Question No. 30
Mr DD Gamede (African National Congress, KwaZulu-Natal) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:
Whether her department is monitoring the implementation of inclusive education; if not, what are the challenges; if so (a) what has been the progress and (b) where; especially in Kwazulu-Natal?
Reply:
Yes; the Department of Basic Education is monitoring the implementation of inclusive education in all provinces. The department monitors the implementation in the following ways:
1. Provinces provide reports on progress made in the implementation of inclusive education at provincial, district and school level. The reports highlight successes as well as challenges faced in implementing inclusive education.
2. Specialised audits are conducted to measure progress made and make recommendations for interventions at both full service and special schools.
(a) Progress:
The first stage of policy implementation took place in 30 districts, 30 full service schools and 34 special schools in the poorest parts of all nine provinces between 2002 and 2009.
During this phase, the Department of Basic Education aimed to introduce a number of systemic measures which would lay the foundation for a system wide implementation of the policy of inclusive education in South Africa.
(a) Progress achieved:
* The budget for implementing the policy was expanded by the National Treasury from zero to R1,5 billion over three years (2008 to 2011).
* More than 7 000 educators and officials have been trained on the key policy implementation guidelines. These include guidelines for inclusive teaching and learning and the national strategy on screening, identification, assessment and support.
* Guidelines for full service or inclusive schools and guidelines for quality education in special schools and special school resource centres have been widely distributed to managers throughout the system and are also used by most universities as materials for teacher development.
* 10 Ordinary schools have been converted into full service schools that comply with the principles of universal design. Provinces have taken ownership of completing the remaining 20 full service schools that have been selected.
* The principles for environmental access have been included in the national school infrastructure norms and no new schools will be built that are not accessible.
* Officials in 30 districts in the country have been trained on the requirements of running an inclusive education system.
* Special schools know what the implications are of their changing role within an inclusive landscape. At least 30 percent of the budget allocated by the National Treasury has been made available to raise standards of physical infrastructure and curriculum delivery at special schools to improve quality teaching and learning.
* 912 children in 34 schools have received appropriate assistive devices which will enable them to access education and become integrated into society (more than R20 million has been spent on this programme which will continue in 2010/11).
In many cases, children who had been carried by their parents and could not attend school now have fitted wheelchairs that make them mobile and also provide postural support. Devices for learners with visual impairment, communication disorders and hearing impairment will substantially improve educational expectations for hundreds of learners who had previously been denied such opportunities.
Progress in KwaZulu-Natal
* KwaZulu-Natal has developed a provincial strategy for implementation of inclusive education in the province. The roll-out of the provincial strategy to establish schools as inclusive centres of learning, care and support commenced in 2008.
? The strategy shows that the first phase of implementation would span the medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) April 2008 to March 2012. This would cover the establishment of 50 full service schools (FSS), the piloting of a provincial model of a special school as resource centre and the strengthening of 16 special schools identified to be potential special schools as resource centres.
These identified full service schools and special schools as resources centres are located in all 12 educational districts within the province. The exact location of these schools can be obtained from the provincial educational district offices.
Issued by: Department of Basic Education
1 June 2010
Source: Department of Education (http://www.education.gov.za/)
