This chapter provides an overview of the terrain of adult education and youth development, and attempts to track the changes that have taken place in the past decade. 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 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.

New Conceptions
Traditionally, the terrain of adult and youth education fell under the ambit of what was commonly referred to as ‘non-formal’ education. 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. The nature of these changes is reflected by the terminological shifts from "literacy" to "adult basic education" to "adult basic education and training’. 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. This period saw the development of two major policy initiatives, namely the National Education Policy Investigation (NEPI) report and the National Training Board’s National Training Strategy Initiative. It was these two initiatives that have influenced much of the present policy developments surrounding an integrated approach to education and training, and that of adult education in particular.

The Policy Environment
In the current approach to national education policy, education and job and skills-training for adults and out-of-school youth are placed within a national qualifications framework (NQF). Within this framework, ABET sub-levels one to four fall within the General Education and Training band. This band is equivalent to the general compulsory phase of schooling, that is up to grade nine. 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 integrated approach to education, training, and development is designed to enable individuals to learn regardless of age, circumstances, and level of education and training.

There are three policy documents which 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. These are, the ABET Directorate’s Multi-Year Implementation Plan, the Skills Development Act, and the National youth Policy. These documents emphasise the related issues of access, quality, and relevance in the provision of education and training and skills development for adults and youth. In addition, there is an emphasis on the links between personal developmental needs and the needs of the country as a whole. Together, they reflect a recognition that the worlds of education, and training and social and economic development are inextricably linked. These documents, then, 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.

Education, Training, and Social and Economic Development
A review of policy documents in the terrain of adult education and youth development points to an increasing emphasis on an integrated approach to developing skills and capacities in young men and women, within the broader context of social and economic reconstruction and development. The changes that the terrain has undergone can be seen as bringing together efforts aimed at community development, vocational and technical training, personal development with the broad social and developmental imperatives of the country at national and provincial levels and local levels. It is clear that the 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.

Key Challenges
For the ABET Directorate, a major challenge is to ensure that adult education retains its significance and importance as part of reconstruction and development and as a basic human right. In addition, another 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 et al., 1996, p.54). If one adds this to census figures 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.

The challenges surrounding delivery, access, and meeting the needs of identified target groupings include an emphasis on: developing the capacity of adults and out-of-school youth to understand the complex reality in which they live; creating critical and participative citizens; opening up and laying the foundations for further education and training; and improving the quality of life.

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).

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. 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. 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.

This brief international overview contains useful lessons for planning interventions in South Africa. Perhaps most importantly, this chapter illustrates the extent to which the South African context outlined in the previous chapter is, in many ways, not entirely unique. Problems regarding establishing a clear understanding of target audience, fragmentation of the systems in place, and the wide range of possible content focuses, are also experienced in other parts of the world. Notwithstanding these difficulties, educational broadcasters have played an important role in supporting initiatives in this area and have developed various approaches to broadcasting which contribute significantly to educational processes.

Non-Formal Distance Education
We preface the chapter with a snapshot of what is taught using distance education methods, to whom, and using what technologies for non formal adult education. Definitions of adult education in South Africa vary, thus presenting difficulties and international experience also reflects this. Singling out literacy, agriculture, and community development as specific content focuses for adult basic education was typical for this time. Data collected during the COL/NEC survey, demonstrates the diversity in subject focuses and uses broad categories of social, economic and educational equivalency to group subject areas. It is apparent that while there is a wide range of subject areas for adult education and youth development, there is continued focus on health, agriculture, community education and literacy and numeracy.

The 1981 workshop on adult basic education found that all countries in attendance from Southern Africa were using print and radio to support adult education provision. In addition, it was found that ‘all use a mixture of media with an element of face-to-face tuition’(International Extention College, 1983, pp.34-35). The non-formal distance education programmes surveyed in 1996, followed this trend with print, radio and face-to-face tuition most commonly being used. Again the programmes surveyed reported using a range of technologies. Once again, when reflecting on these trends and this table, the limited range of technologies available in 1995 should be considered. The conclusions drawn from the 1981 workshop and the 1995 survey are strikingly similar. They refer to the scattered and uncoordinated nature of this type of work, which tends to be poorly documented, poor resourcing and government support for these interventions, limited coverage, lack of practical income related or vocational or technical training, and the range of experience in this type of educational provision. The overview of the South African context in chapter one, indicates that many of these conclusions are equally applicable to this country. Thus, it is important to note that these are international trends and are therefore neither peculiar to South Africa nor to the current period.

What is Taught?
Different educational broadcasters focus on different areas for their adult education and youth development programmes. In some countries broadcasting interventions for adult education and youth development are generally fairly tightly defined by subject area. In others the role of the broadcast, rather than its content focus, is the point of departure. Most of the European broadcasters mentioned focus on content that would be directed to learners with some prior educational background. There is a greater focus on leisure, hobbies, language learning business, economics, and tertiary-level courses and less emphasis on literacy, agriculture, and health. This reflects in large part the significantly differing circumstances in European and Southern African countries.

When one considers all the international examples that include a significant number of developing countries this apparent distinction is less stark, however. From the example collected, health and family education (including early childhood development) is the most common content focus. This is followed by literacy, numeracy and post literacy programmes and then by a focus on agriculture. It is worth noting the fairly wide variety of subjects and content areas used for educational broadcasting initiatives for this target audience.

How is it Taught?
As with areas of focus, educational broadcasting initiatives vary greatly in their educational approach and methodology. Both the broadcast programmes and the educational broadcasters perform different functions according to broadly different scenarios:

• Structured and Accredited Courses. Educational broadcasting is an integral part of curriculum delivery for a structured and accredited course. In these cases, clear relationships are established between the broadcaster and one or more education provider(s). The following are examples of types of relationship:

• The educational broadcaster is a department of an educational provider.

• The public broadcaster works very closely with an education providers to produce a broadcasting component of a course.

• The broadcaster simply transmits courses that have been designed by an education provider. Structured Courses that are not Necessarily Accredited or Connected to an Education Provider

• Courses for adult education or youth development that may or may not be formally accredited. The broadcaster plays a proactive role in designing a course of which broadcasting is an integral part.

• Distributing audio and video materials for the further and higher education sectors. The resources are not necessarily programme series focusing on a specific course or courses.

• Forums for the specialized information needs of what is often a fairly small niche audience. While there is no structured course or curriculum, a regular series for exploring issues relating to a specific content focus is produced.

• Broadcast are used as a way of getting audiences interested in a specific topic. They are used to encourage people to want to find out more, to enrol in a more structured programme or course, and/or to buy or use more detailed support material.

• Targeted and short-lived campaigns. Broadcasters have been run to encourage social action It demands careful and thorough planning to involve all role players and networks necessary for its success.

Overview of Radio Broadcasting Initiatives
We conclude the chapter with an overview of IRI and radiophonic methodologies as these have been used in a number of countries for adult education and youth development. IRI adopted an overtly pedagogical approach characteristic of educational broadcasting phases of early optimism. It initially adopted a conversational style, or aural-oral methodology, between radio teacher and a chorus of students. Radiophonic schools adopted a similar pattern. Although their broadcast component has been less rigorously defined and documented, these programmes continued to form an integral part of curriculum delivery. As the methodology developed, IRI broadcasts allowed for more varied responses, eliciting responses from individual students in processes mediated by the classroom teacher. The role of the classroom teacher was increased, and more emphasis was placed on activities which took place after the broadcast and outside the classroom. It extended its focus from schools to a variety of learning contexts. Finally, additional support technologies like print and contact sessions were increasingly used, with audiocassettes eventually replacing the IRI broadcasts in some countries. This final tendency, towards extensive use of support technologies, follows trends in educational broadcasting as a whole.

Chapter Three: Perspectives from the Field

It is clear from interviewees’ responses that the ABET sector has a significant role to play in the economic and social development of South Africa. Unemployment and poverty were among the issues considered to be most urgent. Other socio-economic and political issues such as health, crime, democracy and rights were also singled out.

Interviewees held different views concerning the relationship between adult education and access to further training and employment opportunities. Some argue that literacy and numeracy should be offered in the context of skill training. Others argue that basic numeracy and literacy should precede skills training, and, once these basic competencies have been acquired, adults could proceed with skills training programmes. Notwithstanding such differing views, there was general agreement that ABET fundamentals constitute an important area of focus. The other key areas of focus are skills development and social development. In the case of skills development, a distinction is made between skills development in a specific economic sector and those skills falling under the ambit of income-generating and entrepreneurial activity. Whatever the case, it is clear that skills development is a key focus area.

It was further pointed out that youth, in particular those with no work experience and an inadequate education, are ill equipped to engage in income-generating activities or to enter existing employment opportunities. Thus, interviewees suggested that specific interventions were necessary to target this group.

Adults and youth in this spectrum have diverse needs which differ from group to group. Identifying and defining the target audience therefore, is crucial in determining the types of educational interventions and programmes required. There are some adults and youth who have a basic general education, but may lack a specific set of skills to access further learning or further educational opportunities. Consequently, a focus on skills development tied to a specific economic sector and accredited educational qualification may be necessary. If the target audience is comprised of those adults who live in rural areas and lack basic literacy and numeracy skills, then a focus on business skills and entrepreneurship as a starting point may be misplaced. It follows, therefore, that that any broadcasting intervention in the adult education spectrum must identify and be clear as to who the target audience is.

General Principles
By way of introducing a discussion of in-principle approaches, it is important to stress that this research process has focused on roles that educational television broadcasting can play in supporting structured educational interventions aimed at adults or youths (as defined in chapter one). Although many people stress the role of television broadcasting in raising awareness about key social issues and motivating potential learners to seek educational opportunities – the educative function of broadcasting – we have not focused on following up these types of recommendations (except where this would form one part of a broader, structured educational intervention in which the SABC is a key partner). The intention here has not been to exclude these roles for broadcasting. On the contrary, we strongly support the continuation of these ‘educative’ functions. Nevertheless, this report explores whether or not there are specific roles that television broadcasting can play in supporting more structured educational interventions aimed at youths and adults. Thus, the general principles articulated below – and the scenarios sketched out in chapter five – focus primarily on understanding roles for public broadcasting within this much more specific contribution to education and training in South Africa.

Any exploration initiated by the SABC to find possible ways in which it can help to solve some of the educational problems articulated in this report is in danger of developing various structural weaknesses that have led to the failure of other technology-enhanced learning initiatives. Most importantly, this research exercise itself is problematized because it aims to seek roles for a particular technology – television – rather than being driven by a focused quest for solutions to specific educational problems. Counterbalancing this concern, though, is extensive research that has already been undertaken which focuses on understanding the nature and extent of the educational needs and requirements of adults and youth (as has been documented in this report). This research exercise has drawn heavily on the experiences of such people to ensure that the primary purpose of this research exercise does not prejudice its findings.

Two distinct questions drive this planning process: ‘what new educational interventions are required?’; and ‘are there roles for television in supporting these interventions?’ Answers to these questions have to focus on understanding teaching and learning environments in their entirety. This suggests that a complicated series of questions needs to be answered during the implementation planning process, the first phase of which has culminated in this report. Some questions have been answered during this research process and some will still require answers during the second phase of implementation planning proposed in chapter six of this report. The line of questioning used models the decision-making approach developed by the Department of Education in its Technology-Enhanced Learning Investigation. This approach has provided the basic model for this strategic planning exercise, and should continue to inform it, regardless of choices finally made about the educational intervention/s that SABC Education will support.

The focus in this strategic planning exercise on structured educational interventions suggests a need to build on experiences in the conceptualization and implementation of large-scale educational programmes. For this reason, we believe it is very important to consider lessons emerging from high quality distance education practices around the world. These are presented in detail in the main report. In brief, they stress the importance of:

• Course design and development;

• Counselling and support;

• Quality assurance; and

• Effectively managed distance learning.

Specific Implementation Principles
In addition to important general lessons, there are various specific in-principle approaches emerging from this research process. Not only are they useful principles, they have significantly informed our thinking in constructing the scenarios which follow in chapter five.

• Target Audiences

– Resist the tendency to regard adults and youth as a single, composite audience.
– Identify a specific – and potentially substantial – target audience for any proposed intervention.

• Developing the Intervention

– Any intervention must be informed and driven by specific needs of proposed target audiences.
– Once a specific intervention has been selected, additional needs analysis, particularly involving discussion with the target audience, should be undertaken.
– Clear objectives and goals must be outlined from the outset.
– Educational interventions in this area need to be based on open learning principles if they are to be effective.
– Provision of adult education needs to be linked to the new integrated education and training system.
– Any educational intervention must be complementary to, and support, the goals, values, and principles of the Departments of Education and Labour.
– Educational opportunities in this area must focus on achieving a number of concurrent goals, providing learners with the necessary academic competencies that will enable them to enter higher education programmes while also presenting them with necessary opportunities to extend their skills for occupational purposes.
– It will be critical to ensure that the intervention is designed in such a way that it can be used in different ways by different people, depending on their requirements.
– References, language, and images used in the intervention must reflect the reality faced by most learners, and encourage use of resource to which they are likely to have access.

• Key Components to the Intervention

– Formal recognition for learners who successfully complete the full educational programme.
– Mixed media approach.
– Effective design of broadcast resources.
– Strategies to ensure the interaction of learners.
– Effective marketing strategies.

• Building Effective Partnerships

– The educational intervention should attempt to function as a focal point, bringing together various existing initiatives.
– It will be critical to establish formal, structured partnerships between various organizations to ensure the success of the intervention.
– Build partnerships between organizations and individuals with broadly similar objectives.
– Identify clearly the contributions of each partner - and their capacity to deliver accordingly - before beginning work.
– Develop clear, commonly agreed principles for the operation of the partnership
– Develop clear, commonly agreed strategies to ask partners to leave or to enable them to withdraw from the partnership.
– Types of Partnerships

* Partnerships should focus on ensuring that the intervention is part of a coherent, well coordinated national strategy involving relevant government departments, educational institutions, the private sector, and NGOs. Given this, it will be essential to establish partnerships with:

* Appropriate government departments
* Educational providers.
* Community of learning.
* Funders.
* Product and Service Providers
* Major networks.

• Quality Assurance

– Integrate evaluation and impact assessment into the learning system from the start, and adopt a learning orientation to the use of technology in education and training.

The scenarios presented in chapter five were selected according to the following criteria:

Relevance to stated objectives of the research exercise.

Existence of a potentially large, easily identifiable target audience.

Alignment with relevant national policy processes that have sufficient momentum at the policy level to ensure at least some likelihood of short- to medium-term progress in policy implementation.

Absence of a significant educational intervention targeting the learning audience of the scenario.

Indication of sufficient infrastructure, interest and capacity to effect the implementation of the intervention.

A potential role for television.

We have attempted to construct the scenarios in such a way that the specific curriculum focuses could be changed without substantially affecting the scenario. For example, in the scenario on learnerships (scenario one), we focus on an intervention supporting the growth and development of the cultural industry. This could easily be adapted to focus on the tourism and hospitality industry, the mining industry, or any other industry where large-scale learnership programmes are likely to be implemented. Likewise, in the scenario on SETAs (scenario two), we have focused on the proposed Cleaning SETA. This could easily shift focus to any one of the other 34 SETAs. A short summary of each scenario is provided below.

Scenario One: supporting The Implementation of Learnerships in the Cultural Industry
This intervention will be designed to form an integral part of a structured and accredited education and skills qualification in the cultural industries, in support of the implementation of ‘learnerships’ in that industry. As articulated in the Skills Development Act, learnerships will comprise a structured learning and practical component of training opportunities in different industries. The educational intervention will aim to develop a structured, accredited educational opportunity – of which television programmes – would constitute a key component – built around learnerships. It will be run along distance education lines, requiring learners to interact with television programmes, printed materials, and practical work (the latter as part of the learnership). In addition to supporting the educational intervention, television programmes will aim to publicize the cultural industry, thus motivating viewers to pursue a career in this industry, which has been identified by the Department of Arts, Culture, Science, and Technology (DACST) as a major growth industry. They will also provide practical and useful information to entrepreneurs working in this field, even if they do not wish to enrol for a formal course or educational programme.

The target audience will primarily comprise young people roughly between the ages of 19 and 35 who have completed nine or more years of schooling and are unemployed or in temporary employment. It will aim to provide young people a potential route into the cultural industry, using the vehicle of learnerships as an engine. An educational provider (or several providers) will take responsibility for administration, registration, and certification of learners, and the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) for the cultural industry will oversee the intervention. The SABC and partner educational providers will need to build a partnership with DACST, which has recently embarked on a ‘Cultural Industry Growth Strategy’ to enhance and promote the development of the cultural industry. Other collaborations could include a range of organizations and associations in the cultural industry.

Scenario Two: Supporting the Cleaning SETA
This intervention will support the education, training, and skills development of domestic workers. The SABC will, in conjunction with the Department of Labour, the Cleaning SETA (under which domestic workers fall), and identified educational providers, develop and implement a structured learning and skills programme aimed at enhancing the skill levels of domestic workers. This programme will lead towards accreditation, aimed at enhancing the employability and income-earning potential of successful learners, as well as possibly opening new career paths. The Cleaning SETA, the Department of Labour, and the identified educational provider will ultimately drive the process of curriculum and content development, and will also be responsible for matters relating to formal recognition and accreditation.

In addition to supporting curriculum delivery for the qualification, educational broadcasts would also: focus on working conditions; explore the notion of SETAs by focusing on the Cleaning SETA’s roles and purposes; and explore aspects of the Cleaning industry as a whole. They will also be designed to be of value to learners who are not able to enrol in the full educational courses or programmes offered as part of this intervention. Consequently, it will be important to establish working relationships with the Domestic Workers’ Union. Finally, strategies to secure the active participation and support of employers will be critical to the success of this intervention.

Scenario Three: Local Economic Development
This intervention will support identified existing programmes that focus on local economic development. In this way, it will target learners in the Further Education and Training Sector who are focusing on local economic development. These include learners in local government structures and formal learning institutions. It will use case studies to illustrate local economic development issues as they pertain to small medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), the changing nature of work, and the global economy. It will operate at multiple levels, with some learners simply watching broadcasts, others supplementing this with use of support material, and others using a combination of these resources in a structured, accredited course.

Various organizations offer courses that focus, to varying degrees, on SMME skills development, the changing nature of work, and job creation. The SABC’s involvement in this could act as a catalyst for taking one or more of these to scale. Broadcasting could be well used as part of such an intervention to show the complex and interrelated nature of economic development, while simultaneously showcasing successful initiatives in different part of South Africa. The National Business Initiative has developed such a course, which adopts a case study approach, and is using this with local government officials around the country.

Scenario Four: ABET
This intervention will target ABET learners from levels two to four. It will provide back-up support for people not enrolled in ABET classes, who need to develop and maintain their literacy and numeracy skills. It will also be a source of curriculum material for learners in structured ABET classes. As there are insufficient resources that are designed at an appropriate language level for either basic English or African languages, the broadcast component of this intervention will provide broadcasts that use plain language in order to develop language and literacy competence. The broadcasts will be linked to printed support material developed at the same language level. These could be used in structured ABET learning environments or for home-based reading. It may be possible to use the same characters in broadcasts and printed materials to ensure some continuity between resources.

The SABC will need to work with a number of organizations for this to be successful. These will include: higher education institutions that specialize in adult learners and ‘plain language’ resource development; ABET materials developers; ABET Education providers; and organizations supporting planning, policy development, and implementation in this area (including the Department of Education’s ABET Directorate).

The final contribution of this research report is to outline a short, but intensive, implementation planning exercise, in which these ideas are focused further, partnerships established with appropriate players, and an intervention (or possibly more than one intervention) planned and implemented.

The objective of the planning process described will be to lead to the implementation of at least one educational broadcasting intervention in the fields of adult and youth education as described in this document (in which SABC Education supports a broader, structured educational intervention). The intention will be to narrow down the possible options – based on brief, but intensive consultation with a small reference group – and then to establish clear channels of communication with potential partners for the identified interventions. Having achieved this, the process will lead to the construction of detailed implementation plans, which will include signed memoranda of agreement with each partner.

In seeking to achieve the above, we have identified various outputs:

1. Finalized Choice of One or Two Identified Interventions

2. Establishment of Channels of Communication with Potential Partners

Full list of potential partners (omitting those who have eliminated themselves during this first round of negotiations, either because of inability or unwillingness to participate);

Clear understanding of expected and possible contributions of all potential partners;

Clear statements of the benefits of partnership for each partner; and

Confirmation that partnership will involve no conflicts of interest from any potential party.

3. Implementation Plan

This plan will include the following components:

A clear description of the purpose and rationale behind the intervention, drawn from this report;

Descriptions of appropriate educational experiences on which the intervention can draw (building on work in this report and focused additional research);

A detailed outline of the teaching and learning models on which the intervention will be based;

Implementation strategy, including:

– Outputs;
– Activities (including phased implementation strategies where appropriate);
– Implementation timeline, with detailed activities and milestones;
– Outline of human, physical, and financial resources required to start and maintain the intervention;
– Detailed costing of the training intervention, with a particular focus on technology-related costs; and
– Preliminary business models for ensuring the intervention’s long-term sustainability.

4. Memoranda of Agreement/Contracts

5. Implementation plan for second intervention (if required)

6. Memoranda of Agreements/Contracts for second intervention (if required)