TransCape NPO, South Africa

While their children are more and more exposed to education, adults in rural communities are becoming more interested in functional literacy and gaining skills to improve their own lives. Literacy is a basic requirement for accessing these opportunities.

The Mankosi Adult Education Project is a three year literacy, computer and business skills development project. The aim of the project is to improve pathways to learning and educational opportunities for rural adults. The project is achieving this by offering affordable literacy, numeracy, computer and business courses.

Many of the adult learners are already working with TransCape on other community projects, like Home Based Care and HIV Support Groups. Computer skills and literacy are vital to the success of their projects as they use skills to fundraise and represent their work to donors. Every year about 100 adults in the area receive support from TransCape in the form of interest free microfinance loans. With a course in Business Skills, these adults are much more likely to make a long term success of their business.

Why is there a need for the project?

The Mankosi Administrative Area in the Ngqeleni District is situated in the OR Tambo Municipal Area and has been identified as one of the Presidential Poverty Nodes. It is the poorest district in the poorest province in South Africa. The area is beset by a lack of skills, a severe lack of quality education and HIV infection rates are estimated at 29%. Unemployment is at more than 90% in the rural communities and there is a heavy reliance on pensions and government grants for survival.

Acquiring literacy, numeracy, computer and business skills goes a long way towards transforming an adult’s sense of self and self worth. By addressing the inequalities of the past and providing access to quality non-formal education, adults learn not only to read and write, but begin to take control of their everyday lives through activities like reading medication instructions and information pamphlets, filling in forms, banking, and voting.

The Mdumbi Education Centre (MEC) is a grassroots, community education and training centre located in the Mankosi Administrative Area, Ngqeleni District. As one of TransCape’s first education projects, it enrolled over 100 adults in Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) in 2008/2009. Through a partnership with Media Works and AgriSeta, many  adult learners have successfully completed and passed exams to date. The Mankosi Adult Education Project (MAEP) incorporates the ABET programme offered at MEC and further develops the adult programme by offering appropriate and contextual computer and business courses as well as access to internet and other services.

Interviews and workshops with adults of the Mankosi Community demonstrate an overwhelming desire for computer skills. However, without basic literacy skills, using a computer is nearly impossible. Therefore the MAEP makes our internationally recognised basic computer course,  available only to learners enrolled in the ABET programme. This will in turn encourage participation and attendance of learners in the literacy aspect of the project.

As part of the MAEP, internet and services such as online banking, assistance with typing CVs, photocopying documents etc will be available for adults to access. This will create an experiential learning environment around topics about which adults are self-motivated to learn.