Their schools will never make the Sunday Times best schools survey, because they do not do what they do for any fame and recognition. They do it for the children of this land. They do it for our country. On a day like this one, it is very fitting for us as a na tion to thank these teachers, these men, and perhaps mostly women, who are our source of hope for the future. More often than not their efforts are buried in our expression of disdain for what other teachers do, and we end up not recognising them.
Today is their day.
I as Minister of Education, have prioritised the alleviation of their plight by prioritising the need to end the conditions of physical degradation in South African schools, as part of my nine priorities. We cannot countenance a situation where such dehuma nising situations continue unattended in our country. I am pledge to all those teachers who teach under such conditions, that I will not rest until their conditions are changed. The government will do everything possible to accelerate change in their schoo ls, and to restore some sense of dignity in them, by making sure that their schools have water and sanitation, to say the least. Which brings me to this question of dignity, and the status of teachers.