Triple E Training, a leading adult basic education & training provider, is giving many people a second chance in life by helping them complete their basic education.
The company’s high-quality ABET provides adults with a broad conceptual foundation towards lifelong learning and development. This comprises knowledge, skills and attitudes that are needed to meaningfully participate in the social, economic and political landscapes. It also enables them to be part of transformation that is relevant to a myriad of contexts. Individuals who complete the company’s flexible, developmental and targeted courses obtain nationally recognised certificates.
An unfortunate reality is that many South Africans are stuck in the poverty trap, their dreams dashed and outlook for the future bleak because they do not have a basic level of education.
An unfortunate reality
Magda van der Merwe of this AET Accredited Provider, says, “It is estimated that more than 3-million South Africans are illiterate. In many instances, these people grew up in previously marginalised areas and, therefore, could not afford to complete their schooling. Some even had to leave school early to help support their families.”
Many orphaned children also fall through the cracks of the country’s educational system. This is considering that there is currently no stipulation on who should be held accountable for ensuring that orphaned children attend school. Yet, education is a basic human right for all citizens of South Africa according to the Constitution of the country so that they can learn a variety of skills and obtain the knowledge that they need to prepare them for employment.
“Sadly, interventions, such as no-fee schools, school feeding schemes and the provision of textbooks for orphans, have largely been unsuccessful in ensuring that many orphans complete their basic education. This again demonstrates the essential role that adults play in providing emotional and material support, in addition to encouragement and guidance in the education of children,” she says.
Multidimensional child (0 to 17) poverty by province (2015)
| Limpopo | 82,8% |
| Eastern Cape | 78,7% |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 75,8% |
| Mpumalanga | 69,2% |
| North West | 64,1% |
| Free State | 53,8% |
| Northern Cape | 53,8% |
| Western Cape | 37,1% |
| Gauteng | 33,6% |
South Africa’s literacy rate
Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.
- South Africa literacy rate for 2017 was 87,05%, a 7,32% decline from 2015.
- South Africa literacy rate for 2015 was 94,37%, a 0,23% increase from 2014.
- South Africa literacy rate for 2014 was 94,14%, a 0,41% increase from 2012.
- South Africa literacy rate for 2012 was 93,73%, a 0,63% increase from 2011.
Source: Macrotrends
Crumbling foundations
The AET Provider is also assisting those people who left school because they were demotivated by the very poor quality of education that they were receiving in these areas. This is a dire situation with which South Africa still grapples.
The challenge is evidenced by dysfunctional infrastructure, such as poorly maintained buildings and less than adequate water and sanitation. This is especially the case in poor areas where the quality of education infrastructure continues to decline at an unprecedented rate.
“Most of the effort since 1994 has been on improving the quality of teaching in these areas with very little focus on addressing, among other issues, poor school sanitation. The reality is that scant attention has been paid to sustainability and long-term service infrastructure provision, with female learners among the worst affected by the situation,” Van der Merwe says.
Poor curriculum and teaching standards; overcrowded classrooms; and relatively sub-standard educational outcomes in outlying areas of the country are also cause for concern.
According to a recent study undertaken by Amnesty International, titled Broken and Unequal – The State of Education in South Africa, the country has one of the most unequal school systems in the world and, worryingly, the gap is widening. It has been exacerbated by, among other factors, rampant corruption with funds for education being misappropriated.
This inequality in the country’s educational system is evidenced by the fact that children in the top 200 schools achieve more distinctions in maths than children in the next 6 600 schools combined. The study also notes that more than three quarters of children of the age of nine cannot read for meaning in some provinces. This is as high as 91% in Limpopo and 85% in the Eastern Cape.
Government expenditure on provincial services in 2017/2018
| Education | R223-billion |
| Healthcare | R177-billion |
| Economic affairs | R57-billion |
| General public services | R30-billion |
| Housing and community amenities | R24-billion |
| Social protection | R10-billion |
| Other | R29-billion |
Provincial government expenditure on education in 2017/2018
| Pre-primary and primary education | R101-billion |
| Secondary education | R76-billion |
| Education NEC | R46-billion |
| Total | R223-billion |
Total government expenditure on education per province for 2017/2018
| KwaZulu-Natal | R49,3-billion |
| Gauteng | R42,4-billion |
| Eastern Cape | R33,6-billion |
| Limpopo | R29,5-billion |
| Western Cape | R20,8-billion |
| Mpumalanga | R19,6-billion |
| North West | R15,4-billion |
| Free State | R13,6-billion |
| Northern Cape | R6,1-billion |
Percentage of Grade 9 learners in various school types that performed above the low international benchmark of 400 in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study
| Public no-fee schools | Public fee-paying schools | Independent | |
| Mathematics | 19% | 60% | 81% |
| Science | 16% | 58% | 81% |
“A national crisis”
The ABET Accredited Provider also continues to assist many people who made uniformed decisions in their youth as they did not appreciate the importance of basic education and training in their younger years. It is only once they were faced with the responsibilities of life and real-world circumstances that they understood the value of this important foundation.
Van der Merwe says South Africa’s high dropout rate remains a serious concern. “It can be described as a national crisis, with about 60% of first graders leaving school before completing 12th grade. Meanwhile, only 52% of the age-appropriate population remain enrolled by Grade 12,” she says.
Certainly, violence in schools especially in previously marginalised areas are among the other major contributors towards the status quo. Many children also leave school prematurely because they were raped or sexually abused by their teachers.
Teenage pregnancies also continue to contribute towards this problem. A sobering reality is that more than a million pregnant teenagers across sub-Saharan Africa were barred from returning to school since the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in the region in early 2020. This is according to a study, titled Covid-19 Aftershock: Access Denied. It highlights the “additional and unanticipated disruption” of the pandemic in the region, which also includes an increase in the risk of sexual violence exploitation during the period that female learners were unable to attend classes.
Worryingly, up to 10% of learners between Grade 1 and Grade 11 cannot be accounted for following the reopening of schools since the hard Lockdown was implemented in South Africa. According to the Department of Basic Education, more than 300 000 children have since potentially dropped out of primary schools throughout the country.
With 126 553 children having missed school during the hard Lockdown and the various restrictions implemented to contain the spread of COVID-19, KwaZulu-Natal had the highest number of recorded absentees. The Western Cape had 114 558 and Gauteng 55 571 absentees, followed by Limpopo with 800 and 370 in the North West.
Raising the competence of South Africa’s workforce
In addition to individuals who want to further themselves, many businesses continue to approach this leading ABET Provider to assist them in raising the competence levels of their employees.
Triple E Training’s reputable Adult Education and Training centre offers many skills development programmes.
The ABET Accredited Provider’s most popular course entails instruction in basic communication and language skills.
“Learners who have completed this Adult basic education & training course are able to hold conversations, assist clients by asking informed questions, provide directions and learn more about the general geography of South Africa. They are also taught other valuable skills, such as how to read, write and count,” Van der Merwe says.
She explains that literacy and numeracy are a foundation for development and growth. Individuals who understand the visual representation of language, as well as the rules for matching sounds and letters develop the ability to process new languages. Literacy also reinforces and adjusts certain important capabilities, among other critical skills, verbal and visual memory. This is in addition to influencing the pathways used by the brain for solving problems.
Advanced interventions
Triple E Training also provides more advanced adult education & training, such as those courses with a specific focus on management, daily operations and other similar tasks. They are also extremely popular among businesses that want to bolster productivity levels by raising the proficiency of their workforce.
With the help of the company’s consultants, learners can select modules that suit their unique requirements. Classes are also scheduled to accommodate business schedules.
The AET Provider’s qualified tutors who are all experienced in the fields that they teach help to ensure that the content is interesting and easy to follow. They are regularly assessed to ensure that they provide quality Adult Education & Training.
Triple E Training also provides adult basic education & training at company premises when learners do not have a means to travel to the learning centre to attend classes.
Its tutors have even travelled to outlying areas of the country to teach enterprising learners who are determined to improve their circumstances.
“Triple E Training has provided Adult Education and Training for many years and looks forward to assisting you with the best courses and affordable rates for your adult basic education and training requirements,” Van der Merwe concludes.
