The Department of Social Development, under the leadership of Deputy Minister, Hon. Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, in partnership with MTN South Africa Foundation, will be handing-over the accessible ICT laboratory to Letaba School for the disabled on Friday, 5 June 2015.
Letaba School was founded on 29 July 1966 under chairmanship of the mission secretary, Dr J P Theron. It was proposed that the school would cater for 210 Physically Disabled and Cerebral Palsied black children of all ages.
Initially the school consisted of 60 (then called) educable children who could attend school, and 90 uneducable children. At the time, the Dutch Reformed Church was the sponsoring body of the school. This relationship ended in 1998 when the Dutch Reformed Church withdrew its support.
On 15 November 1969 the buildings were officially opened and the first children were admitted in July 1969. With the first deaf children admitted on 03 April 1980. They were a group which was transferred from Tshilidzini School. During that same year the first blind pupils were also admitted. In April 1989 the deaf learners moved to their own school called Yingisani School for the Deaf.
At the moment, the school has 200 learners with disabilities, of which 22 are blind, 95 have cerebral palsy, six have epilepsy, one has a mild moderate intellectual disability, seven are partially sighted, 60 have physical disabilities and 12 have other disabilities not mentioned above. All these children are under the care and supervision of 23 permanent educators and 67 staff appointed by Department of Basic Education. There are also five general workers and six hostel aids. The school support structure consist of one Principal, one Deputy Principal and two Head of Department Officials.
The handover of the accessible ICT laboratory will be on Friday, 05 June 2015 at Letaba School in Limpopo.
Details of the event are as follows:
Date: 5 June 2015
Time: 12h00
Venue: Letaba School for the disabled, Next to Letaba Hospital on the road to Nkowankowa, Limpopo.
Although the school has a lot of challenges it has to deal with on a daily basis, it also has a lot of success to be celebrated:
1. Academics - Using the White Paper 6 on inclusive education as a framework for inclusion, they send learners to cope with prescribed curriculum to public mainstream schools.
2. 3DLVI – The school has been chosen as a pilot school in the rollout of the 3DVLE project for special needs, which aims at facilitating learning by exposing learners to the virtual world.
3. Sports – The school participates in many extramural activities such as athletics, wheelchair tennis, wheelchair marathon, cultural activities and music competitions.
As the department, we are committed to the agenda of social transformation that is embodied in the principle of social justice and the Bill of Rights contained in our Constitution. We endeavour to create a better life for the poor, vulnerable and excluded people in our society.
Media RSVP’s and Media inquiries may be directed to:
Ms Emilie Olifant
Cell: 083 985 9091
E-mail: emilieo@dsd.gov.za
