Abstract
M.Ed.
In 1995, a year after the African National Congress (ANC) came into power in South Africa, Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) became one of the government’s priorities in redressing the imbalances of the past. The new Government’s ongoing policy work resulted in the adoption of a National Adult Basic Education and Training Framework as interim policy which created the over-arching vision for implementation and agreed curriculum goals for ABET (Booysen, 1999:1). This vision was primarily based on measures to eradicate illiteracy and to equip South African citizens with the necessary skills and knowledge which would allow them to access further learning and employment and allow them to participate in political life and social activities for the benefit of individuals, their families, and the country (Department of Education, 1997:7). According to the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) report (1997:7), the society that would establish the twenty-first century was being shaped by new and powerful forces that included the globalisation of economic activities, the growing importance of knowledge as a prerequisite for participation in fundamental human activities and increasing democratisation and political systems. Within this context ABET’s successful implementation in South Africa is imperative in order to incorporate the historically disadvantaged and marginalised South Africans into a new form of citizenship and democracy.
Mrs. N.F. Petersen