South Africa faces a sobering reality. Millions of adults remain locked out of opportunity, not because they lack ambition but because they never completed matric or were pushed out of the education system long before they could acquire marketable skills.
At the same time, unemployment remains stubbornly high, particularly among working-age adults who are too old for school, too young for retirement and often invisible in policy debates.
It is within this context that community colleges must be understood, not as marginal institutions but as South Africa’s most underutilised second chance pathway into skills, dignity and economic participation.
For far too long community education and training has remained South Africa’s most invisible education sector — underfunded, underrecognised, and structurally constrained. That must change.
Across our country, from rural villages to urban townships, millions of South Africans carry unfinished educational journeys. These were not abandoned by choice, but interrupted by poverty, care responsibilities, retrenchment, migration, or a schooling system unable to absorb complex realities.
Community colleges are the only public institutions deliberately designed for adults who did not complete school, who seek new skills, or who want to re-enter the economy with confidence.
Their aspirations did not disappear. What was missing was a credible pathway back into learning, dignity and economic participation. Community education and training exists precisely for this purpose, and it must be taken seriously as a national priority.
Community colleges offer a lifeline
Community colleges are the only public institutions deliberately designed for adults who did not complete school, who seek new skills, or who want to re-enter the economy with confidence. Through adult matric pathways, vocational and skills programmes, literacy initiatives and community-based learning, they form the foundation of lifelong learning in South Africa.
To a young mother returning to education after raising a child, the system offers a second chance. To a retrenched mineworker or factory employee, it offers a lifeline. To millions excluded from the formal economy, it offers a way back in.
International experience shows this model works when properly supported. For example, Brazil embedded adult education into municipal delivery through its Educação de Jovens e Adultos programme, treating adult learning not as charity but as a pillar of economic participation. The result has been large-scale reintegration of adults into skills pathways and employment. South Africa can and must do the same.
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Despite about 3.2-million adults remaining functionally illiterate, the community education and training sector has been allocated only R240m for 2026, as reflected in departmental planning allocations, a funding gap of nearly 70%. This is compounded by operational constraints, infrastructure backlogs and weak systems support.
One of the most pressing challenges lies in the Community Education & Training Management Information System (Cetmis), the core platform used to manage student enrolments, staff records and institutional reporting. Cetmis is experiencing system challenges and not operating optimally, a matter the department is attending to.
These system challenges are not signs of a failed idea. They are signs of a system starved of sustained investment and strategic attention. A second-chance system cannot continue to look like a second-rate system. Repositioning community education and training requires deliberate reform anchored in delivery, dignity and partnership.
A national community college rebranding and visibility drive is under way to reposition community colleges as institutions of choice for adult learning. This includes improved signage, stronger recruitment campaigns and partnerships that restore public confidence in the sector.
Bridging the gap
The National Senior Certificate for Adults (Nasca), aligned to NQF level 4 and approved for public comment, must become the engine of second-chance matric completion. Once implemented, it will offer adults a credible, flexible alternative to the traditional schooling route.
Beyond offering adults a second chance at completing matric, the Nasca provides an entry point into technical and vocational education and training programmes, apprenticeships and occupational training aligned to labour market demand.
For many adults, this is the first realistic bridge between unfinished schooling and practical skills that can lead to employment, self-employment or further learning within the post-school system.
Digital inclusion must also be accelerated. Through partnerships such as Microsoft’s Ikamva platform, blended learning can reach even the most rural centres, ensuring adult learners are not excluded from the digital economy.
Finally, funding must match ambition. We cannot expect millions of adults to place their hopes in this system by 2030 while funding remains static. A sustainable model combining public investment with responsible partnerships and community support is no longer optional.
The department cannot do this work alone. Municipalities must open their facilities. The sector education and training authorities and employers must align skills pipelines. Community organisations, faith groups and traditional leaders must help recruit and support learners. Adult education succeeds only when it is rooted in local economies and lived realities.
As we move towards local government elections, the message must be clear: investing in adult learning through community colleges is an investment in safer communities, stronger families and inclusive economic growth. A functional community education and training system not only changes individual lives, it strengthens the social fabric of the country.
South Africa has never lacked talent. What we have lacked is consistent opportunity. Community education and training remains our most powerful, and most underutilised, second chance.
With courage, partnership and political will, we can transform it into a system worthy of our people’s aspirations and ensure no South African is left behind simply because life interrupted their first chance to learn.
• Dr Gondwe is deputy minister of higher education & training.
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