In April this year the government introduced free primary health care for all. But that right will only become a reality if people can easily reach a clinic. The clinics being built will also have modern technology and they will operate around the clock. In the same way our goals in education require classrooms. A poor learning environment contributed to the shocking 8 per cent matric exemption rate in this province last year.
Most pupils have to study in shack classrooms and under trees.
That is one of apartheid legacies which we must correct. Those who will use the schools we are opening today will be pioneers of a new order. There is another legacy we must deal with. Because apartheid excluded most of our people from scientific, technical and managerial positions in the economy, they were also deprived of education in those spheres. As a result many of our graduates have skills in subjects which are not urgently required.