CHAPTER ONE
Mapping the Terrain

Introduction

It is well documented that many people in South Africa have, for various socio-economic and political reasons, been deprived of an initial formal education or have received limited and inadequate education. Equally, there are men and women who are seeking or may be engaged in further and/or continuing education as a means of further developing their skills and knowledge or employment opportunities. Finally, there are many young people who have not been afforded the opportunity to develop their full potential and have experienced, and continue to experience limited employment opportunities and limited access to education and training.

Census figures indicate that almost 20% of South Africans aged 20 years and over have received no formal schooling, while only 24.2% have some or complete primary education. In addition, approximately 40% of South Africans have received some secondary education, but only 6% have post-secondary qualifications(Statistics South Africa 1998). Even where people have completed some form of secondary schooling, such schooling does not necessarily lead to further learning opportunities or to employment, as the following statistics cited in the recently released White Paper on Further Education and Training demonstrate that:

2 million 16-27 year olds have completed nine or more years of schooling, but lack employment or meaningful opportunities to improve their knowledge, skills and qualifications.(Ministry of Education, 1998, p15)

Statistics such as these underscore why provision of education and training opportunities to adults and those youth who are not in the present schooling system is regarded as a national priority. For a long time, education for adults in South Africa has been marginalized through lack of access to resources, as well as lack of recognition in terms of its place in the broader education and training system. During apartheid, no coherent framework for provision or accreditation of education and training for adults, workers, and out-of-school youth existed. Where provision was offered by the state, it was generally fragmented and of poor quality. This meant that education provision for many South Africans was primarily made available by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). NGOs took the lead in offering literacy and numeracy programmes, skills and vocational training, materials development, and training for adult educators. Historically such endeavours on the part of NGOs have been grouped under the term ‘adult education’.

The following definition of adult education adopted at UNESCO’s Nairobi Conference in 1976 provides a useful umbrella term embodying several aspects of adult learning. Adult Education is defined as:

‘The entire body of organised educational processes, whatever the content, level, or method, whether formal or otherwise, whether they prolong or replace initial education in schools or colleges, and universities as well as in apprenticeship, whereby persons regarded as adult by the society to which they belong develop their abilities, enrich their knowledge, improve their technical or professional qualifications, or turn them in a new direction and bring about changes in their attitudes or behaviour in the two-fold perspective of full personal development and participation in balanced independent, social, economic, and cultural development.’(As cited in Roup, D 1998)

The above definition points to the diversity and complexity of the vast assortment of activities included under the term adult education. The field of adult education has evolved around the world over the past decade. As this evolution has unfolded, different terms and phrases have been coined to describe the organizational framework, processes and outcomes in this terrain of adult and youth education. These include ‘adult basic education’, ‘adult education and training’, ‘adult basic education and training’, ‘vocational education’, ‘education for out-of-school-youth’, and ‘further education and training’. As Hilary Diemont, from the Forum for the Advancement of Adult Education, notes,

‘Adult Education in its broadest definition encompasses - Adult Basic Education, Adult Education Centres, Adult literacy and numeracy work, Agricultural Extension, Civic Education, Community Development, Distance Education, Early years Training, Education of Adult Educators, Environmental Education, Health Education, Industrial and Commercial Training, Mass Media Education, Non-formal Training, Skills training Teacher In-service Education Worker Education … these categories are not exhaustive or distinct. There is much overlapping.’(Diemount, H, 199?, p.3)

In examining possible roles for the SABC in these fields, it is useful to begin by exploring in some detail the different meanings of some of these terms and the educational activities they describe. We therefore examine the way in which these terms are currently used, to allow for meaningful engagement, before exploring issues and challenges facing education and training in these areas.

DESCRIBING THE TERMINOLOGY

Adult Basic Education (ABE)

An overview of policy and research documents in this field suggests that the term ‘Adult Basic Education’ (ABE) has traditionally been used to refer to a general basic education, much like schooling, which forms the basis for further educational and training opportunities.

A Survey of Adult Basic Education in South Africa in the 1990s commissioned by the Joint Education Trust (JET) shows how, over the last few years, the discourse of ABE has come to supersede that of literacy. The authors of this survey make reference to the National Adult Basic Education Conference of 12-14 November 1993, which emphasizes the formal, primary education equivalence side of ABE.(Harley, A Aitchison, J Lyster, E and Land, S. 1996, p.20)

In 1997 the Directorate for Adult Education and Training, under the National Department of Education adopted the following definition of ABE:

‘Adult Basic Education refers to the educational base which individuals require to improve their life chances.’(Department of Education Directorate: 1997, p.11)

Some authors have extended this definition of ABE to include the target group, out-of-school-youth. For example, Van Zyl Slabbert et al (1994) put forward the following conceptualization:

‘Adult Basic Education, which aims at the elimination of illiteracy, is the foundation for lifelong learning for out-of-school and uneducated young people in particular.’(Van Zyl Slabbert et al. 1994, p.116)

Adult Education and Training

The term ‘Adult Education and Training’ is employed to overcome the traditional dichotomy between academic education and vocational training. As Walters et al write:

‘The term Adult Education and Training signals a move in some parts of the world away from adult education and vocational training as discrete entities. The former has been concerned mainly with community, political and cultural issues, whilst the latter has focused on work-related skills training. They have coexisted as two separate tracks barely communicating with one another. This move to integration has also been signposted particularly in Europe with the use of the term ‘adult learning’.(Walter, S. (Ed). 1997, p.6)

This shift in conceptualization, away from adult education and vocational training as discrete entities, to integration has had a clear impact on the South African educational landscape, as the coining of the term, ABET (Adult Basic Education and Training) illustrates.

Adult Basic Education and Training

The term Adult Basic Education and Training represents the integration of education and training. French remarks that Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) is a uniquely South African term, which reflects the notion of integration.(French, E 1997, p.19) This notion is a

‘political strategy to ensure foundational structures that will never allow an easy slippage back into the class system, the privileging/marginalising that happens in the split between education and training’.(French, E 1997, p.19)

In the Department of Education’s draft policy document on Adult Basic Education and Training in South Africa (1997), ABET is defined as:

‘The general conceptual foundation towards lifelong learning and development, comprising of knowledge, skills and attitudes required for social, economic and political participation and transformation applicable to a range of contexts. ABET is flexible, developmental and targeted at the specific needs of particular audiences and, ideally, provides access to nationally recognised certificates.’(Department of Education 1997, p.11)

The Directorate for Adult Education and Training (1997), under the National Department of Education explains its rationale for the term ABE as follows:

‘Adult Basic Education refers to the educational base which individuals require to improve their life chances. Adult Basic Training refers to the foundational income-generating or occupational skills which individuals require for improving their living conditions. Together Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) implies the foundational knowledge, skills, understanding and abilities that are required for improved social and economic life.’(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.11)

Education for Out-of-School Youth

Any attempt at gaining some kind of conceptual clarity when talking about ‘youth’ proves to be a difficult exercise. Included in this category are young people who have had little or no schooling, as well as young people with some form of educational qualification.

A CASE study conducted in 1996, into out-of-school youth, put forward the following working definition of out-of-school youth:

‘[It is] a sub-group of youth…between the ages of 15 and 30 (inclusive), not currently being engaged in studies, having not studied as far as they wanted to in their education, and expressing the desire to return to some form of education or training.’(Everatt, D and Jennings, R , 1996, p.7)

Chisholm et al (1997) differentiate between out-of-school-youth of school going age (0-16 years) and those beyond school-going age (16-24/5 years).(Chisholm, L , 1997, Vol 17 No.2 p.216) The Directorate for Adult Education and Training sets the lower age limit for out-of school youth as fifteen years, which is in accordance with international classifications.(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.11)

A report of the National Youth Commission, 1997, describes out-of-school-youth as those ‘young women and men who are no longer engaged in the education system, who are without employment, or any significant school qualification’(National Youth Commition, 1997, p.30). The NYC also proposes that

‘youth and community colleges shall expand on existing programmes and services to develop specific initiatives which address the needs of out-of-school young men and women. Such initiatives shall include pre-employment training, vocational training and skills development, and remedial courses to enable these young women and men to return to school.’(National Youth Commition, 1997, p.30)

Further Education and Training

The White Paper on the Transformation of Further Education and Training (1998) sees Further Education and Training (FET) as an ‘important allocator of life chances’ in so far as it is directed at those learners who are

‘situated at the cross-roads between General Education and Training (GET) and entry to HE [higher education] and the world of work…As such, it provides both initial and second-chance opportunities to young people and adults.’(National Youth Commition, 1997, p.30)

Furthermore, the document states that FET is ‘designed to promote the integration of education and training, and to enhance learner mobility and progression, which are at the heart of the NQF [National Qualifications Framework]’.(Ministry of Education, 1998, p.14)

The national Department of Education’s Directorate for Adult Education and Training differentiates between FET and ABET as follows:

‘Adult Basic Education and Training is the educational foundation for further education and training and enables learners to engage in further learning and employment opportunities’(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.6)

The focus of Further Education and Training is

‘to foster mid-level skills; lay the foundation for higher education; facilitate the transition from school to the world of work; develop well-educated autonomous citizens; and provide opportunities for continuous learning, through the articulation of education and training programmes.’(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.6)

Thus, ABET provides a basic educational foundation, while FET is seen as the gateway to higher education and the world of work. Hence, the National Department of Education has opted for what it calls a programmatic definition (Zuma, S, 1997, FAAE publication, p.6)of FET. This refers to the fact that Further Education and Training refers to any learning programme at levels two to four on the NQF (which corresponds to the present grades ten to twelve in the school system and N1 to N3 in the technical college system). (Ministry of Education, 1998, GG, Vol 399, No. 19281, p.14)The Ministry of Education envisages that the transformation of Further Education and Training will

‘address the transformation of the senior secondary school system, the technical colleges and community colleges, and the development of new, meaningful education and training opportunities for young people outside formal education. The widening of participation in FET must also include working adults and those of our people experiencing long-term unemployment.’(Ministry of Education, 1998, GG, Vol 399, No. 19281, p.14)

Vocational Education

Vocational education has traditionally been defined as skills-training in specific occupations(Ministry of Education, 1998, GG, Vol 399, No. 19281, p.14), that is, in terms of responding to specific demands of the employment market, like for example security guard training. However with the new integrated approach to education and training, it is envisaged that vocational education be part of the Further Education and Training (FET) band. Hence,

‘the new [FET] curriculum will overcome the outdated divisions between ‘academic and ‘vocational’ education, and between education and training and will be characterised not by ‘vocalisation’ of education, but by a sound foundation of general knowledge, combined with practical relevance. The curriculum will offer the learner flexibility and choice, whilst ensuring that all programmes and qualifications offer a coherent and meaningful learning experience.’(Ministry of Education, 1998, GG, Vol 399, No. 19281, p.14)

The above spectrum of terminology provides some insight into the conceptual changes that have taken place in the terrain of adult and youth education. These changes need to be understood within the framework of reconstruction, development, and transformation of the South African education and training system.

NEW CONCEPTIONS

The field of adult and youth education in South Africa has undergone significant changes in the past decade. Traditionally, this field fell under the ambit of what was commonly referred to as ‘non-formal’ education. In the past, the term non-formal education was used to describe such diverse activities as community education, worker education, vocational education, and life-skills education, that is,

‘any organised educational activity outside the established formal system - whether operating separately or as an important feature of some broader activity - that is intended to serve identifiable learning clienteles and learning objectives.’(Coombs, P.H., Proseer, R.C. and Ahemed, M., 1973, p.10-11)

Formal education on the other hand, was defined as education provided at or by a school, college, technikon, university, or any other institution with a view to certification. However, the distinction between ‘formal’ and ‘non-formal’ has become somewhat outdated, and has been replaced by a more holistic approach to education and training.

The shift away from simplistic non-formal/formal or education/training dichotomies to more holistic one is nowhere as evident as in the education firmament in South Africa. Historically, adult education in South Africa has been construed as literacy training, but with the changing political situation in South Africa a new discourse about adult education has evolved. As Aitchison puts it:

‘In South Africa in the 1990s a discourse about adult basic education (ABE) (and more latterly adult basic education and training (ABET)) replaced the ‘non-formal’ discourse of the 1980s in which the term literacy was dominant.’(Aitchison, J , 1998, p.1)

Walters, commenting on shifts in adult education, notes that

‘In 1994 there was a major shift in the adult education and training discourse. A shift from political and social movement discourse which highlights issues of equity and redress, to one which is driven by a training discourse which highlights economic development within a management framework.’ (Walter, S. (Ed). 1997, p.129)

Changing political circumstances have inevitably impacted on the understanding of what adult and youth education is or should be. Reflecting on the considerable shifts in this field, Bock remarks that the nature of these changes is ‘reflected by the terminological shifts from "literacy" to "adult basic education" to "adult basic education and training’(Bock, S and USWE, 1997, p.3). This shift from Adult Basic Education (ABE) to Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) reflects a vision for an integrated education and training system for South Africa.

The evolution of these shifts can be traced back to the early 1990s, when educators in the labour movement, NGOs, academic institutions, the state, and the private sector took on adult education as a serious concern. With the prospect of a new democratic government in South Africa, the development of policy in the arena of adult education was a pertinent issue. In 1992, the Human Resources Committee of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) put forward proposals to integrate education and training, arguing that integrating these two areas was necessary to upgrade skills of workers, which was not possible without a basic education (COSATU, 1992). In addition, this committee proposed that the state should be primarily responsible for the provision of adult education within a national framework. These issues influenced two major policy initiatives between 1991 and 1993, namely the National Education Policy Investigation (NEPI) report and the National Training Board (NTB)’s National Training Strategy Initiative (Harley, A. et al., 1996). Some of the central ideas put forward by the NTB’s National Training Strategy Initiative (1994) included:

• ‘Adult basic education should be more than just reading and writing, and should equip people to participate more fully in society’
  ‘The approach used should be competence-based’
  ‘There should be national standards and a national qualifications framework’
  ‘There should be a national core curriculum, with core subjects.’(From the NTB, 1994, p.163)

The NEPI report and NTB’s National Training Strategy Initiative have influenced much of the present policy developments surrounding an integrated approach to education and training, and that of adult education in particular.(Gamble, J. and Walters, S., 1997)

OVERVIEW OF THE POLICY ENVIROMENT

The NQF and SAQA

In the current approach to national education policy, education, job, and skills training for adults and out-of-school youth are placed within a national qualification framework (NQF). The idea of a National Qualifications Framework for South Africa emerged in the early 1990s from the intention of transforming the nature and quality of education and training in South Africa. It is described as

‘a human resource development system in which there is an integrated approach to education and training which meets the economic and social needs of the country and the developmental needs of the individual.’ (Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.6)

This means that different forms of learning, whether they be full-time or part-time, distance learning, work-based learning, or life experience, will be recognized, accredited, and registered within this new framework. This integrated approach to education, training, and development is designed to enable individuals to learn regardless of age, circumstances, and level of education and training. That is, it will allow individuals to

‘integrate the full range of their knowledge, skills, understandings and abilities, providing them with a platform for further learning, should they so choose, and with the capacity to bring these integrated understandings to bear upon the improvement and development of their own lives and the lives of those around them.’(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.6)

The NQF is composed of eight levels, the first of which (the General Education and Training Certificate level) incorporates four sub-levels of ABET. A diagrammatic representation of the different NQF bands and levels follows.

Structure of the NQF (EIC and IED, 1996)

The three bands reflect the three main groupings of education and training:

• The Higher Education and Training band, which deals with all learning related to national diplomas, degrees and post-graduate education.

• The Further Education and Training band, which encompasses school and technical/community colleges certificates.

• The General Education and Training band. The ABET sub-levels one to four, fall within this band and is equivalent to the general compulsory phase of schooling, that is up to Grade Nine.

As part of the implementation and establishment of the NQF, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) was established in Act No. 58 of 1995. At the end of May 1996, the Ministries of Education and Labour, who share responsibility for the appointments to the SAQA board, announced appointees to the board. The board is comprised of appointed individuals from the Department of Labour, the Department of Education, organized labour, colleges, technikons, and universities. The function of SAQA is to oversee the development and implementation of the NQF. This involves setting up the necessary structures and processes to develop standards and qualification criteria within the NQF. This is articulated as follows.

The functions of SAQA are to:

• formulate and publish policies and criteria for
  - registration of bodies responsible for establishing education and training standards;
  - the accreditation of bodies responsible for monitoring and auditing achievements in terms of standards and qualifications;

• oversee the implementation of the NQF, including
  - the registration of accreditation bodies and the assignment of functions to them;
  - the registration of national standards and qualifications;
  - ensuring compliance with the provisions for accreditation, and

• ensuring international comparability of standards and registered qualifications. (Goverment Gazette, 9 May 1997, No. 17970, p.36)

The implementation and establishment of the NQF, through SAQA provides a framework for a new, integrated approach to adult education and training. Within this framework, it is clear that adult education is now recognized on the NQF and as such, constitutes an integral part of South Africa’s national education and training system. This means that the scope of educational policy and planning has broadened to encompass adult basic education and education for out-of-school youth. The recognition of ABET on the NQF was informed by three main influences:

• ABET provision generally lacks accountability and institutional structures which can be assumed in schooling;

• ABET could be further marginalised if not included;

• important steps have been taken by various industry training boards to link substantive benefits to a training and education framework at ABET levels. This needed to be recognised within the NQF.(SAQA Bulletin, 1997, p.5-6)

Thus, the provision and accreditation of adult education is now part of the state’s hierarchical educational framework. To this end, an Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) Directorate was formed early in 1996.

The Multi-Year Implementation Plan for Adult Education and Training

The Department of Education’s Directorate for Adult Education and Training formally adopted a Multi-Year Implementation Plan for Adult Education and Training, in October 1997. The plan is

‘the result of an initiative by the national Department of Education and the Directorate for Adult Education and Training in particular. More importantly, it represents the culmination of stakeholder negotiations and of the cementing of partnership relationships between government and civil society.’(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.14)

The Multi-Year Implementation Plan is a four-year plan, consisting of two phases. The first phase - to run in 1998 and 1999 - aims at increasing the numbers of learners and focusing on curricular, assessment, and quality assurance issues. The second phase - to run 2000 and 2001 - ‘aims at the mass mobilisation of learners so that the overall target of some 2,5 million learners is reached by the year 2001’.(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.vi)

The Multi-Year Implementation Plan is described as the ‘first comprehensive and inclusive multi-year plan for bringing about quality and quantity improvements in the delivery of adult learning’.(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.14)  The aim of the plan is thus

‘to provide general (basic) education and training to adults for access to further education and training and employment. That is, to increase the quality and quantity of relevant and appropriate learning and learning services to adults and out-of-school youth who have been unable to access adequate education and training in the past.’(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.v)

As part of the process of bringing about ‘quality and quantity improvements’ in the adult education sector, the Directorate has situated ABET within the NQF framework to ensure that learners are provided with the necessary opportunities to engage in further learning and/or employment opportunities. Hence the directorate’s vision is to ‘link the adult basic and training sector to the further education and training sector’(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.6) . This is represented as follows:

Source: Directorate: Adult Education and Training. A National Multi-Year Implementation Plan for Adult Education and Training: Provision and Accreditation.

The above conceptualization ‘is based on the idea that adult basic education and training is the educational foundation for further education and training and enables learners to engage in further learning and employment opportunities.’(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.6)  It is a conceptualization that aims to provide adult learners with a general education which recognizes all forms of prior learning and provides for a learner’s advancement through the ABET sub-levels.

In terms of the NQF framework, ABET is placed in the first NQF level, which comprises the General Education and Training band. This is equivalent to the period of formal compulsory schooling, and is thus seen as a standard or ‘benchmark’, which will accommodate an ABET qualification for youth and adult learners. The ABET sub-levels one, two, three and four correspond to Grades three, five, seven, and nine respectively.

The Directorate sees the ABET curriculum as consisting of three main components: fundamentals, core contextual areas, and specialized or elective areas. The core contextual areas incorporate the six curriculum 20005 learning areas other than mathematical sciences and languages, that is: technology, arts and culture, life orientation, human social sciences, management and economic sciences.

In order to achieve its goals of increased provision and access, the Directorate has

‘adopted a position where face-to-face instruction with print instructional and information media will be the dominant form of delivery at ABET levels 1 to 3 and appropriate methods of distance education with strong learner support mechanisms will be developed and implemented from the General Education and Training Certificate level.’(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.84)

This has definite implications for the role of the public broadcaster in supporting educational activities and programmes within the field of adult education. It would appear as if television broadcast media is best placed at ABET level four and above. That is, aimed at that target audience with at least a general basic education. While, as the ABET Directorate contends, ‘face-to-face instruction with print instructional and information media will be the dominant form of delivery at ABET levels 1 to 3’. This of course does not imply that television broadcasting has no role to play at these levels. Rather, the nature and form of any broadcasting intervention aimed at any of the ABET levels will have to be carefully considered, taking cognisance of the target audience, learning goals, and appropriateness of medium, consistency with aims and identified target group.

The Directorate has identified particular groups as priorities for mobilizing and enrolling learners in adult basic education and training programmes. These are:

• Disadvantaged women
  Women who have been unable to access or complete primary schooling and who are unemployed or under-employed, and who are over the age of 30 years. Special attention will be placed on women living in rural areas and squatter settlements.

• Women with special needs
  Women who have been unable to access or complete primary schooling, who are over the age of 30 years and who have been or are in prison, in shelters on farms, and the like.

• Disadvantaged youth
  Persons between the ages of 15 and 30 years who have been unable to access or complete primary schooling.

• Youth with special needs
  Persons between the ages of 15 and 30 years who have been or are in prison, places of safety, in shelters, on farms, etc. and who have been unable to access or complete primary schooling.

• Persons with disabilities capable of independent learning
  Persons with a disability who have been unable to access or complete primary schooling for reasons other than the nature of the disability itself. For example, life circumstances, inaccessibility of institutions, lack of suitable resources and unfriendly institutions.(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.11)

The Multi-Year Plan is informed by government’s commitment to lifelong learning and a need to coordinate different activities and initiatives within the broad spectrum of adult education. The concept of lifelong learning is one which sees learning as a process that continues throughout an individual’s life and in different contexts. The concept of lifelong learning has influenced and permeated approaches to adult education. As Amutabi et al state:

‘The concept of learning throughout life has emerged as one of the keys to the next century. It has helped to put the learner, rather than the educator or practitioner, at the centre of policy or and implementation. It also draws attention to all the ways in which adults learn at different points in their lives outside recognized educational institutions.’(Amutabi et al., 1997, p.11)

Adoption of the principles of lifelong learning and recognition of prior learning are integral to the proposed plans to link ABET with further education and employment opportunities within the National Qualifications Framework. One of the key objectives of the Multi-Year Plan is that it must resonate ‘with the broad social and developmental imperatives of the country at national and provincial levels and local levels’(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.143) . In this regard, it is contiguous to proposals contained in the Skills Development Act. This act represents a new approach to education, training, and skills development in the national economic sector.

The Skills Development Act

The Skills Development Act, No. 97, 1998, which comes into force in April 2000, has its origins in the Department of Labour’s Green Paper on an Integrated Human Resources Development Strategy for South Africa, 1996. This Green Paper proposed a new approach to human resource development, ‘which augments the formal education system’ and ‘links skills formation to the requirements of a growing economy and extends education and training to people both within and outside formal employment’. (Department of Labour, 1996, p.1)

The objectives of the Skills Development Act are as follows:

• to develop the skills of the South African workforce;

• to encourage employers to
  - use the workplace as an active learning environment;
  - to provide employees with the opportunities to acquire new skills;
  - to provide opportunities for new entrants to the labour market to gain work
  - experience;

• to employ persons who find it difficult to be employed

• to encourage workers to participate in learnerships and other training programmes;

• to improve the employment prospects of persons previously disadvantaged by unfair discrimination and to redress those disadvantages through training and education.(Goverment Gazette, 1998, p. 8)

These purposes are to be achieved by establishing a number of bodies and structures. These are: a National Skills Authority (which replaces the National Training Board); a National Skills Fund; a skills development levy grant scheme; Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs); labour centres; and a Skills Development Planning Unit. These bodies will provide an institutional framework to devise and implement strategies that will lead to the improvement and development of the skills of the South African workforce, and to integrate such strategies within the National Qualifications Framework. So, for example, the functions of the National Skills Authority include advising the Minister on the implementation of the national skills development strategy and to liase with SETA on policy and strategies for implementation. The SETAs will be responsible for developing and implementing sector skills plans by establishing and developing learnerships and skills programmes.

The rationale for learnerships, as described in the Green Paper, 1996, is that they must be tied to and be responsive to economic and social developmental needs. Thus, the proposed learnership system can be seen as one way of solving ‘the problem of the unemployed youth which has reached crisis proportions,’(Department of Labour, 1996, p.38) as well as other targeted groups including women and men in rural and informal settlements. A learnership will take the form of a contract between a learner and an employer, and will consist of a structured learning component combined with practical work experience. The learnership must lead to a qualification registered by SAQA and be ‘related to an occupation’(Goverment Gazette, 1998, p. 8). Another way of operationalizing proposals contained in the Skills Development Act is by setting up a skills programme for a particular economic sector. Like learnerships, a skills programme must be occupationally based and must be in accordance with the skills development plan of a SETA or the national skills development strategy.

These two types of learning programmes will be incorporated within the NQF as registered qualifications. This means that they must fulfil the objectives of the NQF, which are to:

• create an integrated national framework for learning achievements;

• facilitate access to, and mobility and progression within education and training and career paths;

• enhance the quality of education and training;

• accelerate the redress of past unfair discrimination in education, training and employment opportunities; and thereby

• contribute to the full personal development of each learner and the social and economic development of the nation at large.(SAQA Act, 1995, clause2)

It is clear that the Skills Development Act of 1998 represents a new approach to education and training and the development of skills. A similar focus on education, training, and skills development for youth has taken place around a policy framework for youth development in South Africa.

National Youth Policy

Many young people in South Africa have, for various political and economic reasons, not been afforded the opportunity to develop their full potential. In the past, no specific policies or programmes were put into place to meet the needs of these young people. However, with the democratization of South African society, a National Youth Policy, approved by the National Youth Commission in 1997, has been developed to meet the specific needs of young people.

The National Youth Policy

‘recognizes and values young men and women as a key resource and national asset and places their needs and aspirations central to national development. It provides a foundation and mechanism for youth participation in socio-economic development whilst recognising that young people should be protagonists of their own development and not merely recipients of state support.’(National Youth Commission, 1997, p.7)

The National Youth Policy is directed towards young people from 14 to 35 years, whilst recognizing that not all who fall into this range are identical. Some are at school or training institutions, others are not; some are employed, others are not; they may live in rural or urban environments; some young men and women are parents; some are disabled; and some have been the victims of abuse or mistreatment.(National Youth Commission, 1997, p.7)

One of the five central goals of this policy is to develop ‘an effective, coordinated and holistic response to the issues facing young men and women’ (National Youth Commission, 1997, p.22). To this end, policy has identified education and training as one of the key strategic areas for intervention. It sees education and training as ‘a major priority in the development of young men and women’, which will be linked to the need for human resource development within the youth sector.

In order to fulfil its objectives related to the education and training needs of young adults, the policy envisages the establishment of a national youth service programme, which will combine the themes of development, skills training, national unity, and service. These four themes are described as follows:

• development - where the skills and capacities of young women and men can be employed on projects and activities which promote development in South Africa;

• skills training - an opportunity for young people to gain new experiences and develop new skills which will benefit them later in life;

• national unity - where young women and men from all walks of life are given the opportunity to work together with a spirit of reconciliation and national unity;

• service - where young people and the country as a whole benefit through volunteering their services for the benefit of the broader community.(National Youth Commission, 1997, p.14)

The national youth service programme will be aimed at three target groups: out-of-school and unemployed young people; graduates of higher education; and de-mobilized young people and young ‘returnees’. Its operating principles will include:

• reconstruction and development;

• accreditation within the NQF; and

• links to the national skills development strategy.

In its focus on the concerns of young people in the education and training sector, the national youth policy cautions against ‘a narrow approach which can marginalise youth development issues.’(National Youth Commission, 1997, p.29) Instead, the document states that ‘education and training of young men and women must be firmly positioned as a youth development strategy.’(National Youth Commission, 1997, p.29) Furthermore, the document states that:

‘It is through education and training that young men and women can be better prepared for life. The personal development of the individual young person, along with the development of local communities and the country as a whole is inextricably linked to the provision of quality, relevant and well managed education and training.’(National Youth Commission, 1997, p.28)

This emphasis on the links between personal developmental needs and the needs of the country as a whole are key features of not only the National Youth Policy, but the ABET Directorate’s Multi-Year Implementation Plan and the new Skills Development Act. These policy documents reflect recognition that the worlds of education, training, and social and economic development are inextricably linked. These documents link education and skills formation to the social and economic needs of the country, and extend education and training to people both within and outside of so-called formal education systems and formal employment. However the relationship between education and training and social and economic development complex.

EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

It is generally accepted that environmental, health, and other socio-economic issues cannot be resolved without the active participation and involvement of citizens. Therefore, ongoing education and training focusing on human resource development to assure social and economic development is crucial.

The ABET Directorate, in its Multi Year Implementation Plan, describes changes that the adult basic education and training sector has undergone as ‘bringing together efforts aimed at community development, vocational and technical training, literacy and basic education with popular education programmes.’(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.20) In addition, it contends that the key objective of adult education is that it must resonate ‘with the broad social and developmental imperatives of the country at national and provincial levels and local levels’(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.143). Similarly the National Youth Commission, in its policy document, stresses the need for an integrated approach to developing skills and capacities in young men and women, within the broader context of social and economic reconstruction and development. In the case of the Skills Development Act, it is clear that the approach to education and skills development is one which seeks to promote economic growth and social development through a focus on education, training and skills development. These three policy documents can be seen as contributing towards and providing a framework for an integrated human resource development system that seeks to promote economic and social development through a focus on education, training, and skills development.

This integrated approach is in many ways new. Jeanne Gamble and Shirley Walters maintain that ‘the worlds of education, training and development have traditionally been far apart’(Gamble, J. and Walters, S., 1997, p.123), and that a shift towards an integrated approach is neither easy nor comfortable. The traditional notion of adult education as ‘literacy’ and ‘numeracy’ has given way to one which places adult education within other social and economic development strategies. Walters states that, during 1985,

‘the primary reference point for adult educators was the political struggle against apartheid …Our prime concern was adult education as part of a broad movement for democratic transformation.’(Walters, S. 1996, p.129)

This situation is markedly different in the post-1994 period, where ‘the field of adult education is being driven by a range of factors, including social reconstruction and economic development’(Walters, S. 1996, p.130). Walters continues:

‘The division between economic and community development is problematic, and it is imperative that adult educators and trainers take up the challenge of developing an integrated approach which addresses personal, economic and community development.’(Walters, S. 1996, p.130)

A review of policy documents in the education and training arena, and the field of adult education in particular, suggests that this challenge of developing ‘an integrated approach which addresses personal, economic and community development’ is being taken up, albeit in most instances primarily still at the level of policy. In combination with a range of other agencies, then, there is a very important role for the SABC in helping to convert this policy into meaningful practice. This might include providing support for ABET learning programmes and/or undertaking advocacy and mobilization. As the Abet Directorate puts it:

‘Over and above the use of broadcast media for ABET learning and learning support materials, there is an imperative to use the public broadcast media to encourage learners to enter the system and to place ABET on the national agenda and keep it in the national consciousness.’(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.144)

The extent to which an integrated approach to adult education, which attempts to meet personal, economic and social needs, is manifested in practice will depend, in the first instance, on inter-sectoral collaboration and partnerships. This has already begun with the establishment of the Adult Education and Training Chamber, which comprises representatives from various government departments, organized labour and organized business, community organizations, higher education institutions, education providers, and national practitioner bodies. Similar developments are under way in the youth and skills development sectors.

Linked to this inter-sectoral approach is the question of focus of ABET programmes aimed at adults and youth. Zannie Bock cautions against an ‘ABET curriculum driven by the needs of the formal economy alone’. She cites the following current employment figures to support this:

‘About 50% of the total labour force of 15 million in South Africa, is in the Small, Medium and Micro-Enterprise (SMME) sector, including informal and subsistence (Department of Trade and Industry, 1995) and the SMME sector is growing at three to four times the rate of the formal economy (Burroughs, 1994); roughly 40% of the population is in the unemployed or subsistence sectors (only 60% is in formal employment).(Bock, S and USWE, 1997, p.7)

Bock, therefore, goes on to argue thus that:

‘The overwhelming majority of those in need of ABET therefore fall outside the core manufacturing workforce. For this reason, we believe that it is crucial that ABET curricula provide the kinds of knowledge and skills that will encourage and sustain people in the creative pursuit of economic independence.’(Bock, S and USWE, 1997, p.7)

Education and training programmes designed for adults and youth (employed and unemployed) must therefore be conceived in a broader context. If ABET is to play a role in the broader social, political and economic context, then literacy and numeracy skills, while essential, will have to be seen as constituting one element of what might be needed for social and economic development. This is particularly true of adult education programmes in an industrial setting, and it is here where the implementation of the Skills Development Act holds both significant promise and challenge for restructuring adult education within an integrated human resource development system.

An integrated and comprehensive approach to education, training, and development is one which seeks to enable individuals to acquire and apply the knowledge and skills to contribute to improving their social and economic conditions. Thus, educational activities and opportunities for adults and youth intersect the fields of literacy, language and numeracy, vocational skills, democracy and citizenship, gender awareness, primary health care, and other similar areas.

Limited access to and inadequacies of the former education system and the problems that persist into the present pose certain challenges for those wishing to provide educational opportunities for those people who fall outside of the conventional schooling and higher education systems. This necessitates an exploration of the issues and challenges facing this spectrum of adults and youth.

SOME KEY CHALLENGES

‘The shift from being part of the anti-apartheid movement to being part of the process of reconstruction and development’(Walters, S. 1996, p.130) presents significant challenges for those working in the field of adult and youth education. The challenges have been described as having

‘to address the tension between the limited time and the often difficult contexts of adult education and the need to provide a foundation of knowledge and skills which will give adults access to jobs and further education and training if required. [Adult education and training] has to balance the needs of industry against those of the development of informal sectors. It has to address the needs of both the employed workforce and the unemployed.’(Bock, S and USWE, 1997, p.7)

For the ABET Directorate, one of the major challenges facing the Adult Basic Education and Training sector is ‘to ensure that it retains its significance and importance as part of reconstruction and development and as a basic human right.’(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.19) In addition the ABET directorate has identified the following challenges facing those working in the sector.

• the planning and development of delivery programmes;

• the implementation of programmes so that they can reach the target audience;

• bringing about coherence and cohesion in a sector which is increasingly facing fragmentation, disintegration and disillusionment.(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.28)

Thus a major challenge is to find ways of expanding ABET provision while increasing meaningful access to it. A national survey, conducted by the University of Natal, estimated that in 1995/1996 there were about 335 500 participants in adult basic education programmes, across the different sectors: state, companies, NGOs, parastatals, municipalities, and religious organizations.(Harley, A. et al., 1996, p.54) If one adds this to census figures cited earlier, which indicate that 20% (about 4 million) South Africans aged 20 and over have received no schooling, then it is clear why the expansion of provision and increasing access are primary concerns.

Related to the issue of delivery and access, is that of meeting the needs of those individuals within the spectrum of adult education. However, within this spectrum, there are different categories of individuals with diverse sets of needs. Different organizations and interest groups have employed different categories to describe the target audience. The ABET Directorate, for example, describes the target audience as being ‘extremely broad in character and can be disaggregated by age, sex age group, employment status and province (to name just some of the variables).’(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.62) The National Youth Policy identified the following priority target groups as demanding specific attention in terms of education and training interventions: unemployed young people; out-of-school youth; rural young men and women; young people in correctional facilities; young people who are disabled; and young men and women with HIV/AIDS.(National Youth Commission, 1997, p.30) Categories such as these are not mutually exclusive, and merely provide indicators of different target groups, which can then facilitate processes of meeting their needs. So, for example, the NYC’s proposed strategy to meet the needs of out-of-school youth includes pre-employment training, vocational training and skills development, and remedial courses to enable these young women and men to return to school.(National Youth Commission, 1997, p.30)

In addition to its focus on education and training, the National Youth Commission has identified economic participation, youth employment and unemployment, youth health, and crime and violence(National Youth Commission, 1997, p.8) as key strategic areas for intervention. In order to tackle the related issues of economic participation of young people and youth unemployment, the National Youth Policy contains the following proposals: school-based career guidance; youth career guidance centres; and a National Youth Employment Strategy. The latter will seek to use the proposed learnership strategy (as articulated in the Skills Development Act), as well as to develop specific programmes, with other stakeholders, ‘designed to address the particular employment and recruitment needs of young people’.(National Youth Commission, 1997, p.8)

The challenges surrounding delivery, access, and meeting the needs of identified target groupings are well captured in the ABET Directorate’s vision for adult education. It states that in reflecting the changes that the terrain of adult basic education has undergone, this sector has to ‘address four key growth and development concerns at both individual and community levels’:

• developing the capacity of adults and out-of-school youth to understand the complex reality in which they live so as to enable them to identify and apply the most relevant and appropriate ways of responding to this reality;

• creating critical and participative citizens. This requires that the learning system has to incorporate areas of learning which address "ethics, autonomy, participation, administration and control, information management, local development, cultural development, human rights, and the environment" ;

• opening up and laying the foundations for further education and training at every level and in every aspect of personal and social life and development;

• improving the quality of life of the large numbers of people who are not able to satisfy their basic needs (through enabling them to access or create employment opportunities).(Department of Education. Directorate, 1997, p.20)

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Any attempt to define the spectrum of adult and youth education that falls outside of conventional schooling and higher education system presents difficulties. This is not only because of the diversity of the constituency falling within this spectrum, but also because of the complexity of the issues and challenges. The world of learning outside of the conventional schooling and higher education systems is marked by its close ties with occupational training, skills upgrading, community-based programmes, and work orientation programmes. However, it is also concerned with lifelong learning and the development of autonomy, responsibility, and capacity of people and communities to deal with the changes taking place in the economy and in society as a whole. To this end, there is an institutional framework in place to facilitate the implementation of national and localized strategies aimed at enhancing and developing skills and meeting the education and training needs of adults and youth.

A contextualized and multi-faceted understanding, which recognizes the link between education, training, and social and economic development, has replaced the traditional understanding of adult education. It is clear that the needs of youth and adults are diverse, and can only be met through a variety of delivery systems and partnerships. The complexity of the adult and youth educational terrain calls for effective cooperation, coordination, and partnerships between the state, public, private and community sectors. As stated in the Hamburg Declaration on Adult learning:

‘The new concept of youth and adult education presents a challenge to existing practices because it calls for effective networking within the formal and non-formal systems, and for innovation and more creativity and flexibility. Such challenges should be met by new approaches to adult education within the concept of learning through life. Promoting learning, using mass media and local publicity, and offering impartial guidance are responsibilities for governments, social partners and providers. The ultimate goals should be the creation of a learning society committed to social justice and general well-being.’(The hamburg declaration on Adult Learning, 1997, Vol.1, No.2, p.5)

Against this background, we explore the role that broadcasting could play in the terrain of adult and youth education. We begin this by looking at international trends in this regard.