It will take political courage to make this strategic reorientation a success. We must be willing to break resistance to the reforms, accelerate support for teachers, scale early learning innovations and stabilise provincial spending.

This time last year, I took an oath to assume the office of South Africa's Minister of Basic Education. I did so with a clear conscience that I would hold this office with dignity and to the very best of my abilities.

My first order of business was to listen deeply, to be guided by the evidence, and to reform strategically. Over the last 12 months, I have travelled the length and breadth of our country. I have, on average, visited one school per week. I've met provincial leaders and officials, school principals, teachers, parents and, most importantly, learners.

Their stories and realities have shaped everything we have done since.

Our work has been guided by a simple, yet powerful statistic: 80% of children in South Africa cannot read for meaning in any language by Grade 4. This has told me that we need to get the basics right.

If our children cannot read for meaning by age 10, if they face unsafe sanitation, if they come to school hungry or unsupported in their earliest years, then everything else we do will fall apart as it is based...