Parktown Girls’ High School, north of Johannesburg, this month says goodbye to five out-of-the-ordinary Grade 12s. The school enrolled five deaf learners in 2001, but has been forced to decline any further applications from disabled learners because the cost of teaching them is prohibitive.
The school’s principal, Anthea Cereseto, says: ‘We knew from the beginning that it was going to be a big challenge. But we have come to a point where we cannot continue any more, as it is extremely financially challenging.”
Two interpreters were hired and their salaries were paid from the school’s coffers and this proved too expensive to sustain, she says, adding that it was not an easy decision, because the school believed it was important not to isolate disabled learners. ‘We believe it is a good thing to expose our learners and teachers to the world of disabled people. And we are very proud and happy to accommodate the five,” says Cereseto.
Cereseto says the school had decided to take on deaf learners, above learners with other disabilities, because it is a type of disability at which the school believed it could best cope. ‘Our school cannot accommodate wheelchairs and is built in such a way it will be difficult for the visually challenged,” says Cereseto. This, she says, is in addition to the issue of cost, which would have made it even more difficult for the school to cope.
Cereseto says the girls have become an integral part of the school’s community. ‘The interpreters were not just doing a good job, but acted as mother figures. Their commitment is really amazing.”
Jess Gallow, one of the interpreters, strongly advocates inclusive education as it allows the disabled and able-bodied to interact. ‘But it is something that must be planned carefully,” she cautions. Inclusive education presents huge challenges and teachers must be thoroughly trained and willing to teach disabled learners, she says. ‘It must start with the principal; if there is no buy-in and willingness from the head then the staff would not feel motivated,” says Gallow.
Cereseto says the five deaf learners used to be at St Vincent School for the deaf. ‘They are an ambitious lot who wanted to enrol at a university after they complete their Grade 12. But because St Vincent only offers subjects in standard grade, they did not stand a chance of being admitted at any university. So they chose Parktown Girls,” she says.
The girls are not only ambitious, but also energetic and positive about life. Says Bibi Tilly: ‘When I arrived here four years ago, I felt like a small fish in a big pond. I was also a bit shy and therefore couldn’t mix easily with other learners and only felt free in the company of my fellow [deaf] learners.” Tilly says she would like to study psychology and dedicate most of her time helping the deaf community.
Says Mpho Dlukulu: ‘On my first day here, it felt like I was just born, very confused and nervous. It felt like we and the hearing learners were living in separate worlds. We could not relate to one another.”
‘But that has all changed. We feel more at home now, not only with fellow learners, but teachers as well,” says Lerato Maake ka Ncube. Ka Ncube says she would like to be an actress in the United Kingdom, where her father is currently based. For Nyeleti Nkwinika, advertising is her first love and she will stop at nothing to pursue it.
Conservation is Kashalya Naidoo’s passion and she will spare no effort to achieve it.
The five girls all love extra-mural activities. While they were still in the lower grades, they used to participate in almost all activities. But, says Tilly, this is no longer the case because of the increased workload. ‘As a deaf person, you must work doubly hard. During lessons you cannot write, but have to listen intently, and when school is out you have to study on your own.”
They are full of praise for Parktown Girls’ for accommodating them. ‘We are very thankful indeed to [the school] for being a home away from home to the five of us. At the beginning we felt out of place, but now we feel welcome.
‘The learners, teachers and interpreters are all wonderful and our hearts and mind will always be with them,” says Tilly, on behalf of her friends.
The girls consider themselves lucky to have been at Parktown Girls’ and wish it were possible for other deaf learners to follow in their footsteps.