Statement by the Western Cape Education Minister, André Gaum

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) will present awards tot he province's top teachers at a gala function in Somerset West, Cape Town, tonight (Friday, 26 September 2003).

The provincial awards form part of a national initiative to acknowledge excellence in teaching, through the National Teaching Awards.

Over the past few months, the WCED has arranged regional competitions throughout the province, which will culminate in tonight's event, to announce the names of the Western Cape's top teachers.

The department will then forward these names to the national Department of Education for the national competition.

While honouring teachers who have excelled beyond the call of duty, national and provincial departments of education are also using the competition to draw attention to the hard work and dedication of all teachers in our schools.

The key aims of the awards are to:

• Recognise and promote excellence in the teaching profession;
• Honour dedicated, creative and effective teachers and schools;
• Encourage best practice in schools; and
• Afford South Africans the opportunity of publicly thanking our excellent teaches and teaching teams.

The WCED will present awards tonight in seven categories, namely:

• Excellence in Early Childhood Development
• Excellence in Primary School Teaching
• Excellence in Secondary School Teaching
• Excellence in Leadership at the Primary Level
• Excellence in Leadership at the Secondary Level
• Excellence in Special Needs Teaching
• A Lifetime Achievement Award

Peers or other stakeholders at the school, for example, governing body members, nominated the educators. The WCED received over 300 nominations.

There were two rounds of adjudication before the provincial winner was selected - a regional and provincial panel adjudicated.

Each panel consisted of departmental officials (Circuit Managers, Curriculum Advisors and Administrative Heads), union officials, and a representative from a governing body or community figure where possible. Instruments used to assess candidates were the nomination form (motivation from the Principal/Peer/Governing Body Representative), and a school visit from the panel.

Panel members interviewed the educators, and interacted with learners where this was considered necessary.