Statement by André Gaum, Western Cape Education Minister

I met yesterday (4 March, 2002) with leading members of the private sector to establish a formal private/public partnership to be known as the Western Cape Education Trust.

At the meeting, we approved the trust documents that will be submitted shortly to the Master of the Supreme Court for his approval.

The principle behind the trust is to co-ordinate private sector activities in education, with a view to preventing duplication and to consolidate efforts to improve our system.

The primary aim of the trust will be to provide a vehicle for appropriate public/private partnerships to improve the quality of education in public schooling. The trust will enable us to jointly identify priorities for action.

The Deed of Trust states that:

• Education is essential to offer people the opportunity of improving their quality of life;

• Opportunities exist to establish viable partnerships between the private and public sectors to promote the quality of education in the Western Cape;

• These partnerships include generating and receiving resources for education development in the Western Cape;

• There is a need to co-ordinate initiatives for education development in the Western Cape, and to establish an appropriate and effective process to achieve this;

• This includes co-operation between those contributing financially to this objective through an independent Trust, established as a vehicle to implement the partnership; and that

• There is a need to identify agreed priorities for education development in the province, in order to ensure that resources are targeted most effectively.

It is of paramount importance that we plough all available resources into meeting our considerable challenges in education.

I deeply appreciate the commitment that the trustees and other interested parties in the private sector are showing to improving the quality of education through their social responsibility programmes.

We must co-ordinate our efforts to ensure that we use resources committed to education as effectively and as efficiently as possible. The Western Cape Education Trust will provide an excellent vehicle for coordinating our efforts in this province.

The Acting Head of Education in the Western Cape, Mr Johan Fourie, will chair the trust until the appointment of the new Head of Education. On Monday (4 March, 2002), the trustees elected two Deputy Chairs, Mr Jeremy Ratcliffe of Cadbury, and Ms Lynn Campbell of the D G Murray Trust. I will also act as a trustee.

Those interested in participating in the work of the trust can contact Lorraine van der Horst at (021) 467-2365.

Media enquiries: André Gaum 082-772-6608.