1. 1 Presentation to the Portfolio Committee Meeting: Department of Education Directorate International Relations April 2003

2. 2 Overview of Presentation Introduction South Africa’s Foreign Policy Overview and Functions of the Directorate 1. Educational Diplomacy Agreements Joint Commissions UNESCO

3. 3 Overview of Presentation Global Development Goals Inter-African Cooperation SADC 2. Overseas Development Assistance Conclusion

4. 4 Introduction South Africa's readmission into the international community in 1994. The Department of Education is committed to genuine partnerships. In delivering on our programme we seek to balance the domestic agenda with good citizenship abroad.

5. 5 South Africa’s Foreign Policy The holistic vision of the African Renaissance which is aimed at promoting peace, prosperity, democracy, sustainable development, progressive leadership and good governance provides the vision of the South African Foreign Policy The Department views its international relations as an important means of sharing ideas, learning from the experiences of other countries and enlisting the support needed to speed up the process of transformation.

6. 6 DOE and SA Foreign Policy As our foreign policy began taking effect, the Department became inundated with offers of requests for educational cooperation with South Africa.

7. 7 Overview and Functions of Directorate Director, 4 Deputy Directors, 1 Assistant Director, 1Senior Administrative Officer, 1 Secretary The Directorate is charged with the task to coordinate, monitor and initiate international cooperation. In this instance, the directorate seeks to ensure that South Africa’s obligations in terms of the bilateral, multilateral agreements, instruments and conventions to which it is a party, are fulfilled.

8. 8 Educational Diplomacy The Department is committed to mutual educational collaboration with both individual countries and multilateral organisations, to provide the DoE's policy makers with a global dimension, thereby ensuring that our policy makers have access to the best international practices, and also to share our experiences and expertise and ensure mutual learning.

9. 9 Agreements Each relationship and agreement is scrutinized to ensure alignment with Department's priorities by taking into account its human and financial implications. This is done to protect South Africa's educational interests and also to forge strong educational alliances. The Department has entered into 27 education collaboration agreements with foreign countries. Education cooperation Matrix

10. 10 Joint Commissions A joint commission is created essentially to stimulate and enhance sectoral cooperation and to facilitate people-to- people cooperation. South Africa actively pursues Bilateral Relations with various countries through structured Bilateral Relations. These include structured mechanisms with 14 countries in Africa, 6 with the Middle East, 16 with Europe, 4 with the Americas and 10 with Asia. The frequency of the structured meetings varies from once every two years to several during any particular year, depending on the nature of interaction and the Programme of Action.

11. 11 Joint Commissions The major aims of South Africa’s Binational Commissions with strategically selected foreign countries are - to promote the special bilateral relationship that has been identified and to support each other at the multilateral level; to identify the expertise which can contribute to the development of each country and to the larger development of the region and the continent by building bridges of cooperation at all levels; to build and expand the involvement of both the private sector and non-governmental institutions in strengthening the bilateral relationship leading to increase trade; and to increase awareness of each other’s country and to increase the education, social and cultural interaction between the people of the respective countries.

12. 12 UNESCO South Africa was readmitted as a member in 1994. A Memorandum of Understanding between South Africa and UNESCO was signed. Our membership, gives us access to all the expertise, information and publications in the fields of education, science, culture and communication.

13. 13 Global Development Goals World conferences organized by the United Nations in the first half of the 1990s gave rise to seven global Millennium development goals to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development. Two of which coincide with those set in Dakar: elimination of gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005 and enrolment of all children in primary school by 2015. In South Africa, there is no separate EFA plan and all education –strengthening initiatives are integrated into the national strategic plan for education

14. 14 Inter-African Cooperation The Department of Education has a two-pronged approach to cooperation with the African continent, namely: (i)Multilateral cooperation with the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and UNESCO; and (ii)Bilateral arrangements with countries in Africa.

15. 15 Inter-African Cooperation NEPAD Educational Goals include the following:  To work for the improvement in curriculum development, quality improvements and access to information and communication technologies  To expand access to secondary education and improve its relevance to Africa’s development  To promote networks of specialized research in higher education institutions

16. 16 SADC The SADC Protocol on Education and Training, signed by the SADC Heads of State on 8 September 1997, forms the framework and basis of all the human resources development in the region. The key areas of cooperation in the SADC Protocol are:  Policy for Education and Training  Basic Education: Primary and Secondary levels

17. 17 SADC Intermediate Education and Training Certificate and Diploma Levels (Includes Vocational Training) Higher Education and Training Research and Development Life-long Education and Training Publishing and Library Resources Restructuring of SADC

18. 18 Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) The management of ODA is complex, as all ODA agencies have their own requirements, procedures and preferences as to what they wish to support in education. The biggest donors are the EU, USAID, JAPAN, and DFID. ODA MATRIX Donors are no longer jostling each other at provincial level and are keener to complement each other in common programmes at both tiers of government.

19. 19 Conclusion South Africa’s experiences and expertise can contribute significantly to the international policy debates, but at the same time we have much to learn from the contributions of many other countries. In closing, the Directorate International Relations has identified several key priorities as captured in the Department of Education’s 2003 to 2005 Strategic Plan.

20. 20 Conclusion These include: Accessing ODA for priority educational projects and ensuring alignment of programmes and budgets Participation in Joint Commissions and sharing of experiences and development of system-to-system collaboration Integrate the work of the African Union within the Department and sharing South Africa’s best educational practices and expertise with African governments and regional organisations. Ensuring ongoing implementation of the objectives of NEPAD and the SADC Protocol on Education and Training