Launch of the Flags in Schools Project

In the spirit of building a non-racial South Africa, the Department of Arts and Culture and the Department of Education are jointly embarking on "Flags in Schools" project. The project involves supplying schools with a national flag. The Departments are currently doing an audit of the numbers of schools in the country with the national flag and flagpoles. Schools that do not have flags and flagpoles will be provided with such.

It is estimated that the four-year roll out of "The Flag In Every School" Project will cost between R4 to R8 million. But the ultimate budget for the project will also be determined by the needs of the schools after the audit.

The DoE has introduced the revised National Curriculum Statement (NCS) and the roll out of the new curriculum is near completion. Instruction about the national symbols is integral to the NCS. It is expected that by the time they reach the Senior Phase, all learners will be familiar with all aspects of the national symbols.

In popularising the national flag and other national symbols both the DAC and DoE focus on three important aspects in the development of a South African citizen: knowledge, skills and values.

The flag is the most widely known and accepted symbol of democratic South Africa. By providing each school in our country with the flag we shall be offering learners the basic opportunity to be educated in their duties as citizens and the practical opportunity to participate in and to experience the ceremonies associated with the flag, and to understand the protocols surrounding this important national symbol.

Flag raising ceremonies at school will not be linked to a pledge of allegiance or a salute. However, all schools will be encouraged to fly the national flag on school days and learners to be instructed in according it the respect it deserves as one of the symbols of our nationhood and democracy.

All schools will be encouraged to teach learners about and the history, meaning and significance of all national symbols, including the flag, the national anthem, national flora and fauna and the national orders.

The Departments are embarking on a national campaign that will unfold over the next few years to ensure that all schools teach about and promote the national symbols. A special effort to ensure that all learners can sing all the verses of the national anthem will be amongst these.

Our national symbols speak of a united and democratic South Africa. They speak of a South Africa with a forward-looking Constitution, of a country its citizens can take pride in. They speak of a country that participates in many world bodies and seeks to provide its citizens with an expanding floor of opportunities. The national flag gives South Africans a sense of common identity and national pride. With this project the two Departments seek to promote social cohesion and reconciliation.

Government would like all schools in the country to fly the national
flag with pride.

The project will be launched on Monday 19 September in the Western Cape.

Enquiries:
Andile Xaba
082 377 66 27

Premi Appalraju
082 375 2939