INTRODUCTION
Education is the basic right of every human being, as it is essential for holistic growth and success. Globally, there are millions of children who are unable to receive a quality education. Knowing the seriousness and gravity of education, the United Nations General Assembly declared an International Day of Education every 24th January. The main idea of observing the International Day of Education is to promote the importance of education in building a positive character of a human being.
This day is celebrated worldwide by multiple organizations, institutes, industries, and other professional sectors. It helps raise awareness about the positive impact of education and its power to transform society optimistically. Moreover, this day put an emphasis on the revolutionary force of education in eliminating the social gaps among nations.
The Importance of Education: National & Provincial Perspectives
Chapter 9: Improving education, innovation and Training National Development Plan (NDP), Vision 2030 envisages a vision for education and training to ensure that all children have the benefit of a high-quality education, especially with regards to language, maths and science; with the ultimate goal of ensuring that 90% of learners pass these subjects with at least 50% by 2030. The NDP reiterates that education is the bedrock on which our beautiful nation must depend to supply opportunities for social mobility, equity and social justice for its citizens. This ideal is in harmony with the 4th Strategic Development Goal of the United Nations Development Agenda 2030.
At Provincial level, these goals can be accomplished by bringing together respective government departments, businesses, media, institutions of higher education, and local NGOs to improve the lives of the citizens by the year 2030.
The mission of the Free State Department of Education is to provide an education system that is free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children of the Free State Province. The DoE’s Strategic Objectives are:
– Promotion of sound corporate governance through sustainable use of resources to provide overall management to the Department, support and related services to educational institutions, and subsidy to independent schools in line with norms and standards.
– Provision of effective and accessible quality basic education to provide effective teaching and learning to all children/learners for Grade 1 – 12.
– Access to quality education for learners with special needs,
– Expansion and universalisation of Grade R;
Provision of relevant and accessible Further Education and Training (FET) programmes to develop skills for economic growth and development, and quality education for adults and out-of-school youth.
As a diverse collection of stakeholders, all of us have a significant role to play in accomplishing the goal of High-Quality Education for 90% of children in the Free State by 2030.