The purpose of the Research

The research was based on Setsabi, Lesaoana and Molefi (1992) Study of Socio-Economic Situation of the Basotho Men. The Setsabi et al study outlined the educational training needs of the mine workers who had returned to Lesotho from South African mines. Their educational needs included training in bricklaying, carpentry, knitting and sewing (usually occasionally with women), driving, income-generating skills on dairy farming, pig rearing, poultry and improved farming practices and building construction.

The study was designed to investigate how the Lesotho Distance Teaching Centre (LDTC) could offer skills training to returned miners in rural areas by means of distance teaching methods, given available survey information on the needs of returned miners. The study also had to find out

• What kind of skills mine workers had for self-reliance that could be developed further
• What other self-reliant skills miners would want to learn
• What skills training programmes the LDTC had been engaged in .

Target Group

Skills training is a part of non-formal education programmes of the LDTC which include the provision of literacy and numeracy and post-literacy programmes meant for herd-boys, out-of-school youths and adults.

The LDTC has in the past been involved with women’s activities, especially income generating groups, while the men were away at the mines. Now that large numbers of men are back home and unemployed, there is a need among them to become orientated towards self-employment, so that they are able to cntribute towards the support of their families and the development of the country itself. Returned miners should be involved in skills training to reduce te rate of unemployment.

Returned Mine Workers, are Basotho men who have left their jobs in the South African Mining Industry. According to Setsabi, Lesaoana and Molefi (1992) there are various reasons for this, i.e. repatriation, discharge and the most frequent being retrechment. The retrenchments in South Africa have affected the mine workers more than other Lesotho Migrants. The study concentrates on the mine workers since they are the ones

i.e repatriation, discharge and the most frequent being retrenchment. The retrenchments in South Africa have affected the mine workers more than other Lesotho Migrants. The study concentrated on the mine workers since they are the once who have been terribly affected in great numbers. The returned miners are Basotho men who are heads of their families. They are back home and are unemployed and this has also affected many wowen and children who depend on their income.

Many of the miners have not been prepared for an unemployment situation. They should have been made aware of how to increase and use their retrenchment packages wisely and what sort of income-generating activities they could become involved in. The provision of skills training would benefits returned miners, if they could join appropriate programmes.

Skills Training

From the standpoint of courses offered in local technical institutions in Lesotho, one can say Skills Training refers to practical topics or subjects such as: agriculture, horticulture, land and rural development, home and family development, carpentry, bricklaying, plumbing, tailoring, masonry, nutrition and other technical subjects like civil engineering, electrical installation, motor mechanisms, accounting, banking, management, entrepreneurship, appropriate technology for rural development and health education.

Skills training at the Lesotho Distance Teaching Centre (LDTC) includes dealing with topics such as gardening, cookery, crocheting, poultry and dairy farming, pig rearing, child care, first aid and knitting and sewing. The LDTC also trains people in the communities for self-reliance. They are trained on the management of their small income-generating projects and simple bookkeeping.

Though the paper will concentrate on skills training as offered by the LDTC, it is also important to say briefly about other programmes which offer skills training in Lesotho. The Lesotho Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) through its Agricultural Field Services (SFS) uses distance teaching method and extension work for its skills training programmes. The MOA covers the whole country through radio nd television programmes with agricultural production skills. Its radio programmes include, Re Bitsa Lihoai, meaning We Call Farmers programme, while the television programme is called Mohoma Temeng, meaning Let us Plough (Phoofolo June 1996:2)

Other examples of institutions dealing with skills training do not use distance education. The Lesotho Development Centre (LDC), is the newly established institution particularly offering skills training to returned miners and other targets groups on part-time basis. The LDC was established in 1995 by the Development Unit of the National Union of Mine Workers, in South Africa, to run skills and business training for the unemployed returned miners including other people who are interested in starting small businesses and those from different income-generating associations, as well as women in small businesses. The centre runs skills training on candle making, security fence making, sunflower oil pressng and bread making just to mention a few. Business training courses run with the help of course materials from Trident Institute, in Cape Town, South Africa. The course has seven modules (LDC 1995:3)

Other examples offer skills training or vocational education on full-time basis. The Bethel Business Development Centre (BCDC) offers a 2 year rural development curriculum which includes solar technology, agricultural skills, rural building construction, domestic science, metal work, woodwork, organisation (demoncratisation and leadership) and business development and management (Yaholnitsky 1996:4). The Lesotho Opportunities Industrialisation Centre (LOIC) training is seventy-five percent practical and only twenty-five percent of it is theory. The LOIC’s clientele are unemployed, under-employed, unemployable, retrenched, poor and hungry. The LOIC offers marketable skills that enable its graduates to find satisfactory and constructive employment in building skills as bricklaying, carpentry, plumbing, sheet metalwork and welding (Lesela 1996:1).

LDTC’s Skills Training

The following are practical examples of how different topics are dealt with by the LDTC. With self-instructional printed materials, simple instructions are given step-by-step for a learner to follow how to make things and get them right individually. Inside a Vegetable Gardening booklet (LDTC 1978:7) instructions go along with pictures of the materials used. Another example has been taken from a Brick Making or Cement Building Blocks booklet (LDTC/Lesotho Network 1991:9). The same way instructions have given in twelve steps on How to make building blocks.

The examples of skills training radio programmes given were produced at the workshop on Radio Production at the LDTC. One of the radio programmes was on one chapter of Vegetable Gardening booklet discussed on Radio Lesotho Station. The programme is meant for young farmers. The second example of an educational radio programme is based on poultry farming booklet (LDTC 1880:56) on How to take care of poultry chickens. It is about the basic requirements of poultry farming. The programme is also dramatised.

The producers for the above examples of radio programmes, tried to make sure that they increased audience by making them as interesting as possible and that they addressed the needs of the target groups.

Training courses for the income-generating groups are held at community level. The groups are trained on group functioning and leadership, simple bookkeeping and programme planning. Training on the above topics is based on the LDTC Intensive Training Module (1985), a self-instructural training module. The LDTC made some considerations in developing simple bookkeeping system, which can easily be understood and maintained by groups members despite their low academic level. The module contains a variety of exercises to be done to make sure they understand what makes a group or an association or a committee; the right procedures for handling associations money; how to fill in the headings of a simple bookkeeping sheets; how to fill in columns of a simple bookkeeping; how to balance books and most importantly of all, when a start and end planned activities. The Intensive Training Module is also used in a face-to-face training workshops for the groups.

The assistance programme provided financial assistance and training for both the groups and the extension agents from other departments with hope that the extension agents will help groups when they encounter problems. Training included leadership, management and communication skills.

Distance Education

The paper quotes two definitions of distance education by two different authors and as experienced by the LDTC, through its skills training programmes.

Distance education can be defined as the teaching/leaning process in which students are separated from the teachers by a physical distance which is often bridged by modern communication media (Chander 1991:1)

We can define distance education as an educational process in which significant proportion of teaching is conducted by someone removed in space and/or time from the learner. In practice much distance education has used a combination of media, often in the form of correspondence courses, with broadcasts and with some face-to-face sessions (Perraton 1991:20)

Distance education in Lesotho by both the LDTC and the Ministry of Agriculture uses printed materials with the support of radio programmes and face-to-face tutorials sessions. The LDTC’s literacy programmes involve printed materials which are distributed to learners through literacy teachers and sometimes learners collect their learning materials from the centre themselves. The materials on topics of a practical nature, are distributed through local schools, clinics and churches. The LDTC’s assistance fund programme serves the income-generating groups, at villages level through the training workshops with use of training modules. The modules are used face-to-face training workshops for the groups.

Methodology

This research project used a variety of methods for collection of information. One method used was a content analysis of the study by Setsabi, Lesaona and Molefi (1992).

This research is based on information provided in the study by Setsabi et al (1992), on the educational needs of returned and prospective miners.

The review of related literature was made to support the aims of the research.

A case study of the Lesotho Distance Teaching Centre was carried out. The case study focuses on the experiences of the Centre in the provision of skills through distance teaching mode.

Information or reviews of respondents were collected from staff of institution of the Distance Education Association of Southern Africa (DEASA), who attended the LDTC conference on Distance Education in Development in March 1994, and whose group report was used.

The staff member institutions or organisaiton of the Lesotho Literacy Network participated in in-depth interviews, guided by question guide.

The staff of the Basic Education Unit of the LDTC also participated in the focus group discussion of the same question guide.

Some other two LTDC’s staff members who do not work in the BE Unit, also participated in individual in-depth interviews.

Findings of the Research

The findings of the research are based on the findings from the review of related literature, from the LDTC’s case study and from the respondents view.

Distance and non-formal education institutions world-wide deal with the problem of lack of skills which causes poor vocational opportunities. Such programmes or institutions are designed to help individuals and communities acquire skills that will help them to become selt-reliant.

Many institutions world-wide offers training, vocational, technical or practical subjects using distance teaching mode. In developed countries, a number of institutions of distance education use the following approach to distance education:

Cooperation among institutions, universities and colleges and industry. This involves sharing of all resources available. This is practiced in New Zealand, Australia, Greece, Canada, United States of America, United Kingdom and France.

Production of experimental kits containing text, slides and printed materials. The methods is used by the Youth Women’s Christian Association, in Greece.

Concentrating more on practical classes in the form of on-the-job training, block courses, one weeks residential, week-end sessions, drop-in business workshops on Saturday mornings, full time practical training and work-place training in New Zealand, Australia, France and the United Kingdom.

Computer-based learning is another method used in skills training. Computer technology is used as one of the new methods of delivery in distance education, particularly in skills training.

Institution in developing countries such as Jamaica, India, Zambia, Mauritius, The Republic of Colombia in South America, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia concentrate on community development component of skills training.

In developing countries there are a number of different methods used for offering vocational education including distance education.

Consortia or collaborative method in distance education, through which available resources are shared is used in Jamaica.

Farm forums on radio programmes are used in Open Universities in India, the Boskop Training Centre in South Africa, the Mauritius College of the Air, the Tanzania Moshi Co-operative Education in Venezuela, the National Apprenticeship Service (SENA) scheme of the South American republic of Colombia, and also used as a model in Zimbabwe and the Bishop Training Centre in South Africa.

The field mobile training units, which travel around a country with basic technical and audio-visual equipment, self-instructional materials and an instructor to run courses, are used at the National Institute for Co-operative Education in Venezuela, he National Apprenticeship Service (SENA) scheme of the South American Republic of Colombia, and also used as model in Zimbabwe and the Boskop Training Centre in South Africa.

Production of experimental kits containing texts, slides, printed materials is another method used by the Mauritius Colleges of the Air. The kits have equipment for the experiments.

Students practice is ensured through apprenticeship scheme through on-the-job training, residential practical courses, work-place training and extension work. This is practiced in Venezuela, Jamaica, Taiwan, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Some developing countries, Kenya and Botswana have programmes that offer skills training for employment purposes using integrated approach to distance education. They relate education to rural development purposes by engaging extension and contract methods respectively. The Village Polytechnic Self-Help Movement in Kenya and the Brigade System of Vocational Training in Botswana. They both use community work and on-the-job training approaches to provide skills training.

Findings from the LDTC’s Case Study

The LDTC has the experience of offering skills training or practical subjects to rural people through distance teaching in the past. It ran two skills training programmes through a booklet scheme or the production of materials on topics of a practical nature and the assitance fund programme for income-generating groups of women.

The booklet scheme produced a variety of booklets on practical first aid, vegetable growing, crocheting for beginners, expecting a baby, child care, cookery, advanced crocheting, common cattle diseases, asparagus growing, spinning and family planning, which were used by for example Agricultural Field Educators and other Extension Workers from different non-formal education programmes involved in skills training activities. Also the Red Cross workers used the First Aid booklet in their training courses for young people and nurses used health materials for health education in their clinics.

The financial assistance fund programme of the LDTC for income-generating groups of women, went along with skills training on bookkeeping, management of the associations, leadership and planning skills, conducting meetings, budgeting, marketing and communication skills. The activities for which the loans were given included poultry-keeping, dairy farming, pig rearing and knitting and sewing.

The revolving fund programme experienced both successes and problems. The successful groups were happy with the acquisition of different skills, that members were able to unite as a group, became self-reliant and earned money. The problems experienced by some groups included lack of marker, expensive raw materials, cattle and chickens dying, late payments of loans and lack of cooperation among members of the groups or associations and lack of immediate help when there was a problem.

Findings from the Respondents’ Views

The research identified other target groups which need skills training, including returned miners. Other target groups are as follows: herd boys, youths, crop producers and animal producers (farmers) and revolving fund/income-generating groups. It also generated some new additional educational needs mentioned below for those target groups.

The returned miners had some work skills acquired in the area of bricklaying, automotive repairs and mining. They also had some self-reliant skills they would like to develop further such as farming and the use of farming machinery and their maintenance, the use of seeds and fertilizers, building construction, income-generating activities and formal education.

The LDTC can serve the educational needs of the returned mine workers, by increasing the number of programmes and including some vocational subjects that are interesting to the returned miners, such as literacy and numeracy; continuing education in its various forms, agricultural skills and animal husbandry; building local houses (building construction); carpentry; wood and metal-work; plumbing; driving; sewing and knitting; handicrafts; co-operative education and enterpreneurship skills.

The research identified a number of strategies, approaches and activities for the provision of skills training through distance teaching. The include:

The LDTC’s responsibility for the production of appropriate and relevant materials and reviewing them over time.

• Establishment of study or learning centres with equipped workshops.
• Strengthening of the Networking system through which resources will be shared.
• Establishment of a co-ordination committee to facilitate collaboration between government and non-government organizations
• Arrangement of apprenticeships with some organizations or small engineering contractors, where learners will get a chance to practice their skills.
• Development of a strong monitoring and supervision system to ensure smooth running of programmes.
• Reviving the assistance fund programme to enable returned miners to obtain loans for their small businesses.
• Finding markets for products without which income-generating groups find it difficult to make profit and to continue with their small businesses.
• Strengthening the non-formal education programme at the Teacher Training College so that newly trained teachers will have been equipped with non-formal education skills that will enable them to participate in non-formal education activities
• Ensuring the most cost-effective use of facilities at the LDTC and training of facilitators or instructors.

Conclusion

Some of the methods used in offering skills training at a distance are used in both developed and developing countries. Some of the methods used in developed countries have not been used in developing countries.

The methods and approaches used by distance and adult or non-formal education institutions and programmes discussed in this research project, could be adopted by the LDTC for the provision of skills training for returned miners. A combination of methods discussed above, would help returned miners to acquire skills in different skills training subjects.

Women’s groups in Lesotho are oriented towards self-employment. Their activities with the LDTC involved an integrated approach to distance education, the method which promotes community development. The LDTC’s assistance fund programme was needed by income-generating groups to strengthen their small projects.

Some men had joined women’s groups. It seems that even returned miners might be interested in forming small income-generating groups, if they are encouraged, probably on the basis that their projects would be strengthened.

Field Mobile Training Units

Field mobile training units are the main aspect of the training process. The mobile units, with instructors and learning materials, visit communities and run training workshops for learners. The mobile units are supported by the production of experimental kits.

Experimental Kits

Experimental kits include:

• Printed materials: simple self-instructional materials, written in Sesotho, with pictures

• On demonstrations, showing how to do things step-by-step.
• Text books
• Tools and finished products
• Picture book of demonstrations

• Tools or equipment for use in practical work
• Radio programmes supporting printed materials would involve, e.g.:

• Dramatizing lessons with participants or learners as actors
• Educational radio broadcast on lessons
• Radio listening groups in villages where learners gather together and listen to the programme.
• Recording the proceedings of listening groups and broadcast them over the air
• Publishing skills training programmes
• Education radio announcements
• Radio cassettes – for individual learners to play on their own tape recorders at home.
• Video cassettes – for instructors to play during-block or residential courses and learners to play at home
• Slides on practical work done during previous lessons or just completed by the present group learners.
• Use of telephone link for communication
• Use of computer as a media (to be used but not in the near future).

The Training Process

The training process involves the use of the consortium method.

The field mobile units would have instructors for different subjects and be organised as follows:

• They can be the LDTC’s instructors or external instructors from other vocational institutions running, for example, a one or two-week training courses in a field mobile units.
• Saturday or wee-end workshops for practical work.
• Instructors could range from:

• Technical Vocational
• Extension Workers
• Animators
• Monitors
• Learning Post Administrators
• Instructors from Non-Government Organizations

Distribution of materials to learners is done by different instructors during classes and also through local institutions like churches, clinics, community clubs or associations, etc.

The Integrated Approach to Distance Education

The integrated approach to distance education involves community development or extension work through income-generating association, in development activities. This will include:

• Financial assistance to strengthen associations and
• Training or members of different groups on financial management of their associations

Recommendations

Different methods of offering vocational education at a distance have been cited from different distance and adult institutions and programmes world-wide. Therefore it is recommended that the LDTC adopt and adapt some methods or approaches used by those distance education institutions offering skills training through distance teaching, and use their experiences as a basis for expansion of the LDTC.

The LDTC’s skills training programmes, the booklet scheme and the assistance fund programme were popular were popular; therefore it is recommended that the Centre revives these programmes and iclude unemployed Basotho men or returned miners as new target group.

It is recommended that the LDTC’s production and dissemination capacity should be strengthened. It should diversify the type of materials it produces, and include topics that are interesting to returned miners, which help them to acquire skills for use for self-employment

The development and implementation of a strong monitoring and evaluation systems is recommended for the sustainable programmes.

With a view of expanding the programmes so as to accommodate other target groups, it is recommended that the Centre should ensure the establishment of study or learning centres at district level, where some practical aspects of skills training could be undertaken.

At the moment there is shortage of staff at the LDTC. So it is recommended that the LDTC employ instructors with at least diplomas in knitting and sewing, farming (which includes knowledge in poultry and pig rearing, the use of seeds and the use and maintenance of farming machinery or motor mechanics), building construction, driving and wood work. This would ensure increase of human resources for smooth implementation of the programmes.

It is improbable that the LDTC can manage the skills training programme alone, without help from other organizations. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that the LDTC works out a strategy to make use of resources, experts or instructions from other vocational institutions for skills training programmes.

The sharing of resources would be possible if all-formal education programmes, with their different activities in the country, were unknown. Therefore, it is recommended that a directory of non-formal education programmes be compiled.

A marker was a problem for the small income-generating projects at the LDTC. So it is recommended that the LDTC and other related departments, should find market channels for the products produced by Basotho men in their income-generating activities, ideally before they start engaging in such activities.

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