Impacting adult education

The Institute of Logistics and Supply Chain Management (ILSCM), a division of the Open Learning Group (OLG), has appointed Mario Landman as its new academic head. Landman has garnered a variety of skills during his years in the adult education sector, including curriculum development, education sector research and programme accreditation across all National Qualification Framework (NQF) bands.

The ILSCM aims to offer quality-assured academic programmes that provide a more holistic solution incorporating broader, academic and non-academic student support.

“Despite an encouraging local outlook, there are still challenges facing the development of the sector across Africa, in terms of a lack of foreign investment. The most widely cited reasons for this are failing infrastructure and a lack of skills support,” comments Landman.

“There is a need for a community of learning, utilising a social support structure and technology tools such as Facebook and other interactive platforms.” This approach incorporates another of OLG’s key focus areas: e-Learning, through which, Landman says, another goal is to adapt academic programmes to the precise demographic of adult learners.

Landman believes that higher education provides the best mechanism to address skills shortages created by poor basic education.