An assessment of non-formal education and training centres’ linkages with role-players for adult employment in South Africa

Abstract

This article outlines the results of a qualitative study, which investigated the adult non-formal education and education (NFET) centre linkages with external role-players in providing post-training support for the employment of graduates. The concern that informed this article is that adults who face long-term unemployment remain unemployed after completing the NFET programmes in South Africa. The article reports on an empirical study conducted to investigate what constitutes NFET enabling environments for employment. The findings reveal that most managers did not create institutional centre linkages that could enable graduates having access to essential post-training support, community resources, public goods and services. The author concludes that without linking the NFET programmes to external stakeholders, graduates will continue finding it difficult to be integrated in the labour market which perpetuates unemployment and chronic poverty in South Africa.

Keywords:

• Non-formal education
• adult training
• employment
• centre linkages
• post-training support
• South Africa

Notes

1. In this paper, ‘private centre’ means a non-profit training centre managed by non-profit organisations (NPOs), community-based organisations (CBOs) and church or other faith-based organisations (FBOs).