Four ABET levels lead to success. Employees who have completed all four levels of ABET are functionally literate. This means that they can use their English literacy and numeracy skills to perform at their best. They are, therefore, productive, efficient, accurate and safe workers. Employees of this calibre are welcome members to any team. This is because they help to drive growth and profitability of companies. Given the chance to acquire essential English literacy and numeracy skills, your employees can also perform at this level and make a significant contribution to the success of your company.
Provider of four ABET levels
Triple E Training is a leading provider of the four ABET levels. Our quality ABET continues to help many companies to raise the English literacy and numeracy levels of their workforce. These employees work in factories, warehouses, retail and services, as well as on construction sites, mines and quarries. They perform mundane but essential work. After completing our adult literacy and numeracy training, they are able to communicate efficiently in the written and spoken word. Moreover, they are able to understand written and verbal instructions in the formal language of business. This ability reduces errors that lead to delays and waste, as well as accidents. Employees who have completed all four ABET levels are also logical and critical thinkers. Moreover, they are able to use their own initiative and solve problems. This enables them to function effectively independently or as part of high-performance teams. They do not have to be “micro-managed”, freeing up management to focus its efforts in other areas of the business. Equipped with English literacy and numeracy skills, they also have the confidence that they need to undertake new tasks or accept additional responsibilities. This is because they know that they have the skills to always give their best.
Four ABET levels formalised
The four levels of ABET were formalised after the first free and fair elections. Government recognised adult literacy and numeracy training as an important means of redress. This is by providing many adults who were deprived a proper education the opportunity to acquire basic English literacy and numeracy skills. The private sector would also continue to provide adult literacy and numeracy training to help government break the back of illiteracy.
Industry has a long legacy of providing ABET that started in the 1950s. This was when heavy industries, including the mines, realised the importance of providing adult literacy and numeracy training to low skilled employees. Bear in mind the extremely low literacy levels of migrant workers and indigenous South Africans. Many indigenous African workers could not even write their names or read a simple piece of text due to a skewed education system. They also lacked the basic numeracy skills that they needed to successfully navigate just about every aspect of life. In the 1970s, industry stepped up its ABET programmes. The focus was on imparting second-language English literacy skills to employees.
Progress through four ABET levels
The private sector has since helped many South Africans progress through the four ABET levels. This is so that they too can acquire critical English literacy and numeracy skills. The important role that the private sector has to play in helping government to break the back of illiteracy is clearly articulated in the ABET Act 52 of 2000. Refer to https://www.saqa.org.za/sites/default/files/2019-11/act52.pdf for more information on the ABET Act 52 of 2000.
Industry continues to establish the benchmark in adult literacy and numeracy training. This includes in terms of the quality of training facilitators and relevance of adult literacy and numeracy training. Notably, private ABET providers have also been able to keep pace with the rapidly changing literacy and numeracy demands of industry. These have all contributed to the very high progression rates of employees participating in private sector driven ABET. https://www.gov.za/documents/skills-development-act#:~:text=to%20provide%20for%20Iearnerships%20that,provide%20for%20matters%20connected%20therewith articulates the role that companies need to play in helping to raise the skills of employees. https://www.bbbeecommission.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Explanatory-Notice-1of-2019-B-BBEE-Skills-Development-Spending.pdf provides information on how skills development contributes to transformation.
Four ABET levels unlock potential
The four ABET levels gradually unlock the potential of your low skilled employees. ABET is an important opportunity for low skilled employees to acquire basic English literacy and numeracy skills. Without these skills, they will not be able to grow and develop their careers and as individuals.
This is especially important in a digital era that is increasingly relying on advanced skills. More low-skilled and semi-skilled jobs are becoming redundant as industries embrace new and sophisticated technologies. The Future of Jobs Report 2020 | World Economic Forum (weforum.org) provides more reading on the rapidly changing skills demands of industry. Low skilled jobs are, therefore, increasingly at risk. Notably, the report warns that by 2025, more than 80-million jobs throughout the world could no longer exist. This is as a result of automation and a new division of labour between humans and machines. According to the report, this disruption will take place across as many as 15 industries and 26 economies. It also notes that 80% of business executives are accelerating plans to digitise work processes and deploy new technologies. A total of 50% of employers are also expecting to accelerate the automation of some roles in their companies.
Four ABET levels prepare workforce
The four ABET levels prepare your workforce for a new era characterised by very high levels of productivity and efficiency. The mining industry, for example, has identified ABET as an important means of readying its many unskilled employees for this era of automation and mechanisation. This is by equipping its employees with the foundational English literacy and numeracy skills that they need to learn new and relevant skills.
According to Statistics South Africa, almost one of all semi-skilled jobs that existed before the outbreak of the pandemic were lost. These include sales staff, craft and related trades, clerks, plant and machine operators, as well as skilled agricultural workers. About 600 000 jobs that were lost between the fourth quarter of 2019 and the third quarter of 2021 were related to sales and services. This was the biggest number of jobs lost during this period as a result of the “great reset” and the “new normal”. Among others, these jobs included travel attendants, restaurant service workers, retail salespersons and demonstrators. Low skilled jobs are even more at risk. If one considers that individuals who perform these skills are either semi- or completely illiterate.
Four ABET levels
The four ABET levels entail more than English literacy and numeracy training. Most individuals start with English literacy and numeracy and then learn other courses. These may include natural, economic and management, as well as human sciences; technology; life orientation; in addition to arts and culture. Employees may also want to complete courses that are specifically related to their careers. These cover retail and wholesale; travel and tourism; ancillary healthcare; early childhood development; and applied agriculture.
As your employees progress, they gain more education and training. The various levels of ABET are equivalent to the General Education and Training that is taught at school. Employees who have completed ABET Level 4 have skills at a National Qualifications Framework Level 1. Their skills are, therefore, equivalent to those of someone who has completed Grade 9.
ABET solutions for your needs
Triple E Training provides ABET solutions to suit your unique needs. No two ABET assignments are alike. Adult literacy and numeracy training needs to be adapted to each environment to be a resounding success. Ask Triple E Training to help you identify the extent of English literacy and numeracy gaps in your company. We will then be able to devise the best way to bridge them quickly and efficiently with minimal interruption to your production schedule. www.eee.co.za.
