SERVICE DELIVERY IN GAUTENG PUBLIC ADULT LEARNING CENTRES
Date
2012-02-10
Authors
Thembekwayo, Rosemary Semaka Phindile
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Abstract
The South African education system is grounded in two essential political
fundamentals, namely, that our people are our greatest assets and that they
are their own liberators.This research report is a response to the failure to see
an improved service delivery in the adult literacy sector in line with the
demands of the “Batho Pele” principles. Enhancing service delivery in this
sector poses a special challenge to the Gauteng Department of Education if
the national goal of transforming the public sector is to be achieved.
The ABET Act is viewed as probably the most valuable aspect of any attempt
to eradicate poverty. Legislation in the form of the ABET was intended as a
solution to human centred development as advocated by the Hamburg
Declaration on Adult Learning. The White Paper on Public Service Training
and Education (1997) acknowledges that the national and provincial
education departments have failed in general to provide adequate financial
and human resources for training units within organizations, including the
GDE. Thus, GDE is challenged to “think globally and act provincially” to begin
to respond to local needs in education and give the PALCs their rightful place
in its priorities. The study argues that while educators work towards achieving
the GDE’s mission “to provide for the quality assurance and quality promotion
in adult basic education and training”; the government has to play its part in
fulfilling the ABET Act’s promise of “funding of public adult learning centers.”
The methodology used in this research is of a normative and qualitative
nature. That is, all the information gathered is based on the experiences and
perceptions of participants and stakeholders in this sector. The researcher
hopes that this research will help improve practice in enhancing service
delivery in this sector. The GDE’s assertion that “education provides the tools
for absolute emancipation, empowerment and freedom” must be brought to
fruition by monitoring the executive of the adult education sector as well as
providing resources in terms of equitable budget allocation, skilled human
capital and the requisite infrastructure development.
Description
MM - P&DM
Keywords
Service delivery, Adult education, Adult basic education