SITE VISIT - Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and ...

communities that might ordinarily not have access to formal education in general and early
childhood development in particular. This is critically important in South Africa since about half
of the population, including pre-school age children, live in rural areas which often do not have
basic education facilities or trained teachers and only 8% are reached through traditional training
mechanisms.
In South Africa, there are already organisations in place committed to bringing quality education
to more people using this strategy. Among them are Open Learning Systems Education Trust
(OLSET), the University of South Africa (UNISA), Technikon RSA, Technisa and commercial
colleges such as Damelin. The South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) says its
goal as removing unnecessary restrictions on educational opportunity so that all people can have
maximum access to learning and knowledge, when and where they need it. The organization
hopes to "liberate the existing education system from ritualised, expensive and uneducational
rigidities."
Distance education at its best is a form of open learning, available to everyone. That is essential
to the building of a viable education system in the new, democratic South Africa. By using
various technologies and media, it is a way of "leapfrogging" over existing problems to solutions
to the myriad problems facing education here.
South Africa has a long history of correspondence education. But the previous approaches have
had their limitations, none were directed toward children, few incorporated principles of
interactivity and learning theory and not much was available to further the education of those in
the field of early childhood development. The tradition of correspondence education has not
included active student support systems. However, much of the vital infrastructure for distance
education is in place, such as a good radio and television broadcasting network as well as
community-based organizations that can be used to get information to the target groups.
According to the experts at SAIDE, distance education should include a combination of print,
broadcasting and face-to-face education because these elements reinforce each other. SAIDE
cites research that indicates students benefit if more than one single method or medium is used.
Multi-media courses have resulted in the greatest success. Despite the costs, satellite and
computer links should not be ruled out as they are also quite effective. There are different costs
and organisational components but used in tandem allow for economies of scale adding to
savings that make distance education economically attractive.
Studies have shown that computers can be quite effective, especially when it comes to training
teachers. Computer-managed instruction provides a private non-threatening way of learning
because it minimises the embarrassment of different ability levels in the same class.
When considering the strategies of media-based education, it is important to train staff who are
able to combine teaching, administrative and curriculum design skills in ways that are different
from classroom education.
The SABC
SABC, the state radio and television network, was in fact a mouthpiece of the apartheid
government. During the anti-apartheid struggle, many South Africans were focused on
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