LIFELONG LEARNING KZN

Evening and Saturday classes in Durban for adults who want to learn for fun.

Lifelong Learning KZN is about to launch evening and Saturday classes in Durban for adults who want to learn for fun (no exams). See their website at www.lllkzn.net for a range of courses due to start in March, which include Beginner’s Zulu, Monkeys in your Garden, Know your car, Dark energy, Bio-ethics, Natal history in pictures, nutrition for healthy aging, computing for parents, rose cultivation , history of rock ‘n roll , the cultural heritage debate, and much more.

These classes will take place at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Howard College Campus between 17h30 and 20h00 on Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesdays, with some workshops and field trips on Saturdays between 09h00 and 12h00.

LL KZN is a non-profit organisation set up for the purpose of promoting such” not for qualification” education. “A city the size of Durban contains many people who want to learn simply for the value of that knowledge”, says Charlotte Mbali, one of the initiators of the organization, “South Africa is in danger of caging knowledge into such a system of quality controls and curriculum templates that what people need to know urgently, for now, is pushed out of the educational planning.

Our motto is : “Learning for now, learning for life” LLL KZN runs a website utilizing open source software, Moodle, which enables the public to browse through the list of current and proposed course listings , select some, and enrol on line. They can then pay by e-transfer through their bank logins, or in cash at branches of Adams bookshops (at Howard College or Musgrave). Fees are R30 an hour, which means R240 for a course of four weekday evenings, or R90 for a three-hour Saturday workshop.

Eventually - once more fee income is generated - it might be possible to offer subsidized courses for young people and students on self and social development topics, says Mfana Mlambo, the chairperson of LLL KZN: “Young and old get stuck unhappily in institutional courses and careers, while they would be happier if they could look around at other interests and possibilities, and this is where Lifelong Learning KZN can help them try out a variety of interesting offerings” The course presenters will be paid the equivalent of the UKZN hourly lecturer rates.

LLL KZN is still looking for knowledgeable people to offer courses, and there is also a way of making course proposals via the website. Some of the presenters are UKZN lecturers, either current or newly retired.

“It is actually good for lecturers, who get very wrapped up in their own passionate research interests, to have to gear down their language and communicate what they are doing to an intelligent general public” says Charlotte Mbali, who recently retired from a job in academic staff development.

However, not all the LLLKZN presenters are lecturers from UKZN. There are local knowledge networks, such as on environmental issues, or the astronomy society, or health education who can provide knowledgeable speakers.

For more information, visit the website at www.lllkzn.net