By Tumelo Modisane
The Executive Officer of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), Samuel Isaacs, presented service recognition awards to Kha ri Gude coordinators who have just gone through a two-day moderation and verifications workshop that was specifically designed for the Mass Literacy Campaign by SAQA.
The presentation of awards took place on the 7th January at the end of a four-day workshop organised by Kha ri Gude, Department of Education. It was held at the St George Hotel in Rietvleidam, Tshwane. One hundred and fifty-seven coordinators from all provinces attended the workshop.
The first two days were geared towards a workshop on moderation where a sample of 15 000 portfolios were moderated for the Mass Literacy Campaign, while the latter two days were dedicated to strategic planning for the year ahead.
Addressing the delegates, Mr Isaacs thanked them for the work they'd done on monitoring and evaluation. He said that it is a historic moment for people to go through a literacy programme and have tangible proof of the quality of that learning.
Kha ri Gude, Tshivenda for 'let us learn', is a campaign aimed at enabling 4.7 million adults to become literate between 14 April 2008 and the end of 2012.
Adults who have missed out on their schooling and those who cannot read or write have been invited to join one of about 20 000 literacy classes that are currently held all over the country.
This South African mass literacy campaign was developed in response to the call by Education Minister Naledi Pandor for a national campaign to end illiteracy among South African adults.
It forms part of the 24 Apex Priorities announced by former President Thabo Mbeki in his 2008 State of the Nation Address and is supported by the full range of government departments and initiatives.
Joseph 'Jeff' Porota is one of the 3600 coordinators involved nationwide with the Mass Literacy Campaign. He is from the Free State and is also an education official responsible for ABET classes in the Free State. As a coordinator he is tasked with coordinating two local municipalities in the Free State namely Motheo and Xhariep.
He says that coordinators are also responsible for the monitoring and support of Kha ri Gude classes, and liaising with stakeholders such as Community Development Workers (CDWs) and other government departments. The Mass Literacy Campaign is structured to accommodate coordinators, supervisors and volunteer educators.
The coordinators support the supervisors by giving them advice, handling reports and queries, and by motivating them. The supervisors in turn support the volunteer educators.
When asked how he found the workshop he responded that it was a real eye-opener. "We were stuck and were not sure about how we'd proceed with the new group of learners. The workshop has clarified all that. The second week of January we'll start with a campaign on advocacy and recruitment of learners until the second week of February," he said.
Then the registration of learners will take place and classes will start in April/May. Classes take place for six months then the learners graduate with and ABET level one. Learners are taught numeracy and how to read and write in their mother tongue. Learners are later taught Conversational English.
The delegates left the workshop with renewed energy to start with advocacy and recruitment for 2009 in their respective provinces.
Click here for Photo Gallery