(Graphic: John McCann/M&G)
Disabled groups have criticised the recently signed Basic Education Law Amendment (Bela) Act for what they called its silence in addressing the problems that students with learning disabilities grapple with.
The new law does not “prohibit the exclusion of learners with disabilities from admission to public schools”, the director of Western Cape Forum For Intellectual Disabilities, Gail Davids, told the Mail & Guardian.
President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Bela Bill into law last Friday and said it would be immediately implemented save for two contentious clauses relating to school admissions and language policies in schools.
Ramaphosa gave the parties in his government of national unity a three-month consultation period within which to negotiate more agreeable terms on these clauses.
But the Western Cape Forum For Intellectual Disabilities, which participated in public hearings on the Bill, said its contents made no effort to improve conditions for learners with special needs.
According to the department of basic education, from 2002 to 2022 the number of special needs schools increased from 295 to 489, while the number of learners with disabilities in public ordinary schools was up from 77 000 to 121 461. The enrolment of learners in special schools increased from 435 to 137 483 nationally.
The department gave these numbers in September 2023 during a briefing to parliament’s portfolio committee of basic education on the implementation of inclusive education for learners with special needs.
Gauteng has the highest concentration of special needs schools — with 124 — followed by KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
Since 2001, South Africa has been developing an inclusive education schooling system guided by the White Paper which outlines policy aspirations to strengthen schools for learners with special needs. But the framework does not address impediments that have limited resources, leaving many such schools in a dilapidated state.
For example, in 2023 the Carte Blanche investigative news programme exposed the Ikhwezi Lokusa Special School in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape for its poor conditions and allegations of sexual abuse by hostel staff. Wheelchair-bound learners were reported to be sleeping on beds made of bricks, bathing in cold water, and being left “completely unattended” for long intervals when caregivers changed shifts.
Earlier this year, parents at Duzenendlela Special School in Orange Farm, Gauteng, raised the alarm about the lack of proper equipment and support for their children.
This comes despite the revelation by the portfolio committee on basic education that provincial education departments have underspent R21 million of their allocated budget to improve special needs schools.
The director general of basic education, Hubert Mathanzima Mweli, said the shortfall was not normal and the department would make efforts to render special needs schools non-fee paying institutions.
The department is conducting a face-to-face audits on special needs schools, but the investigation has been facing funding constraints, communications director Elijah Mhlanga told the M&G.
“The team had to stop the visits to provinces due to the lack of funding to undertake such a task. The inclusive education directorate has now started compiling a report on the work done thus far,” he said.
Meanwhile, the department said it had developed a curriculum mainly on occupational subjects up to grade 6 for learners with severe and profound intellectual disabilities’. The curriculum is 75% practical and 25% theoretical.
An NGO, iSchoolAfrica, through its Disability, Inclusion, and Accessibility Programme, has over the years provided 300 special needs schools with iPads to bridge the learning gap between such learners and those without disabilities.
A visit to the MCK Special Needs School in Lenasia showed that learners start using iPads from grade R to build their critical thinking skills while grade 5 learners are able to use the devices to video themselves using sign language to tell a story for the creative learning subject.
The use of technology has made it much easier to teach deaf children, the school’s teachers said.
“In the old days it was difficult for teachers to develop a curriculum for children with hearing or sight impairments but now it is much easier with devices that have been made accessible for children with these disabilities,” said MCK’s English teacher, Mam Kirti.
MCK is one of the schools that have been using technology to teach deaf learners how to code through the iSchool Africa’s programme.
“Coding on the iPad is individually tailored to help the learners develop their critical skills and their ability to solve problems which assist in other subjects like maths, physics and overall equips them with the skills to navigate the digital world that is rapidly growing,” said the coding and robotics programme coordinator, Cameron Busch.
Research has shown that technological devices are useful for visual learning, reading, drawing and watching videos.
They can help learners with motor impairments to improve their coordination and assist those with reading disabilities in comprehending written information via text-to-speech apps.