CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.3 Flora Park Comprehensive Public Adult Learning Centre
4.3.8 Challenges faced by educators and learners
I had forgotten the instructions on each bottle.
I had to wait for his mother to come from work at 16h00”.
Doing washing is a skill in the sense that every garment has special care instructions and one should be able to follow these instructions. Some garments need hand wash only while some need both machine and hand wash, some need only dry clean, some need to dry under shade and no tumble dry. One learner shared her experience of lack of skills:
“Due to inability to read and write, I have wasted so many things at work. I have burnt a lot of clothes and I am labelled one with a burning hand”.
Learners at Flora Park Adult Learning Centre need to be taught Learning Areas which are related to their daily work so that they can acquire skills in their scope of work.
A very serious factor that causes enrolment fluctuation is the programmes not being able to meet the educational needs of the learners. During the interviews with the learners they indicated that they wanted to be taught how to read and write. Elderly women moved for skills such as needlework and knitting jerseys. They feel that could help them to generate income. The table below shows enrolment statistics for different years at Flora Park Comprehensive Public Adult Learning centre.
Table 6 Enrolment statistics for the years 2004 to 2008 (Flora Park ABET Centre)
YEAR FEMALES MALES TOTAL
2004 36 0 36
2005 39 2 41
2006 31 1 32
2007 23 1 24
2008 27 1 28
The enrolment at Flora Park Comprehensive Public Adult Learning Centre started at 36 female learners with no male in the year 2004. In 2005 the enrolment increased from 36 to 39 female and two male learners. In the following years the trend of enrolment fluctuates at a decreasing rate. For the current year, 2008, the centre has enrolled only one male and 27 female learners. This gives a total of 28 learners. From the year 2004 to 2008, enrolment of male learners is very little as compared to that of female learners.
4.3.8.2 Training
Educators at Flora Park Comprehensive Public Adult Learning Centre are qualified to teach in ordinary public schools. The Department of Education organises workshops through the help of district coordinators in order to enhance the skills of these educators.
The centre manager indicated that
“A more intensive workshop can last for five days and a less intensive lasts for three days”.
The educators felt a five day workshop on skills training of adult educators is not enough to capacitate them to teach adult learners.
4.3.8.3 Absenteeism
A very serious problem that affects teaching and learning progress at this centre is absenteeism by learners. Absenteeism is caused by factors such as tight schedule, learners going on leave, and lack of interest in the Learning Areas.
Learners indicated that employers who do not support Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) use tactics such as a tight schedule to prevent their domestic workers from attending ABET classes.
One of the learners indicated the following during interviews:
“My employer can phone me while I am on my way to the centre, so that I go back and feed her dogs”.
When they are on leave, they visit their families and it becomes difficult to come back and attend lessons in the city far from home. This could be expensive to learners. It is more convenient to learners to attend lessons while staying at the places of their employers.
Learners at this centre indicated that some of the Learning Areas such as English and Mathematical Literacy are difficult, causing them to develop a negative attitude towards them. Due to lack of interest in the Learning Area, the learners decide not to attend and stay at ‘home’ on those days that the Learning Area will be offered.
4.3.8.4 Punctuality
The problem of punctuality affects teaching and learning at this centre. The learning centre is not within walking distance for some of the learners. They come late for lessons because they work far from the learning centres. The long distance between the learning centre and place of employment causes learners to incur high transport costs.
4.3.8.5 Relevance of the programmes
Learning Areas offered at this centre are relevant to a certain extent. The aim of Flora Park Public Adult Learning Centre is to teach learners how to read and write. The objective of this centre is to educate adult learners in order to enable them to get better paying jobs. Learners need to be taught how to read and write, how to communicate in English, how to use new technology, and they need to be taught skills that are relevant to their scope of work. One old woman who is also a learner at the centre indicated that:
“I am happy that I am taught how to read and write but I also want to learn how to make dresses”.
The older women who are in their 50s feel they cannot further their studies in FET colleges and as such it is better if they can be taught skills which are relevant to their daily duties.
4.3.8.6 Lack of resources
There is a serious lack of resources at this centre since the Department of Education supplies only textbooks to learners. The rest of the learner support material is the responsibility of the learners themselves. Considering the type of job in which they are employed, one can understand that buying learning materials themselves is a burden to the learners. The centre is understaffed with only two educators yet the enrolment is from level 1 to 4. The educators are not able to perform their work satisfactorily due to work overload. There is constant migration of educators which is
caused by poor conditions of work. Educators leave the adult learning centre for greener pastures. Migration of educators impacts negatively on learners as they are left without an educator for a month or more.
4.3.8.7 Accommodation
Flora Park Comprehensive Public Adult Learning Centre is accommodated in a primary school. Only two classrooms have been allocated to the centre. When classrooms are running short, the preference will always be given to fulltime learners.
To accommodate an adult learning centre in a primary or secondary school is inconvenient because sometimes gates or classrooms are locked in the afternoons.
This hampers the adults’ learning progress.