1. The Dikgale Development Youth Group (DDYG) chairperson John Masekoameng thanked the Department of Basic Education for inviting them to celebrate teachers at the Dimamo Circuit Teachers Excellent Awards. 2. He noted that while the 2014 national matric pass rate of 75.8% dropped from the previous year, this can be attributed to the introduction of the new curriculum. The class of 2014 is commended for their achievements. 3. Masekoameng emphasized the crucial role that teachers play in students' lives and encouraged teachers to work hard and go above and beyond to help students succeed, such as starting teaching earlier in the year, teaching on weekends, and ensuring the

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DIKGALE DEVELOPMENT YOUTH GROUP (DDYG)
NPORegistrationnumber:127-447
Presentation delivered by DDYG Chairperson, John Masekoameng at Dimamo Circuit
Teachers Excellent Awards
27 February 2015, Bana Ba Thari School ,
The Circuit Manager and the leadership of Dimamo Circuit,
Teachers from various schools
Learners from various schools
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Please allow me to greet you all. My name is John Masekoameng (Dikgale
Development Youth Group Chairperson). I am not alone; I am with Secretary General of
DDYG (James Matli).
On behalf of Dikgale Development Youth Group (DDYG), I wish to take this momentous
opportunity to thank the Department of Basic Education, Dimamo Circuit, for inviting our
organization to participate in this excellent and exceptional juncture- where we celebrate
the wonderful and sterling effort of our educators.
DDYG further wish to congratulate 403 874 (75. 8 percent) of our grade 12 learners who
passed their final examinations in 2014. While it’s true that 75.8 % national pass rate
represented a drop from 78.2 % achieved in 2013. We however recognize the fact that
2014 final examinations were written under the new Curriculum Policy Statement,
(CAPS) and it’s possible that a 2,4 percentage drop in the national pass rate can be
attributed to the introduction of the new carriculum.
Dikgale Development Youth Group (DDYG)
Reshaping the Youth

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We are encouraged as the youth organization that despite the implementation of CAPS
and its challenges, the class of 2014 made us proud with their wonderful achievements;
150 752 (28.3 %) of grade 12 learners managed to achieve Bachelor passes, while 166
689 (31.1 %) qualified to study for a diploma.
Turning attention to Limpopo Province, we further extend our words of gratitude to all
our 2014 grade 12 learners for their excellent performance. Fact of the matter is that
grade 12 results had increased significantly for the past twenty years. Just to share few
examples, in 1995, Matric results stood at 37.8 %; and ten years later in 2004, we
achieved 70.6 %; and in 2013 two decades later, we scored 71.8 %,: Last year the
grade 12 results were sitting at 72.9 % which indicates a positive trend.
Focusing on grade 12 performance of schools in Dimamo Circuit, we are encouraged by
63.8 % pass rate achievement in 2014. To the Circuit Manager, Mrs. Kgopa and the
entire leadership collective, to all the teachers, parents and everyone who contributed to
this great success, you are a great inspiration to all of us. You, indeed, fought a good
fight and ultimately you won the fight!! Keep it up!!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today I can collate and state Grade 12 pass rate statistics because someone has
played a very important role in my life-an educator. These (educators) are the most
important people that are forgotten to be recognized in many occasions, but I am glad
because today we are all gathered here to say thank you and keep it up!!!
No nation will ever succeed without a teacher, I am speaking in front of all of you today
because I believe that I could not have been where I am today if I did not meet a very
important person in my life-an educator. No one in this world will ever achieve a dream
of becoming a lawyer, Statistician, Pilot, a doctor, an engineer, or a nurse without a
teacher being involved and that shows how important you are as our educators. Keep it
up!!
One author once said that “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself”.
The words I have quoted represent the truth, and the truth is that teachers don’t only

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prepare our lives by educating us, every teacher is a life to every learner that receive a
teacher ‘s education. No teacher, No Life.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, we are gathered in this wonderful occasion under one theme, “to recognize the
excellence and outstanding contribution of teachers in enhancing the quality of
teaching”;
As Dikgale Development Youth Group, we congratulate all the men and women within
Dimamo Circuit who will be recipients of different awards categories this morning. We
are all proud of your achievements and we believe that you are a perfect and a powerful
example that should tell all of us that nothing in life was ever achieved without hard
work and sacrifice.
To all the teachers who will not have an opportunity to receive any award today- for as
long as you have put enough hard work and managed to improve the performance of
learners at your respective schools, you are a winner too; we can all be winners without
all of us being recipients of awards.
To all the teachers from the schools that did not perform very well in 2014, we are well
aware of the sad feeling of working very hard, and spending sleepless nights to prepare
lessons only to witness your own learners in the subjects you teach performing poorly in
their final examinations.
It is highly possible that they are some of the learners who may still not take their
education seriously, on top of this problem, we have some of the parents who have
distanced themselves from their children‘s education and only complain or blame
teachers when their own children performs poorly. As an organization, we commit that
we will do whatever it takes to encourage the youth to stay away from bad things that
distract them from their studies and to put their education first and above everything.
At the same time, all the teachers are expected to lead by example, no teacher should
wait for the principal to be reminded that it’s time to teach learners. We encourage all

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the teachers whose schools did not perform very well to learn from your mistakes and
never give up because of not achieving good results: push yourselves harder and
demand the same effort from the learners.
Evidence have showed that schools that performs very well don’t wait for official
opening of schools to start teaching, they open their schools in less than five days after
the beginning of the new year and start teaching straight away. We encourage all of
you as the teachers to do the same.
A teacher who always dream, talk, walk and think about achieving 100 % results will
give the best time to learners and remain after school and continue teaching for an
extra hour or two. A dedicated teacher will go beyond the call of duty and teach learners
on weekends, and during schools holidays.
A teacher committing to excellence knows that hard work is the mother of success and
it’s possible that a yearly syllabus can be concluded in five or six months before the final
examinations. Today we are asking all of you to be such a teacher.
There are children who come from poor backgrounds and their families have high hopes
on them to go to school, get educated and find a job that pays a good salary so that
they can look after their families, and it’s the responsibility of a teacher to give such a
child a good education the parents expect.
Again we are pleading to all of you all of you as teachers to dedicate yourselves more
than it is required and make sure that the words once said by President Nelson
Mandela that “Education is the engine of personal development, and its it is trough
education that a daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a son of a mine
worker can become the head the mine, that a child of a farm worker can become the
president of a great nation” can be realized. As teachers you are the life changers, and
a lot is expected from all of you.
Finally, on behalf of all DDYG members, I wish all the schools in Dimamo Circuit a very
successful 2015 academic year; to the Circuit Manager, as an organization we are

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highly inspired by the quality of your leadership and wish you all the sufficient strength
and wisdom to succeed in your job. As DDYG we fully support you.
To all our wonderful teachers and principals gathered at this important occasion; 63.8
%, was achieved in 2014, this year we challenge all of you to achieve 70 % or more in
and I am issuing this challenge fully aware that all of you are all hard workers and have
what it takes to achieve and succeed. Malcolrn X once said that “Education is our
passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today”.
Thank you very much and God bless you all.
Ke a leboga!!!