TRIPLE E TRAINING HOLDINGS

Basic numeracy begins with teaching a person what a number depicts and how to count. Once a person knows the name of a number and is able to place them in the correct numerical order, they can begin to learn how to recognise numbers. After this, an individual can begin making basic sums such as addition and subtraction. A learner must be able to write the numbers to enable him or her to make these calculations on paper. So before a person can begin learning basic numeracy it is imperative that they are able to read and write and apply these skills to the world of numeracy.

The word mathematics sends fear into the hearts of many a student and learner. But having basic numeracy skills such as the ability to add and subtract as well as multiply and divide is necessary for a person function optimally in society. Many South Africans do not have these skills and it is important that we all do what we can to ensure that every citizen is able to learn some maths skills. The cost involved in educating a person is minimal but some people do not even have this amount of money available to improve numerical literacy. Donating money to government funded education programmes will help give these people the greatest gift of all, education.

The first step in finding the right facilitator or trainer to assist your work force in attaining skills in literacy and numeracy is to have them assessed. An assessment will provide the facilitator with the information they will need to know where to start addressing the education issues. If most of your employees are entirely illiterate, it will be important to start at level one of the Adult Basic Education and Training programme. Workers who have a higher literacy level can then join the programme once it has reached a higher level. If your work force is semi literate, the facilitator can then start the training at a higher level.

ABET level 3 is aimed at refining the literacy and numeracy skills of those learners who have a reasonable grasp of the basic application of reading and mathematics. This basic understanding should include the ability to critically apply the skills obtained during the course of training in ABET levels 1 and 2. The program incorporates life skills in order to place the learner in real world situations where literacy and numeracy can be applied to cope more efficiently with both business challenges and the challenges which will be faced on a social level and equip the learner with the tools to become a more self fulfilled individual.

South Africa is a land of diverse cultures and many languages, however the challenges faced by many of its citizens are the same; how to make a living in economically depressed times. This is made even more challenging by the fact that the majority of South Africa’s workforce was educated under the Apartheid educational system which provided a sub standard or, in many cases non existent level of education. Adult Basic Education programs which are rolling out across the country are an effort to rectify the wrongs of the past and provide basic literacy and numeracy skills to South Africa’s workforce

The conventional wisdom equates “literacy” with fundamentals of reading and writing, and it equates “numeracy” with basics of mathematics. Literacy, however, advances well beyond the basics to public speaking and conversation, figuration, and sophisticated inference.

When adults learn numeracy skills, they similarly move well beyond the basics, developing sophisticated skills that help them advance in their careers. When they learn numeracy skills, adult learners ultimately master multiple operations and the sequence of operations. They learn about patterns and sequences so that they can recognize the differences among arithmetic, geometric, and exponential growth. When adult students learn numeracy skills, they master the fundamentals of geometry—perimeter or circumference, area and volume.

When they complete the series of classes in which they learn numeracy skills, adult students ultimately have the same command of math as students entering university—no longer just the basics.

Learning numeracy skills prepares South African workers ultimately to manage production and learn the basics of finance. Learning numeracy skills begins with the essentials – reading and understanding the meanings and properties of numbers – and it advances in regular, logical steps through counting, grouping, and recognizing patterns in numbers.

Adults challenged with learning numeracy skills often feel overwhelmed and intimidated by “mathematics” because they struggled with math throughout their time in school. Starting at the fundamentals, giving adult learners the command of numbers as tools for shaping and ordering the world around them, skilled instructors help students overcome their fears.

Learning numeracy skills in jobsite classes, adult learners practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in the context of their everyday assignments. When they have mastered basic math facts, students advance to percentages and averages, which are essential for workplace calculation. Advancing through the process of learning numeracy skills, students gain confidence and build self-esteem.

Absolutely as essential as the command of languages, numeracy supports advancement in the workplace while promoting advancement in society. In its simplest form, numeracy requires command of numbers, their values, the relationships among them, and how to manipulate them.

Naturally, numeracy begins with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, but it advances to relationships among numbers. Squares, square roots, and cubes determine area and volume measures in construction and packaging so that understanding those relationships is essential to understanding building or shipping.

Effective management depends upon controlling costs, so that understanding the relationship between the cost of labour and a company’s sales becomes essential to turning a profit. Numeracy empowers workers to express these relationships as numbers, taking away the mystery and showing the result.

Mathematical principles and logic represent two versions of the same intellectual processes, and numeracy makes all kinds of problem solving much easier. Numeracy drives business.

Without adequate math training, workers cannot advance. In order to take on more responsibility for production, sales, customer service, or operations, every employee in every business must take initiative to get proper math training. The basics of arithmetic lay the foundations for more advanced problem-solving and most effective math training begins with comprehensive review of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. However, math training rapidly advances to the basics of algebra, which are essential to calculating profit and loss, and to the basics of geometry, which are essential to all the construction trades and most manufacturing.

High quality math training acknowledges many adult learners feel hesitant, even fearful about numbers and calculations, because their prior experiences in school often have confused and complicated basic mathematical operations. Math training for adults helps reluctant learners overcome their fear, building their confidence as it builds their proficiency.

ABET training, a comprehensive curriculum of adult education and training, promotes disadvantaged South Africans’ advancement in their careers and their contribution to the nation’s development. Building learners’ literacy and numeracy and keeping instruction relevant to their day-to-day work and commerce, ABET training promotes worker’s efficiency, motivation, and pride of ownership in their work.

ABET training in English begins with development of workers’ conversational skills, teaching them English vocabulary and expressions they immediately can use in completion of their everyday assignments. Similarly, ABET training in numeracy builds workers’ command of arithmetic and multiple operations and it focuses on skills their work demands every day.

ABET training, always developed and delivered in collaboration with clients’ needs and objectives, may advance well beyond the basics, empowering learners to read and prepare sophisticated business texts and preparing them to work with spreadsheets manage production.