STATUS OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION, ACCOMPANYING CHALLENGES AND

STRATEGIC RESPONSE

Presentation to PC on Basic Education

9 November 2010

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Understanding Inclusive Education• Inclusive education defined: “…an acknowledgement that all

children and youth can learn and all children and youth need support”. “Enabling education structures, systems and learning methodologies to meet the needs of all learners” (Education White Paper 6, 2001)

• Barriers to learning refer to difficulties that arise within the education system as a whole , the learning site and/or within the learner, which prevent access to learning and development for learners. System barriers e.g. overcrowded classrooms, lack of basic and

appropriate materials, exclusionary practices and policies etc. Societal barriers e.g. safety and security, crime and violence,

HIV/AIDS, poverty, child-headed households, etc.

Understanding Inclusive Education… Pedagogical barriers e.g. un- or under-qualified teachers,

inappropriate teaching methodologies and LTSM, inappropriate assessment procedures etc.

Intrinsic barriers e.g. behavioural problems, psychosocial and emotional problems, cognitive and sensory disabilities, etc.

The concepts inclusive education and barriers to learning are therefore broader than disabilities

Key Problem Statements that Inclusion Seeks to Address

• Most learners who experience barriers to learning including the disabled, have either fallen outside of the system or been mainstreamed by default (White Paper 6, 2001)

• The curriculum and education system have generally failed to respond to the diverse needs of the learner population, resulting in massive number of drop-outs, push-outs and failures (White Paper 6, 2001)

Current Status: Learners with Disabilities in Special Schools, 2009

Province Number of public special schools

Number of Teachers Number of Learners Number of Learners with a Single Disability

Number of Learners with Multiple Disabilities

EC 40 816 15 253 8741 6512

FS 19 502 4 880 3409 1471

GT 116 3109 36 467 24363 12104

KZ 63 979 19 928 11238 8690

LP 10 272 4 968 3054 1914

MP 20 317 6 378 3352 3026

NC 10 139 1 625 1559 66

NW 33 426 4 893 4518 375

WC 81 1667 17 227 15698 1529

South Africa 392 8227 111 619 75 932 35 687

Current Status: Learners with Disabilities in Ordinary Schools, 2009

ProvinceTotal Disabled

Learners In Separate Classes In Mainstream Classes

EC 19 656 948 18 708

FS 21 455 4 788 16 667

GT 16 123 3 726 12 397

KZ 22 225 6 504 15 721

LP 6 983 3 043 3 940

MP 13 533 1 482 12 051

NC 3 424 34 3 390

NW 7 832 1 251 6 581

WC 13 304 200 13 104

South Africa 124 535 21 976 102 559

Developments: Curriculum

• Practical guidelines for accommodating diversity of learners in the classroom were developed in 2009 and are being refined

• Workshops for teachers in areas of visual and hearing impairments have been organized and Provincial Departments are taking the developments further

• A Curriculum Management Team has been established to develop the South African Sign Language curriculum as a subject for implementation from 2012

• A Reference Group has been established to make inclusion policy inputs into the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements

• Draft concessions guidelines for assessing disabled learners are being developed

• The Department is putting a process in place for the development of a curriculum for schools of skills

Developments: Learning and Teaching Support Material

• The department supplied 30 selected special and mainstream schools with assistive devices through a national and extended it for use by provinces

• Two Braille Printing Houses have been approached to develop master copies of textbooks for schools with visually impaired learners

• A basic learner package of devices and other technologies has been put together for procurement and supply to schools with visually impaired learners

• Plans are in place for the adaptation of workbooks that have been developed for grades 1-6 as part of preparation for the implementation of the CAPS

• There are plans to engage Departments of Health and Social Development to clarify roles and responsibilities regarding the supply of assistive devices

• Consultations are planned with Departments of Health and Social Development on usage of health professionals for screening and interventions

Developments: HR & District Development

• Over the years teachers registered for ACE programmes on Inclusive Education

• Teachers have been trained on specialized skills on visual and hearing impairment and Provincial Departments ate taking developments further

• Provincial, district and school officials from 30 selected districts were trained on screening for barriers to learning and packaging of support

• District-based support teams (DBSTs) and school-based support teams (ILSTs) were established in 30 selected districts and special and ordinary schools respectively

• Special Schools Guidelines and Guidelines for Full Service Schools have been developed for district development and further identification of schools for further conversions

• Teachers will be trained on practical guidelines for teaching diversity of learners as part of the CAPS implementation process

Developments: Infrastructure• Specifications for making ordinary schools environmentally accessible to the

disabled have been developed and are used by Infrastructure Planners• The specifications were incorporated into the national Infrastructure Norms

for application in all new classrooms and buildings• 10 ordinary schools were physically upgraded to be environmentally

accessible to serve as models of full-service schools• Provinces have taken over the progressive physical upgrading of ordinary

schools to full-service schools and 33 schools have been selected• Provinces progressively identify additional schools for further conversion to

full-service schools with medium term goal of having an inclusive school in every district

• Development of infrastructure norms for special schools will resume shortly• Infrastructure projects are slow in certain provinces due to capacity

Strategic Response• Action Plan 2014 and towards the Realization of Schooling

2025 places focus of the Inclusive Education Programme on the incremental conversion of ordinary schools to full-service schools, the establishment of additional special schools where needed as well as tracking the placement of learners between full-service schools and special schools.

• Coordination of policy interventions such as WP6, WP5, Health Promotion etc. through integrated planning within Basic Education to strengthen inclusivity

• Embracing a multi-disciplinary approach to building an inclusive system – getting more stakeholders involved

Strategic Objectives

• In light of problem statements highlighted earlier, two strategic objectives are pursued through Inclusive education: To improve access to quality education for learners who

experience barriers to learning To improve the quality of teaching and learning in grades

R-12 through the provision of additional support for learners experiencing barriers to learning

Improving Access Strengthening screening systems for early identification of and

intervention Incrementally converting selected ordinary schools to inclusive

schools Incrementally converting special schools to resource centres Developing funding and human resource provisioning norms Piloting screening systems as well as funding and human resource

provisioning norms Implementing screening systems and norms for funding and HR

provisioning Incremental and targeted conversion of ordinary and special

schools to inclusive and resource centres respectively

Improving Quality of Teaching & Learning Coordinating the provision of specialized and appropriate LTSM as

well as assistive devices by Provincial Departments of Education Developing the South African Sign Language curriculum as a subject

for grades R-12 Developing the curriculum for Schools of Skills for learners who

can’t progress beyond grade 9 Developing concessions policy guidelines for disabled learners Developing inclusion policy statements for incorporation into

Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements Teacher development on innovative curriculum and assessment

methodologies taking into account learner diversity Teacher training on identified specialized areas of special needs e.g.

Braille, Sign Language, autism etc.

Thank You

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