The concept of ABET is uniquely South African. In the English-speaking world, ABE means Adult Basic Education. South Africa added the T, for Training in the policy initiatives of the early 1990s. The adoption of ABET was hotly contested for a time by those who believed in the power of the alternative, non-formal approaches to adult education. The reasons for adopting the term fell into two main groups.

• One of the deepest critical perceptions of education (including adult education) in South Africa, especially on the part of labour unions and business, was that education had little application in life and work, while training meant drilling in routine jobs with no attention to underlying knowledge and values. Adding the T showed a commitment to the integration of education and training into ABET.
• ABET grew out of adult literacy work. The adoption of ABET rather than adult literacy work was the result of political struggle informed by research. In spite of fine achievements of adult literacy work in the struggle, literacy alone was not considered adequate to support real social transformation. ABET was meant to offer an appropriately adult route to a general education aimed at making a significant improvement in quality of life.

1930’s - Driven by mission schools, church groups and the Communist Party

1946 - legislation to support and "organise" night schools

1950’s - Nationalist Government undermines night schools

1966 - Establishment of Operations Upgrade

1994 - ABET prominent in White Paper on education.

ABET listed as presidential lead project in the RDP, BUT one of 2 projects

to receive no special allocation

Donors begin to switch to bilateral funding.

1995. Publication of official interim guideline by nDoE

Ithuteng campaign launched

State takes the driving seat

1996. IEB adult exams at high point (60 000 learners, 50% industry, 50% NGOs)

1997 Government publishes MYIP

1998. Collapse of the National Literacy Cooperation (NLC)
1999. Publication of University of Natal survey RIFT with nDoE

UNISA sets up portfolio based assessments as an alternative to the IEB

Ikhwelo Project initiated by the nDoE

2000. Publication of ABET Act – focus on management of PALC’s (night schools) ABET features in Minister Asmal’s call to renewal, Tirisano

SANLI launched by Minister

2002. Some SETAs initiate projects aimed at eventual ABET provision

Low levels of demand, occasional responsiveness to programmes that touch the nerve of need, high drop out rates of learners and educators, all suggest that the felt need for ABET falls far below the figures for those who might be thought to need ABET.

There are probably between 3 and 4 million adults who can scarcely write their names and addresses. But these adults are generally older women in rural areas with little need for literacy. Their limited literacy needs are satisfied by networks of communication, and they may well experience others’ view that they need literacy as intrusive. However, they have knowledge, information and, above all, access needs. "Literacy" is valued when it is linked to assistance with things like home care for AIDS sufferers, or caring for orphaned grandchildren, reading the bible, or securing pensions more easily.

Far closer to a felt need for ABET are the adults with inadequate formal education. Since many industries despair of the entry skills of those with School leaving Certificates, the idea of inadequate formal education is problematic. However, if the figure for those with less than eight years schooling is taken as a guide for ABET need, then there are at least 7 million adults in this category. There are, predictably, higher proportions of adults in this category in the poorest provinces (Eastern Cape, KZN, Limpopo), but even in the best favoured educationally – the Western Cape – there is still a high number. Gender distribution is fairly equal overall, with more women at potential levels of need in rural areas, and more men in urban areas. The strongest felt need is probably among urban and informal settlement work seekers, or among workers eager to gain greater job security. Both of these groups are almost certain to prioritise hard skills rather than "ABE".

This appendix is taken from Prof. John Aitchison’s report for the ABET on Trial Conference, November 2000. His information is based on a series of surveys of ABET in South Africa through the late 1990s….

The State:

State provision of adult education commenced in the mid 1970s. It was motivated at first by the counter-revolutionary desire to pre-empt emerging Black Consciousness efforts linked to the Freirean idea of Conscientisation.

Night schools were gradually established in existing schools in all parts of the country. Their curriculum was essentially based on the second chance model and strongly reflected the school curriculum. However, in basic education, the methods, teacher training and materials of literacy mission movements were used. In the 1980s the DET developed its own literacy courses and materials for adults. Public examinations were offered at Standard 5 (now Grade 7), Standard 8 and Standard 10 (matric).

Though located in school buildings, the Adult Centres were run autonomously, with Centre Principals of their own. This led to occasional conflict between the two institutions, something which still causes problems.

The teachers were, with few exceptions, schoolteachers for whom the adult night school work was done as a double shift. They were seldom if ever specifically trained – or re-trained – for adult education. Short courses in literacy methods were usually around 3 – 5 days long.

Attendance for learners was essentially free. In spite of major efforts at renewal in the new era in South Africa, in which the adult night schools have been named Public Adult Learning Centres (PALCs), many features, many principals and some teachers are the same as in the old order. A shift in policy has lead to the staffing of these centres wherever possible by newly graduated teachers without jobs.

Major changes have been those in curriculum requirements – shifting to a mix of Curriculum 2005 and NQF requirements – backed by a number of in-service programmes aimed at familiarizing educators with OBE thinking and practices. The ABET Act is largely concerned with the governance of PALCs. Innovations in the Act are the introduction of Governing Bodies structured similarly to the school governing bodies, an element of potential autonomy in fund raising and management, and a stronger obligation than before on the provisional Members of Executive Councils (MECs) for Education to support ABET.

With their many inadequacies, PALCs have nonetheless had many advantages: secure budgets, paid educators, learning centres with basic facilities near to the people, solid learning paths along routes reasonably understood by the community, and organisational structures. PALCs are most intensely used for learners taking a second chance at matric.

Business:

Commerce and industry, notably the mines, have a long track record in adult literacy work and ABET. From the 1950s at least there were literacy programmes in the mines and other large industries. In the 1970s workers’ literacy started to be taken more seriously by management in some contexts, and by the 1980s this was being serviced by a handful of commercial training organisations (CEP, BESA)– now all defunct – dedicated to literacy work with an increasing focus on English Second Language. The relatively expensive failure of a number of big investments in literacy work aroused the interests of the labour unions, and contributed to the dissatisfaction that led eventually to management and unions espousing the idea of a NQF.

Industry programmes have at times been models of quality learning, using well-trained practitioners, state-of-the-art instructional materials and programmes and external assessment by the IEB. However, although industry centres have the best chance to integrate education and training, very few have even thought of doing this. Literacy, Communication in English and Numeracy/Maths remain the stock in trade of the curriculum. Programmes are generally isolated from the workplace and are very much add-ons rather than related to core business. The working of the Skills Development Act and Levy may start changing this, especially through the structuring of whole NFQ qualifications.

Civil Society:

The Public Benefit Sector (NGOs, CBOs, churches, etc.) for a long time led the way in advocacy, practitioner training and the development of learning support materials. For about 20 years they were carried on a wave of anti-apartheid/new South Africa funding from international donors, and even internally, by South African employers through the Joint Education Trust.

By the time the NLC collapsed, it was becoming clear that the re-direction of donor funding through bilateral agreements with a now legitimate state was causing a funding drought for PBOs. The central and smaller local NGOs alike started dying. The first noted ending was the closure of Learn & Teach in 1996. The ending of the Joint Education Trust as a funder in 2000 was a final blow to many. The hundreds of organisations dwindled into tens.

Note: These are estimates based upon Harley et al (1996) and Aitchison et al (2000). What this summary indicates is that the overall number of learners served by ABET has not dramatically changed over the last five or six years.

The Ikhwelo Project has been initiated as a response to providing support to the Eastern Cape (EC) and Limpopo Province (LP) Department of Education (DOE) in the area of adult education and training (ABET), in the implementation of a pilot project in the two elective sub-fields, Agriculture and Small, Medium and Micro-Enterprise (SMME) over a period of 36 months.

The goal of the project is to implement a pilot project in Agriculture and SMME that would provide access to the General Education and Training for adult learners to enhance their social and economic capacity.

The project commenced operations in April 1999, and is to complete its work by April 2003.

At the end of April 2001, there were 25 centres operating in the Limpopo Province and 20 in the Eastern Cape. Most Ikhwelo learners wrote summative examinations in Agriculture and SMME at ABET Level 4 (NQF 1) during October 2001. In the Eastern Cape, 206 learners wrote the SMME exam and 194 the AAAT (applied agriculture and agricultural technology), exam. In the Limpopo Province 347 learners wrote the Agriculture paper and 350 the SMME paper. In both provinces approximately 40% of learners passed their exams – this is above the national average for other learning areas.

Dithothwaneng Centre - Dithothwaneng is in Region 6, in the Apel district, close to Groblersdal and Polokwane (Pietersburg), in the Limpopo Province.

Achievements

• Service Delivery – Is rural development the responsibility of the State or Provincial and District Municipalities?
• Institutional - Remote rural locations with low population densities do not allow for provision of affordable intermediate or full service levels.
• Infrastructural – Lack of adequate power, communications, transportation, provision of water and sanitation.
• Transport – lack of/and inaccessibility of public transport services.
• Marketing – inaccessibility to potential markets.
• Funding, Resource Mobilization & On-going Support - we are told funding & other resources are available for entrepreneurs, accessing funding from Government and Development Agencies is a long and complex process for both community groups and individuals.
• Skills Training versus Certification – this is a matter of constant debate – will a GETC educational certificate qualification help rural learners/communities to alleviate poverty?
• Integrating and Co-operating – government departments and civil society urgently need for to develop and implements sustainable inter-linking development programmes.

• Retrenchments and graduate unemployment
• Skills versus certification (urban vs. rural)
• NSF Focus – Fact and Fiction
• Status of educators – payment policies

1. ABET is a human right

The South African Constitution states … Everyone has the right

1. to a basic education, including adult basic education; and
2. to further education, which the state, through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible.

[Source: The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, Chapter 2: Bill of Rights 29(1) and (2)]

2. Illiteracy and under-education are still major development issues in South Africa

Total number of adults age 15 and over 26,3million (100%)

Adults with less than grade 7 education 8,5 million (32%)

Adults with no schooling 4,2 million (16%)

[Source: 1996 General Population Census]

3. Adult literacy campaigns do not eradicate illiteracy

Tanzania and Nicaragua had world-renowned adult literacy campaigns, yet their current adult illiteracy rates are:

Tanzania 32,3%

Nicaragua 34,3%

Cuba had a relatively successful adult literacy campaign and the illiteracy rate is now under 4,3%. However there were less than 1 million illiterate adults in Cuba at the time of the campaign. [Source: UNESCO World data on education – website]

Illiteracy is the result of a number of factors including lack of schooling, poor quality schooling, poverty, social and geographic isolation, community disruption due to violence, crime and substance abuse. Many of these factors are present in South African society.

4. Compensatory ABET will be needed in South Africa in the future because many children do not attend school
5. The ABET field is in crisis due to a lack of funding

Funding to the ABET NGO sector has drastically declined since 1996 as major funders began to direct their grants mainly through government and "representative" NGO bodies such as the National Literacy Cooperation (NLC) {and redirected funding to other causes}: e.g.

Rockefeller Brothers: ABET funding: $281000 in 1994, $100000 in 1999

Joint Education Trust: ABET funding R33,4 m in 1995, ceased in 1999.

[Source: University of Natal survey of adult basic education and training: South Africa, February 2000 page xix, 82-86]

6. Government spending on ABET is inadequate

"Of course I am concerned about the inadequacy of public funding for ABET, including the National Literacy Campaign. But in my Call to Action document last July, I made it clear that public funds are at present insufficient for this purpose."

[Source: Professor Kader small, Minister of Education, Reply to Debate, Vote 8, National Assembly, 14 March 2000]

Literacy was the only Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) lead project that received no money at all.

[Source: University of Natal survey of adult basic education and training: South Africa, February 2000 (page 12,13)]

7. The policy of the state in funding ABET is unclear

ABET is included in a national budget item called "non-formal education", which also includes further education for adults and youth and other non-formal education like sewing and carpentry.

The state spends less than 1% (about 0,8% of the education budget on "non-formal education’. Most of the money in this ‘non-formal education’ budget is spent on young people trying a second time to gain a formal FETC (matric) qualification.

[Source: University of Natal survey of adult basic education and training: South Africa, February 2000 (page 12,13)]

8. Adult literacy educators must be properly trained

A study of the relevant literature has revealed that the literacy tutor is the single most important factor in the success of the programme.

[Source: Wydeman, JL and Kamper, GD. 1990. A literacy development strategy for South Africa: Possibilities and limitations. HSRC]

Adult educators need to understand the cognitive processes by which people become literate and must be able to use a variety of approaches appropriately.

[Source: Motala,S. 1992. The Training of educators for adult basic education in South Africa – some current issues and policy implications. Paper prepared by NEPI ABE sub-group]

 

9. Skills required by ABET practitioners have been negotiated, documented and formalized into national qualifications and unit standards