A workers’ education curriculum with no production issues? Gaps in workers’ education in South Africa

Hlatshwayo, Mondli (author)

Despite massive changes in production, workers’ education, especially in South Africa, is misaligned with the radical transformation of the labour process and the introduction of new technologies in the workplace. Understandably, workers’ education in South Africa has tended to focus on wages and politics because black labour under Apartheid was cheap. Based on indepth interviews and internet sources, this research paper shows that workers’ education in South Africa generally covers what I call redistribution themes, which include wages, benefits, and, in many instances, politics of upward social mobility at the expense of production, which affects workers negatively in the form of retrenchments, changes in skills, and increased work pace. This omission has effectively left production-related matters in the hands of employers, who prioritise advancing and protecting their profit interests.

• Language: English
• Keywords: technological innovations, trade unions, workers’ education, adult learning, adult education, production, curriculum
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Geographic coverage: Južna Afrika
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2026
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 43-59
• Numbering: Letn. 32, št. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-182202
• UDC: 374.7
• ISSN on article: 1318-5160
• DOI: 10.4312/as/19368
• COBISS.SI-ID: 276782083
• Publication date in RUL: 30.04.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Andragoška spoznanja
• Shortened title: AS. Andrag. spozn.
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 1318-5160
• COBISS.SI-ID: 45586176

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian

Abstract

Kljub velikim spremembam v proizvodnji se izobraževanje delavcev, zlasti v Južni Afriki, ni uskladilo z radikalno preobrazbo delovnega procesa in uvajanjem novih tehnologij na delovnem mestu. Razumljivo je, da se izobraževanje delavcev v Južni Afriki osredotoča na plače in politiko, ker je bila v času apartheida delovna sila črnih delavcev poceni. Na podlagi poglobljenih intervjujev in internetnih virov pokažem, da izobraževanje delavcev v Južni Afriki na splošno zajema teme, ki jih imenujem teme prerazporeditve. Te vključujejo plače, nadomestila in pogoste primere navzgor usmerjene družbene mobilnosti na račun tem, povezanih s proizvodnjo, kar negativno vpliva na delavce zaradi omejevanj, sprememb v zahtevanih spretnostih in povečane hitrosti. Teme, povezane s proizvodnjo, so tako dejansko prepuščene delodajalcem, ki dajejo prednost svojim dobičkonosnim interesom in jih tudi ščitijo.

• Keywords: sindikati, tehnološke inovacije, izobraževanje odraslih, učenje odraslih, teorija učenja odraslih, izobraževanje delavcev, proizvodnja, kurikulum