A seasoned teacher has accused the department of basic education of “hijacking” the establishment of a curriculum that was meant exclusively for pupils with special education needs (LSEN).
Christine Mostert told delegates attending a summit on inclusive education in Benoni, Ekurhuleni, on Monday that a draft curriculum had been developed and training of teachers was done provincially and nationally.
She said that according to the national development goals, SA must produce 30,000 qualified artisans per year “if we want to do something about the poverty”.
“The DBE [department of basic education] is discriminating against and failing to have compassion for the LSEN learner. I’m saying this because there’s no standardised curriculum; it’s only a pilot curriculum.”
She was referring to the three-stream model comprising the academic, the technical vocational and the technical occupational curricula.
For example, choosing the technical occupational curriculum would allow grade 8 and 9 pupils to choose subjects such as motor mechanics, welding, bricklaying and plastering.
At the end of grade 9 they would receive a General Certificate of Education (GEC) qualification that has been proposed by the department of basic education.
We struggle to get our learners even in technical vocational education and training colleges. Learners are neglected by the department of basic education.
— Christine Mostert, teacher
Mostert said that from 2014 to now, all pupils exit year four with no accredited certificate, adding: “The year four report card means nothing in the world of work and is equivalent to nothing. Even the best testimonials of learners who are good artisans means nothing without a matric certificate.”
She said the department has only focused on mainstream schools by spending more time and money on “developing accredited new subjects such as aviation and marine sciences”.
“There is a matric certificate and they can go to university and study. We struggle to get our learners even in TVET [technical vocational education and training] colleges. They [learners] are neglected by the department of basic education.”
But the department’s director-general Mathanzima Mweli said when they spoke of the third-stream curriculum, the popular view was that “if we left the third stream exclusively for learners with special education needs, we will stigmatise that stream”.
“It would become more useful to the country if we open it up to all learners in the system.”
Mweli admitted that while progress has been made in providing inclusive education, “there are still major gaps and challenges”.
“This summit is really about helping us plug those gaps.”
Titled, Accelerating Inclusive Education: Leaving No Learner Behind, the summit comes at a time when pupils with disabilities continue to drop out of the formal education system at an alarming rate.
According to the General Household Survey, only 93.6% of children with disabilities were attending educational institutions in 2019.
If we left the third stream exclusively for learners with special education needs, we will stigmatise that stream.
— Mathanzima Mweli, education DG
Another delegate, who is a member of the presidential working group on disability, said she was concerned about the visually impaired children in the foundation phase (grades R, 1, 2 and 3), especially those who were blind.
“My concern is that some of those children don’t even know how to write their names and we are saying ‘children should be able to read and write’. Do you expect those children to go to the level of university with that standard?”
She said that the other problem was that when teachers were redeployed by the provincial education departments, they sent educators “who don’t know anything about Braille or sign language”.
Mary Moeketsi, who works for Autism SA in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, said most of the children with autism in these provinces were at home instead of school.
Basic education minister Angie Motshekga claimed there were about 4,000 teachers trained in autism she said.
“But on a daily basis we get parents who say their children were sent back because schools say they have not been trained and don’t understand what autism is.”
She said mainstream schools did not know what they are supposed to do when it came to the screening, identification, assessment and support (SIAS) policy.
“We get parents of a grade 7 child saying the school tells them their child is not progressing. My question to parents is: ‘Where was the teacher all this time because that child has been in that same school from grade 1?’”
But on a daily basis we get parents who say their children were sent back because schools say they have not been trained and they don’t understand what autism is.
— Mary Moeketsi, Autism SA
Meanwhile, Mweli said that for people with disabilities, the right to education “is particularly important, as it directly impacts the successful enjoyment of all other rights protected by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”.
There are 832 full service schools and 447 public schools that are special education needs schools.
He said the department had made progress on four of the six social justice principles that determine the success of inclusive education.
“But we are not doing well on efficiency and the quality of learning outcomes.”
The number of pupils with disabilities in public schools increased from 77,000 in 2002 to 121,461 last year.
He said that one of the challenges was the provision of transport for pupils, because five provincial education departments were footing the bill for it.
Mweli said they also sent a circular to provincial education departments to undertake remedial measures concerning full service schools.
The measures included assessing designated schools to establish the extent of resourcing, conversion and orientation required.
“There is also a need for a business plan containing a road map of what needs to be done, by whom and by when to ensure designated schools are functional.”
