Johannesburg’s only school for learners with poor sight or multiple disabilities runs more on determination than hard cash. Bronwen Jones founded the Johannesburg School for Blind, Low Vision and Multiple Disability Children – also known as Beka – in Auckland Park in 2003.
She did so because she couldn’t find a school in Johannesburg for her severely burnt and blind daughter, Dorah Mokoena. In the beginning, Jones used only one classroom to teach her daughter and another blind child. But as numbers increased, they moved to a bigger space.
Despite Jones’s repeated efforts, the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has failed to register Beka. As a result, the school does not qualify for a subsidy, and relies on charitable contributions to survive.
The GDE’s spokesperson, Mbela Phetlhe, declined to comment, because he said the person who dealt with the registration of special schools was on leave. “I appreciate that I have to assist with the information required. Unfortunately the person that deals with the registration of special school is on leave and you will appreciate that I will only be willing to give a factual response to your enquiry,” said Phetlhe.
Jones is emphatic that there is a desperate need for such a facility: “We believe all children are entitled to a good education regardless of their disability.” She adds: “Society tends to be prejudiced against children with disabilities,” and more often than not such children end up not attending school at all.
She is also critical of the GDE for “not having realistic plans in place” for its policy of inclusion. Most of the children attending Beka had attended public schools but their special needs were not well catered for and “they did not flourish in large classes”.
Beka itself is inclusive, admitting able-bodied children who have been refused admission at public schools.
A shortage of suitably trained teachers is an ongoing difficulty for Beka. “When we started, we did not have specially trained teachers and had to set up our own training programme,” says Jones. “So far we have trained eight women as classroom assistants. Although some of these were qualified teachers, they had to be trained on how to handle challenges associated with disability.”
Beka provides ongoing training in outcomes-based education as well as in specific areas such as Braille, occupational therapy and physiotherapy. They also attend seminars on other disabilities, such as blindness, albinism and autism.
Jones believes that teaching is a vocation and that working with disabled children requires more than just qualifications. “There is enormous emotional pressure coping with the social rejection of a disfigured child on a daily basis,” she says.
The four women working with her express a passion that Jones says is the most important requirement for the job. Busisiwe Nhlapo is a classroom assistant who joined Beka in 2002. She settled in easily, mainly because of her love for children and a caring attitude. Dimakatso Morifi is a qualified teacher who joined Beka in 2003. “When I first arrive here I thought I had come to the wrong place. After the interview, I vowed I would never return. But the plight of the children made me change my mind,” says Morifi.
While Morifi and Nhlapo help in caring for and teaching the children, Vanessa Mentjes and Marietta Neumann are responsible for administrative tasks. Mentjes believes that South Africans in general do not have a caring attitude, but that her involvement at Beka might help revive that spirit.
Neumann, who hails from Germany, came to Africa to do volunteer work. Says Neumann: “My coming to this facility was sheer coincidence and I don’t regret it a bit. It is a fulfilling new experience for me as I have never in my life interacted with blind children.”
Although the school tailors its programme to the needs and abilities of each child, it follows the national curriculum. Life skills is one of the core learning areas, as it empowers the children to be self-sufficient. The basics covered include cooking and walking to a grocery shop, and the children develop their senses and abilities working in the school’s garden and playing on the swings. Dance and music are popular activities, as are occasional visits to the theatre.
But for all her passion and determination, the uncertain future of the school causes Jones a great deal of worry. Parents only pay what they can afford – which is sometimes nothing – and while sympathetic supporters donated the school building, Jones has to go around with the begging bowl for other expenses, such as the monthly water and electricity bill.
For now, she is cautiously optimistic. After her frustration with the GDE, she finally turned to the national Department of Education, which has instructed the provincial department to register the school. Hopefully Beka can stay afloat in the time it takes for the slow wheels of bureaucracy to start turning.