ASECA (A Secondary Education Curriculum for Adults)
-
by
ASECA, the Adult Secondary Education Curriculum for Adults, was a pioneering educational initiative designed to offer adults an opportunity to complete their secondary education. Developed to address the educational needs of adult learners who had missed out on formal schooling, ASECA provided a flexible and accessible curriculum tailored to their life experiences and learning needs. Through a combination of self-paced learning materials and support from educators, ASECA helped adults attain their General Education Development (GED) equivalent qualifications, opening doors to further education, career advancement, and personal growth. By focusing on practical and relevant learning, ASECA empowered adult learners to achieve their educational goals and improve their life prospects.
A Note on ASECA by Louise Vale, the project director:
ASECA (A Secondary Education Curriculum for Adults) 1992 – 2005?
In 1990, SACHED made a policy decision to focus on adult education. ASECA grew out of this decision, Turret College and support from the International Extension College, Cambridge.
The potential audience was adults of any age with some primary education, who wished to complete their secondary education and further develop their knowledge and skills. This audience had previously been excluded by the apartheid educational system, comprised/s of considerably large numbers and was/ is essential to any kind of societal development facing a new country.
After the defeat of the apartheid regime, innovation and initiatives flourished in the ferment and excitement of a possibility of a new dispensation in South Africa. ASECA staff spent their time researching the future audience; working with academics and teachers on theories of education and adult learning methodology; talking to employers and institutions of learning on knowledge and skills required for entry into their arenas; and in discussions with mass organisations, unions, and various political parties, around the needs and dreams of social justice. (See Lucy Alexander and Natheem Hendricks interviews)
At the same time ASECA published learning materials, developed forms of delivery and piloted Community Learning Centres in the Western Cape, The Eastern Cape, KwaZulu/Natal and Gauteng.
We learnt and did and learnt again.
During the late 90s and early 20s, funding dried up as funders and governments diverted funding to the new government and the educational sectors indicated: adult education and early childhood development were not part of them. ASECA limped along.
SACHED, ASECA, like many others such as USWE, ABE services, Project Literacy, university adult education departments, union initiatives and many others slowly disintegrated and the South African legacy of quality adult education experience and learning of over many centuries has been ignored and is in danger of eroding.
Louise Vale
1992 – 1996
