South Africa

Since 1998, DVV International has been working in South Africa through its country office in the fields of non-formal youth and adult learning and education (ALE).

South Africa has had a democratically elected government for 30 years now. Even though South Africa is a middle-income country overall, there is an enormous income disparity between rich and poor. Since the end of apartheid in 1994, education and training have therefore been at the top of the government’s agenda, with a focus on vocational and formal education.

Economically disadvantaged and poorly educated groups, on the other hand, are rarely offered community education and learning programmes that give them the opportunity to improve their lives. In 2013, South Africa published the White Paper on Post-School Education and Training which represents the most important national policy framework for education outside of the traditional classroom. By issuing this document, the government acknowledged for the first time that non-formal education programmes must be supported and promoted alongside established formal programmes if the education sector is to truly respond to the needs of local communities.

DVV International supports the government through consulting and training on approaches, planning and implementation of non-formal education. The country office also builds bridges on the one hand between the continuing education system, which is still mostly formally orientated and controlled by national and provincial administrations, and on the other hand with the community-based partners with many years of experience and expertise in non-formal education.

Main focus of work

• Policy advice: DVV International supports the government in implementating the White Paper on Post-School Education and Training. The main focus is on specialist consulting and training services that support the introduction of adult learning and education approaches.
• Strengthening the capacities of community colleges: While the political and conceptual framework is clear, the management and teaching staff of the responsible community colleges (CC) in all nine provinces must strengthen their capacities in order to interpret this framework in line with the national implementation strategy and carry it out with the responsible authorities. DVV International particularly supports the implementation of the non-formal education curricula in the community colleges.
• Piloting of curricula and educational programmes: To ensure that the curricula and education programmes adopted by the CC system are truly community-oriented and effective, they need to be tested at the local level. Therefore, programmes geared towards starting a business and generating income are currently being supported with civil society partners, primarily targeting women and youth in the four pilot provinces (Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Gauteng).

Partners

Important strategic partners for DVV International include the Ministry of Higher Education, Education and Training, and in particular the Department for Higher Education and Training and the South African Forum for Community Colleges. Within civil society, DVV International works with numerous actors, especially at the local level. These include The Women’s Circle (TWC), the Popular Education Programme (PEP), the Adult Learning Forum (ALF), the Centre for Education Rights and Transformation (CERT), the Centre for Integrated Post School Education and Training (CIPSET), the Overberg Development Association (ODA) and the Initiative for Participatory Development (IPD).