South African History Online

Speech by President Mandela on receiving an honorary doctoral degree from the University of South Australia at a graduation ceremony at Fort Hare University

University of Fort Hare, 23 April 1998

Chancellors;
Vice-Chancellors;
Distinguished Members of the two
participating universities;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen,

A central function of universities is to innovate, and I can testify to the
inventiveness of these institutions when it comes to awarding honorary
doctorates!

On one occasion in the United Kingdom eight universities came together to
award as many honorary doctorates at one ceremony held in a garden.

Here today continents combine and come together as the University of South
Australia temporarily migrates to the lovely hamlet of Alice to award an
honorary doctorate.

I greatly appreciate the gesture which the University of South Australia has
made in having its senior officers travel so far to confer this award at the
University of Fort Hare, where I began my university studies.

I am also gratified to know that this long journey is undertaken within a
broader framework of co-operation between the two institutions, dating from
1995.

That is important because it means that this award, which I know is a tribute
not to me personally but to the people of South Africa as a whole, is thereby
associated with a practical bond between our people and the people of Australia.

We greatly value this joint effort to develop distance learning programmes to
upgrade the qualifications of South African teachers, especially in science and
technology, mathematics and language instruction.

If the world has become a global village, we see here the best of that new
form of proximity, in international contact and cooperation to meet the needs of
local communities.

Through this interaction and linkage the two universities can only draw
mutual benefit, each enriching the other with its specific experience and
insights. And we know that the South African educational community is crucially
served by this cooperative project.

The South African university system, like most other sets of institutions in
our changing society, grapples with the redefining of roles and functions. Our
nation's learned, the ranks of which people like myself can join only through
the kindness of honorary awards, will most surely deal adequately with these
questions.

They do not need the prescripts of a state president. I am of the view,
though that the more rurally based universities, in particular, could do well to
seek their niche in responding to clearly defined regional developmental needs.

The association between the University of South Australia and the University
of Fort Hare addresses itself exactly to such local needs.

Our government has passed the enabling legislation to transform our
educational system. It has introduced innovative new curricular reform.

But we are keenly aware that successful implementation of these initiatives
depends on a skilled and dedicated teaching service. This critical phase of
implementation requires teacher re-education. And that, as we understand it, is
what this project sets out to do.

Our concern as a government turns increasingly towards the quality of service
we deliver. We are busy broadening access to services; and now we need also to
insistently enquire whether we are providing services that are appropriate and
of an appropriate quality. We must build the human resource capacity to render
such quality service.

This in-service training through distance learning is an imaginative way of
addressing deficiencies in capacity. Many, if not most, of our teachers in
schools serving rural black communities are under-qualified. This is true in
particular of the subjects targeted by this programme.

A central feature in the reconstruction and development of our society, is
the emphasis on partnership. This project to upgrade teachers and re-educate
teacher educators, is a sterling example of partnership, involving not only the
two universities, but also the provincial Department of Education, the teachers'
unions and various non-governmental organisations.

It is no secret that this Province, because of the burden of apartheid's
legacy, has been beset by some serious problems. Many solutions have been
prescribed, but ultimately the required improvement must come through the
resolve and commitment of its people and institutions. The co-operation of
various sectors in this project will determine how soon the Province can start
prospering. The Eastern Cape is so rich in its traditions and in its
contribution to the liberation of our country, that its people certainly deserve
no less than the best the country can offer.

The University of Fort Hare occupies a central role in that history, and
bears a crucial responsibility in the Province's reconstruction and development.
It is incumbent on all the constituent sectors of the university to contribute
to making it the quality institution it can and should be. We must rebuild Fort
Hare so that it can take place of pride besides the world's leading institutions
of higher learning.

Institutions like Fort Hare educate students from families who were most
marginalised in the past. Precisely because of their educational and economic
disadvantage, they require the best facilities to improve their lot. We cannot,
however, afford or tolerate a situation in which, while we are pouring the
country's resources into the improvement of facilities, some others become
involved in destroying or abusing these very facilities.

We understand the plight of our children and youth. We have dedicated our
lives to the struggle for justice, freedom and equality so that our children and
youth may enjoy a life of equal opportunity. Education is an important beginning
for all people in their quest for self-fulfillment and the realisation of their
productive and creative potential.

I wish to make an earnest appeal to the children and youth of our nation for
discipline, diligence and dedication. A sound educational system, like a nation
is not built overnight. We should all take care not to let impatient actions set
the process back still further.

Ladies and gentlemen;

We wish the University of South Australia and the University of Fort Hare an
especially productive partnership for the benefit of our respective peoples.

I am grateful that the honour which you have bestowed on the people of our
country, through me, is in the form of a link in a mutually rewarding
partnership between our two esteemed institutions.

Long may it contribute to the building of our nation!

I thank you!

Issued by: SA Communication Service