Vision

Vision, Mission and Objectives

Ditsela strives to be a responsive, innovative and democratic learning organisation that contributes to building a strong trade union movement. Ditsela is bound by the values, principles and broad aims of the trade union movement. Ditsela's approach is based on the recognition of the primary role of the trade union movement and the working class in transforming society and the important role to be played by trade union education. We acknowledge that we have to learn from the struggles of workers in South Africa and the world.

It conducts relevant and high quality trade union education and support, as well as education research work with a clear working class bias that is beneficial to the trade union movement. Ditsela is committed to the Principles and Vision for Trade Union Education developed at the 1997 Ditsela Educator Conference.
Ditsela aims to put resources into increasing the pool of union educators, researchers, activists and organisers, and especially those who have been disadvantaged by race, gender, class and disability. Ditsela endeavors to ensure the participation of a high proportion of women in all its programmes.

We aim to contribute to strengthening the labour movement by:

• Delivering programmes that are at the cutting edge in trade union education, research and support.
• Supporting the development of the organisational capacity of trade unions and federations to deliver their own education and build working class power.
• Striving to be a worker-education center that offers dynamic, vibrant, critical and inspiring education that engages the evolving challenges facing the trade union movement and the broader working class.
• Building a comprehensive and responsive programme that can be reproduced, adapted and sustained throughout the labour movement.
• Maintaining an open space for critical reflection and engagement across political and industrial sectors.
• Embodying and promoting through its work the democratic views and ethos of the trade union movement.
• Provide a dynamic capacity building model as a responsive learning organisation.
• Encouraging through practice the commitment to ploughing back learnings to strengthen the labour movement.
• To become an accredited provider of workers education.
• To build alliances and networks with organisations that have similar objectives.