Learning in rural areas – issues, barriers, current practice, opportunities for progress: a southern African perspective

Rural areas in Africa are characterised by limited infrastructure.  This means that there are often no landlines, cellphone signals are not always present, water may be obtained from rivers, wells or standpipes and electricity may also not be present. Sanitation is likely to be basic, consisting of ventilated pit latrines. Equally roads are very unlikely to be tarred, at best there will be gravel paths, in many cases there are simply uneven tracks. Occasionally there may be other support structures such as small community buildings and a local shop that sells basic amenities and food. A small health clinic is likely to be accessible. Almost certainly there will be a church and/or mosque. Personal housing can range from traditional rondavel huts made out of local materials, with little or no furniture, to fully equipped brick buildings with satellite dishes and other amenities such as indoor toilets, though the latter is less likely in the most remote rural areas.

The population in rural villages may range from just a few hundred to several thousand people. In some African countries, due to rural-urban migration there may be semi-rural areas.  In South Africa these are usually called ‘townships’ where some of the aforementioned infrastructure (cellphone, water and electricity, even roads) is in place.  However, unemployment will be high and most people will be living on subsistence farming.

Although rural areas may have limited facilities, not all inhabitants will regard themselves as poor.  If one has cattle, one has wealth, for instance.  Literacy levels vary from country to country and from region to region.  Usually, the more remote an area is, the less likely people will have been schooled. 

Rural areas in most of Africa, including South Africa, experience a dual form of governance.  On the one hand there are the traditional chiefdom structures where the chief may take responsibility for judging local crimes such as cattle theft or domestic disputes or even land allocation.  On the other hand there will be some form of community council structure which is controlled by the elected parliament and through which official planning decisions may be communicated.  A typical governance distinction is that the Chief, who now has limited powers but inherits his/her position, will hold community gatherings and consult with (mostly male) residents.  A community councillor will, through the chief, hold public gatherings to announce centralised decisions that may affect the community in terms of infrastructure or service delivery.

Primary schools, since the advent of free primary education policies, may serve a two or three kilometre radius, but access to such schools may be hampered by sometimes non-existent vehicle paths or even rivers whose bridges collapse during rainy seasons.  Children may walk to school across fields and mountains; others may have to cross roads unaided.  There may be no secondary school within walking distance.  The schools themselves may vary from classrooms which are equipped with desks and chairs, blackboards and pane glass windows, and indoor toilets - to those which have no furniture or glass in their windows at all and only pit latrines for toilets.  Class sizes can vary from a ratio of 100 to 1 in reception, to perhaps a ratio of 20 to 1 in the final year, due to drop-out rates.  Teachers will have reached primary level education themselves and, increasingly will have received in-service training since then, sometimes to degree level.  Teacher and student absenteeism can be high, depending on infrastructure or illness factors.

Adult learning, if it takes place, will usually be in the form of literacy classes, managed by poorly paid volunteers who themselves may not have reached beyond primary school education.  The classes may be held in the volunteer’s home, or a school classroom.  Other forms of adult learning will be through extension educators – usually government paid workers from Health or Agriculture departments whose aim is to provide up-to-date education regarding health, childbirth and childcare, local illnesses such as malaria and HIV/AIDS, new farming techniques, animal husbandry and so on.  Local people may be given responsibility for passing on such information in their communities through informal and non-formal means.

Informal learning takes place on a daily basis, through the social practices of communities in the form of applying indigenous knowledge for farming, use of herbs for protection against disease, cooking local produce, social customs and behaviours in managing community events etc.  Many events are large, including weddings and funerals, which cater for more than the community – requiring extensive organisational skills.  The church or/and mosque plays a strong role in informally educating about spiritual and moral issues and lay preachers will also be community members.

NGO interventions often take the form of family literacy or community care support in relation to HIV/AIDS or early child development.  Here local people may be trained in basic knowledge and practice and encouraged, perhaps through a small stipend, to contribute regularly to the learning needs of children. These NGOs and Civil Society Organisations are also known to help in bringing to the notice of the population new social, economic and political issues (new forms of governance, ebola virus, etc..) the understanding of which may have been adjudged to be important by government, the organisations themselves or the elites. 

Issues and barriers for learning

The main issue is lack of resources and access to infrastructure support such as libraries, internet, qualified teachers etc.  Other issues may include a sense that NGOs are managed by their funders and interventions are not necessarily compatible with community expressed needs or desires.  Local knowledge, acquired through experience, is often ignored or not recognised through interventionist approaches.  A primary concern in most areas (South Africa officially has more than 25% of its population registered as unemployed, with an estimated 35% who are actually unemployed) is the need to develop skills for income generation and micro enterprises.  Other concerns are those to do with disease, gender power relations, participation in public decision making, how to influence the democratic and governance process.

There is a general challenge across many African countries of limited capacity for training, implementation or policy articulation of lifelong learning goals.  Associated with this are challenges in relation to quality delivery and relevance of curriculum, teaching methodologies and monitoring and evaluation.

Opportunities for progress

In the absence of any policies linking rural areas to the opportunities existing within African urban areas, rural area populations may develop informal structures (albeit riddled with risks) that enable them to tap into the economic opportunities that exist within urban areas.

Most governments have national development plans which include infrastructure development targets for rural areas.  Universities often have a commitment to assisting rural areas and undertake initiatives – both long and short term – to assist with farming, literacy, child development, health care, income generation and small business management.  In areas that have experienced conflict and violence there may be peace education programmes.  For instance in KwaZulu-Natal there is a well-established Alternatives to Violence programme that has been running for many years.  Similarly most countries have a gender equality unit which endeavours to raise awareness about gender violence and child abuse.  The relatively recent advent of democracy in many countries has also resulted in voter education programmes, though these are often inadequately addressed in terms of developing understanding about democratic principles.  Normally they concentrate on the mechanics of voter education.

In South Africa a recent White Paper on Post School Education (DoHET 2013) has laid out strategic plans for a coherent set of learning pathways for vocational education, community education and an adult education qualification (a national senior certificate for adults) that is equivalent to the school leaving certificate.  A pilot programme of adult learning centres, named community colleges – one in each of South Africa’s nine provinces – is being planned.  The South African qualifications framework also creates a ladder of progression opportunities in terms of certification for lifelong learning.  The post school education plans are designed to address post-apartheid concerns for inequalities and the development of ‘thinking citizens, who can function effectively, creatively and ethically as part of a democratic society. They should have an understanding of their society, and be able to participate fully in its political, social and cultural life.’ (p. ix).  The policy, therefore, provides the basis for a progressive platform to develop learning networks and collaborations across the public and private sector.

Reference

Department of Higher Education and Training (2013) White Paper for Post School Education and Training. Pretoria: DoHET

Julia Preece
University of KwaZulu-Natal; Idowu Biao
University of Botswana
August 5, 2014