LOCAL education rights organisations have slammed Minister of Education Kader Asmal for treating illiterate adults as “stepchildren” within the education system, and are calling for the convening of an education parliament on adult illiteracy in South Africa.
The call is part of a local action week by a coalition of civil organisations, school governing bodies and teachers’ unions forming part of the Global Campaign for Education (GCE). The aim of the annual campaign is “to eliminate any obstacles towards learning, eradicate illiteracy and increase participation of the girl-child in schooling and learning”.
This year local lobby groups are focusing on Adult Basic Education and Training (Abet).
Between eight million and 15-million South African adults are illiterate. Organisations working with adult illiteracy, such as the Adult Learners’ Network, say the ministry is unnecessarily delaying giving teeth to legislation regulating the sector.
As a result, Abet continues to be crippled by, among other things, insufficient funding and low teacher morale owing to poor conditions of service.
Every year, as part of the GCE action week, the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) publishes a “report card” on the ministry. This year, says Sadtu, Asmal scores “an F-plus” on eradicating adult illiteracy, because less than 2% of the national education budget is spent on adult education, thereby “reinforcing the pool of unemployment and illiteracy”.
The Abet Act, promulgated in December 2000, was welcomed as a regulator for a sector that has functioned on an ad hoc basis. The adult learning centres, for instance, are known as “night schools” because they “squat” after hours on government school premises. The centres themselves have to “find” teaching materials like chalk and textbooks.
Furthermore, conditions of service for adult literacy teachers are not on par with those of full-time teachers employed by the state. For instance, they are not eligible for benefits, and though most are paid by the state on an hourly basis, in some cases teachers are paid by the pupils.
“Abet educators are not treated professionally,” says Archie Mokonane of the Adult Learning Network, adding: “They are treated as casual workers – even casual workers have better conditions of service.”
In other cases teachers are volunteers, which Mokonane says is also a problem “because you can’t guarantee commitment in voluntarism”.
The Act, which develops several regulations relating to conditions of service for teachers, sources of funding by the state and allocation of specially designated premises for Abet, has not developed beyond the pen and paper stage, says Mokonane.
“Our concern is the Act is gathering dust and needs to be put into action,” says Gregory Clark, an executive member of the Council for Adult Training and Education.
The South African National Literacy Initiative, launched by Asmal in 2000 and aimed at eradicating illiteracy in five years, also has shortcomings, says Clark. Promised sources of funding have not materialised and there is a lack of coordination between provinces.
Adult education organisations are using the GCE week to propose that Asmal convene an education parliament, to sit on June 16 – the anniversary of the 1976 Soweto uprisings – to determine how the regulations of the Act need to be put into action.
“Sometimes they acknowledge more needs to be done, but we’re growing tired of this mere acknowledgement: we want things done,” says Clark.