In 1976 African Ministers of Education proposed "basic education," defined as minimum learning needs, as the best method for mass education. Participation and integration are key elements in this strategy. A learning-needs approach to curriculum planning should concentrate on practical skills; implementation requires nontraditional…

Intsika Yesizwe, an institution intended to help early school leavers acquire the skills needed to compete successfully in the job market, was founded in Ciskei in 1981 to deal with the problem of large numbers of pupils leaving school at an early age. Intsika Yesizwe was founded under the supervision of the Ciskei Special Forces, and in 1983…

A selected annotated bibliography on literacy and basic education, including contributions from practitioners in the worldwide non-formal education network and compiled for them, has three interrelated themes: integration of literacy programs with broader development efforts; the learner-centered or "psycho-social" approach to literacy,…

This document contains seven papers from a study of the role of distance learning approaches in enhancing the contribution of nonformal education to socioeconomic development in Africa. "Introduction" (Richard Siaciwena) presents an overview of the research project and defines key terms related to nonformal education. "Ghana: The…