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PRESENTATON AT THE IFA CONFERENCE

HELD ON 28 MAY – 02 JUNE 2012

AT PRAGUE – CZECH REPUBLIC

DATE: 30 MAY 2012

THEME: Access to knowledge, education and Training

TOPIC: A Literacy programme for older people in South

Africa – Muthande Model

PRESENTER: Thandiwe Yeni - a volunteer

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INTRODUCTION

South Africa before 1994 was characterised by the existence of 18

separate education departments defined along the racial and tribal lines.

The Acts, Policies and funding differed according to race with White

schools receiving more allocation whilst departments of former

Homelands received the least. Adult education was accessible to adult

learners and learners who dropped from school at the age of 16 due to

certain circumstances but still wished to further their education. The

education system did not consider the education of Senior Citizens as a

priority but expected them to be part of the adult Basic Education learner

population.

In 1996 all education departments were merged into one department of

National education with one National Minister and 9 MECs (Members of

the Executive Council) representing the nine provinces. The constitution of

the Republic of South Africa declared education including adult basic

education –a right. The country had about 6 million functionally illiterate

adults. 4.7 millions of this number had never been to school to receive

any level of basic literacy. About 1. 2 million of those who had never

been to school came from KwaZulu-Natal.

Informal programmes run by different departments like, the Night Schools,

which were aimed at addressing illiteracy were of no help to our senior

citizens for a myriad of reasons such as the time during which classes were

held; tutors; areas where learning sites were situated; transport problems;

rural/urban human settlements dynamics; subjects offered and the

subject content and context.

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Conditions under which the night schools were conducted were not

conducive to effective learning to many of the learners but were worse

with older people who wished to enrol.

Time: classes were held between 18H.00 and 20H00.

Tutors: were teachers who had their day time duties and had to switch to

a specialised methodology designed to teach adults. The methodology

did not consider older people and their physical and mental status.

Learning sites: often were not centrally situated calling for a long walk or

travelling to them.

Transport: Public transport after 19H.00 was and is still a challenge to many

of black South Africans whose places of residence are far flung from the

cities or towns. Attending night classes meant hiring private transport to

deliver and collect one from the learning site.

Human settlement: People from rural areas could not have these classes

because few sites had electricity. Poor transport or no transport and the

proximity to the sites were a great challenge;

Subjects: Subjects offered, their content and context were inline with the

national curriculum but did not take into considerations the aspirations of

the older people.

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MUTHANDE SOCIETY FOR THE AGED – HELPAGE INTERNATIONAL LITERACY

PROGRAMME

Back Ground to the Programme

In 1996 Muthande Society for the Aged (Muthande meaning – love him or

her) established the Literacy programme for the older people. The

programme was heeding a wide cry from MUSA (meaning: Grace) older

people members who expressed the deep-felt discrimination by society

because of their age and also because of their being illiterate.

They wanted to reap the fruits of democracy by receiving basic

education for the first time in their lives. Their cry was highly entertained by

Muthande because it was in line with the constitution of the country that

upheld the basic human rights, amongst which is the right to basic

education for all. Muthande saw an opportunity to heed the call by the

then Minister of education Dr. Kadar Asmal that illiteracy be made a

priority in South Africa. The ANC government expressed the determination

to “break the back” of illiteracy in South Africa by 2004. Muthande found

the older people as the sector of society that was neglected and seen as

not viable as a target group since they are at the twilight of their days and

they are economically not active or productive.

Needs analysis

With the technical and financial assistance and support by Help Age

International (HAI) Muthande Society for the Aged (MUSA) conducted a

joint needs assessment exercise for its members. This was being driven by

the desire to expand activities and programmes for the service centres.

A needs analysis exercise was to find out the following:

- Who were the potential learners?

- What did potential learners expect from such a programme?

- How could the community benefit from the programme?

Members of Muthande in all the areas of our operation were consulted

through discussions in the service centres and one –on- one talks with the

chairpersons of the area committees composed of older people;

Friends of Muthande who were in the education sector and those who

were involved in education as non-governmental organisations were

consulted for advises and guidance.

Why older people wanted to learn?

- They never had an opportunity to learn as most were born as

children of farm workers. Farm workers’ children started working as

young as five years old picking eggs in the fowl runs, cleaning and

washing dogs’ kennels and looking after the Madam’s children.

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- They were not allowed to go to school and there were no schools

for Black children in the neighbourhood. They were denied

education as well as land ownership.

- Those who wanted to have their children educated would take

them far away to relatives who lived in trust lands where there were

no oppressive farm rules and schools were available and open to

every learner although governed by Separate Development

policies. Parents would pay the price by being punished or chased

out of the farm for moving their children from the farm.

- Some farmers did not allow their workers to get married. Wedding

celebrations were disrupted by the farmer who would sjambok

everybody who was there and even chase them away from his

farm.

- Socialisation of black communities was that it was wrong to take

the girl child to school as this was going to make her wise and

runaway from home and go and lead a promiscuous life in the

cities. Girls were more disadvantaged than boys.

- Older people wanted to be able to read for themselves not to rely

on their grandchildren. They wanted to be able to read and

understand the contents of the official letters, bills, prescriptions on

their medicines and count and reconcile cash slips, change and

the amount forked out. They wanted to see and understand their

savings, be able to fill forms, withdrawal and deposit slips

themselves; signed and not use the thumb fingerprints as their

signature.

- They wanted to be able to read and understand the Bible.

- They wanted to be able to help their grand children with homework

as they are the ones who receive them from school.

Who were the potential learners?

Older people who were members of Muthande and were participants in

all the activities that were offered in the service centres were the potential

learners. Muthande also opened the invitation to older people who were

not members of the society.

What did potential learners expect from such a programme?

The finding of the needs analysis was that older people prioritized a need

for MUSA to initiate a literacy programme that would address their literacy

need.

- Learners expected to have a programme that accepted them as

they were.

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- They needed a curriculum that was going to teach them literacy,

numeracy, and writing. It had to take an experiential approach and

be theme-based.

- Some expected to be assessed and be accredited – wanted to

have a report whilst others wanted knowledge and skills without

sitting for an examination.

- They expected to be taught by older people and not young

people as they find them lacking patience, tolerance and

steadiness.

- They wanted the curriculum content and resource materials to be

relevant to and in context of the lives of the older people.

How the programme came to fruition?

- Muthande, as a member of Help Age International who had

funded the needs assessment exercise, tabled a proposal for the

funding of the programme. Help Age International was able to

source funds from DFID (Department For International

Development) that covered the training of facilitators, the

development of training and tutorial materials, the facilitators’

stipend and administration for three years.

- A non-governmental organisation that supported Adult Basic

Education and Training- NASA (National Adult education Support

Agency) assisted with the selection and training of facilitators who

were recruited from the members of the Society.

- NASA also assisted with the development of tutorial manuals and

assessment tasks to be used at the end of every module.

- The University of Natal now known as the University of KwaZulu-

Natal, through its Centre for Adult Education supported the

programme and was appointed by Help Age International as the

Mentor. The centre was funded to mentor, monitor and evaluate

the programme. Input from the University was beyond the literacy

class – students were encouraged to tell their own stories. This

resulted in learners writing two books “Isigubhu Sezimanga- The

power of the drum and other stories” and “Siyabakhumbula” ( We

Remember Them).

- The two publications were a pride to older people, a great

achievement and a proof that older people can do it if given the

opportunity and support.

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- Classes were conducted during the day at the four learning

centres:

Area

Number of Learners Number of facilitators

Clermont Central 24 1

KwaDabeka (Sub5) 22

1

Chesterville 15 1

Lamontville 20 1

Total No. of learners 81 4

- The programme was coordinated by a Social Auxiliary Worker who

held a Diploma in ABET. Her duty was to support facilitators, monitor

their progress and collaborate with NASA and other NGOs in

providing in-service training.

- The facilitators were older people themselves, all aged between 58

and 81 and some of them were retired teachers.

- Needs addressed by the programme

There is a host of needs addressed by the programme namely:

o Deep sense of loss felt by older people which was created by

not being able to attend school in their younger years for

one reason or the other.

o Financial abuse experienced by some older people, getting

cheated at shops, banks, pension payouts and in their own

homes by their children and their grandchildren because

they could not count.

o Ability to read and take their medication correctly.

o Ability to read a Bible and find chapters and pages in

reference.

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o Ability to read buses and street names in order to get around

without seeking directions from strangers who might take

advantage of them and mug or abuse her.

o Ability to understand fully the contents of the product sold to

her and be able to take informed decisions.

o Ability to understand their rights and exercise them where

necessary.

o Ability to assist their grand children, those in lower grades,

with their home work, school projects and reading.

- Ability to use the ATM without seeking assistance from the bank

personnel or the security guard

Challenges experienced

o Older people are vulnerable: When there are challenges in their

families they affect them. e.g where a family member is infected

with HIVAIDS and is sick, the older person would sacrifice everything

and become a fulltime caregiver. Some could not complete their

studies because of that.

o Health and frailness: Some did not complete because of health

reasons.

o Facilitators also had their own challenges and would resign whilst

the programme was in progress

o Finance was the last challenge incurred at the end of the term of

the funding but Muthande tried her best to keep it running until she

partnered with Masifundisane –a government of KwaZulu-Natal

initiative and later with Karigude –another government project.

The latest partnership sees to the provision of the learning materials

and the stipend for the eight (8) facilitators we are utilising.

ACHIEVEMENTS

The Impact of the programme

o In 2000 Muthande Literacy Programme enrolled 25 learners to write

the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) of these 18 passed the

examinations and seven with merit. However, this proved to be

unsustainable as it is a very expensive examination.

o The number of learners increased. In 2005 there were 102 learners

at an average of 26 per centre;

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o The number of learners that went through the programme is 250

plus 25 that wrote IEB examinations.

o The current situation is that there are 135 learners and 8 facilitators

for the 8 centres.

Adult literacy and numeracy as basic education does not only offer older

people the basic foundation for lifelong learning but also function as the

catalyst for knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for active

participation in social, economic and political transformation.

To assess if the programme was able to improve the quality of lives of

older people we used the five criteria used by USAID in 1995, by Hashemi,

Schuler Riley in 1996 and Jejeebhoy in 1996 being:

1. Knowledge Autonomy

2. Decision-making Autonomy

3. Physical Autonomy

4. Emotional Autonomy

5. Economic and Social Autonomy and self-reliance

Using a questionnaire distributed and administered to most graduates by

the facilitators, Muthande got the feedback from the learners after their

completion of the programme.

Criteria Feedback received by Muthande

1.Knowledge Autonomy Older people felt that being literate

was having knowledge and better

understanding of issues.

2.Decision-making Autonomy Older people realised that they

were now involved in decision

making processes, feeling confident

and being articulate.

3.Physical Autonomy This improved but general safety still

necessitated being accompanied

or and very cautious movement.

4.Emotional Autonomy This liberated some older people

who now able to vehemently

reject family domination and abuse

by reporting incidents.

5.Economic and Social Autonomy

and self-reliance

Economic and social security

improved as some older people

began to control their finances and

enjoyed self-reliance.

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- The programme raised the awareness of the needs of older people

in the communities where the literacy classes were operating. It also

demonstrated that older people can and do want to learn.

- The programme was carefully documented and lessons learned

were disseminated both within South Africa and regionally through

the Help Age International Network.

- The programme motivated older people to engage in other

activities that addressed the social and health problems such as:

HIV /AIDS peer education and awareness programme;

Income generating projects such as sewing and food gardening

and other programmes aimed at alleviating poverty.

- The Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal has initiated a

literacy campaign under the slogan “each- one- teach - one”. The

project saw 1200 learners going through the project in one year. This

was initially a three year project but was extended to five years. This

has since been replaced by Karigude.

- Muthande literacy programme is unique and has enjoyed

acceptance, appreciation and support by the communities.

Thanks to HELP AGE INTERNATIONAL for the funding, support and

exposure that Muthande has enjoyed all these years.