In the mid-1980s, an estimated 3.3 million adults in South Africa could not read or write. That is why Continental Tyre South Africa (CTSA) has been promoting the participation of its employees in a national basic education program for adults called ABET (Adult Basic Education and Training) since 2001. The qualification-oriented adult basic education and training program aims to teach basic learning skills, knowledge, and competence – in reading, writing, mathematics, economics, agriculture, health care, art, and culture.

“Illiteracy among black adults in South Africa has reached a level that is untenable for the economic development of the country. It is preventing young people and adults from effectively participating in the social, economic and political life in the new South Africa,” explains Professor Solomon Sibiya of the University of Pretoria.

The computer-based adult basic education and training program was introduced at CTSA in May 2010. Employees are given the opportunity to take part in after-work courses of instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic skills at eight computer workstations and receive a certificate of attendance if they complete the course successfully. Ten adult students have already finished the first stage of their course and have now moved on to the next level.