R2E CwD

1
R2E CwD

• Response to Annual Performance Plan on education
  for children with disabilities

2
Presentation outline

• Introduction
• Speaking to following programmes
• Programme 2 Curriculum Policy, Support and
  Monitoring
• Programme 3 Teachers, Education Human Resources
  and Institutional Development
• Programme 4 Planning, Information and Assessment
• Programme 5 Educational Enrichment Services
• Conclusion and Recommendations

3
Introduction

• Omission of Annual Performance Plan to address
  education for children with disabilities in
  relation to special schools
• E.g. Scholar transport not addressed even though
  raised as strategic priority for 2012/13.
• Agree with Honourable Surty (Dep. Min) in
  relation to importance of promoting inclusive
  education and that we have policies in place for
  this

4
Programme 2 Curriculum Policy, Support and
Monitoring

• Screening Identification Assessment Support
  (SIAS)
• Piloting of screening guidelines in Action Plan
  Milestones
• However 100 schools nationally being trained on
  SIAS is not only completely unrealistic on what
  has been done, but is also completely
  unacceptable
• Central to this is support the districts provide

5
Programme 3 Teachers, Education Human Resources

• Principal performance contracts
• Lack of any skills development and training for
  teachers in Inclusive Education
• Includes managing diversity in classes and
  disability specific training

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Programme 4 Planning, Information and Assessment

• Over-sized classes and children with disabilities
  that require support
• Out of school children
• Performance indicator 7 15 years
  disproportionality high percentage of those are
  learners with disabilities
• Low percentage of learners in age appropriate
  grades speaks to the inability of the system to
  address barriers to learning and learner needs

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Programme 5 Educational Enrichment Services

• Transport constitutes a huge barrier to access
  education for children with disabilities
• Scholar transport is highlighted as strategic
  priority for 2012/13, yet no mention is made of
  addressing it in programme 5, nor can we see
  evidence of any budgetary allocation
• Interesting fact Ca. 10 000 schools are targeted
  for participation in choral eisteddfods 100
  times the number of schools targeted to receive
  training on SIAS

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Conclusion

• Acknowledge positive initiatives by the DBE to
  improve basic education
• National schools nutrition programme
• Low and no school fee initiatives, especially at
  certain special schools
• Reports that NEEDU have published show real
  insight into challenges in implementation of
  basic education
• Any commend by DBE on implementing
  recommendations of such reports are welcomed

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Recommendations

• Programme 2
• As a matter of urgency to finalise revised SIAS
  documentation
• Revise targets for training schools and districts
  on SIAS
• Increase educators capacity (not just on
  literacy, numeracy science managing diversity
  too) as part of the system to improve learner
  performance
• Programme 3
• Important to re-look at criteria for principals
  performance contracts

10
Thank you!

• Contact Details
• Lorenzo Wakefield
• Researcher Childrens Rights Project
• Community Law Centre
• University of the Western Cape
• lwakefield_at_uwc.ac.za
• [phone] (t)