white paper 6 on special needs education

Special Needs Education: Education White Paper 6

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South African Inclusive Education Policy

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White Paper 6, Special Education Needs: Building an Inclusive Education System (WP6) is a national policy document introduced in 2001 to establish a system where learners with disabilities are able to learn alongside their peers with appropriate supports. WP6 proposed a 20-year trajectory to implement inclusive education across South Africa.

• Policy initiatives

WP6 outlines the following as key strategies and levers for establishing an inclusive education and training system:

• Qualitative improvement of special schools for the learners that they serve and their phased conversion to resource centres. These resource centres should provide professional support to neighbourhood schools and be integrated into District‑Based Support Teams.
• Overhauling the process of identifying, assessing and enrolling learners in special schools. Replacement of this process with one that acknowledges the central role played by educators, lecturers and parents.
• Mobilisation of children and young people of school age with disabilities who are out-of-school.
• Designation and phased conversion of approximately 500 out of 20,000 mainstream primary schools to full-service schools.
• General orientation and introduction of management, governing bodies and professional staff within mainstream education to the inclusive model. Targeted early identification of the range of diverse learning needs and intervention in the Foundation Phase.
• Establishing District-Based Support Teams to provide a co-ordinated professional support service. The service should draw on expertise in further and higher education and local communities and target special schools and specialised settings, designated full-service and other primary schools and educational institutions.
• The launch of a national advocacy and information programme in support of the inclusion model. The programme should focus on the roles, responsibilities and rights of all learning institutions, parents and local communities. It should highlight the focal programmes and report on their progress.

In October 1996, a National Commission on Special Needs in Education and Training and the National Committee on Education Support Services were established to investigate and make recommendations on all aspects of special needs and support services in education and training in South Africa.

The central findings of the investigations by the Commissions were as follows:

• Specialised education and support have predominantly been provided for a small percentage of learners with disabilities within ‘special’ schools and classes.
• Where provided, specialised education and support were provided on a racial basis, with the best human, physical and material resources reserved for white learners.
• Most learners with disability have either fallen outside the system or been ‘mainstreamed by default’.
• The curriculum and education system as a whole have generally failed to respond to the diverse needs of the learner population, resulting in massive numbers of drop-outs, push-outs and failures.
• While some attention has been given to the schooling phase with regard to ‘special needs and support’, the other levels or bands of education have been seriously neglected.

The joint report of the two bodies recommended that the education and training system should promote education for all. It should foster the development of inclusive and supportive centres of learning that would enable all learners to participate actively in the education process, so that they could develop and extend their potential and participate as equal members of society.

The report also suggested that the key strategies required to achieve this vision included:

• transforming all aspects of the education system;
• developing an integrated system of education;
• infusing ‘special needs and support services’ throughout the system;
• pursuing the holistic development of centres of learning to ensure a barrier-free physical environment and a supportive and inclusive psycho-social learning environment, developing a flexible curriculum to ensure access to all learners;
• promoting the rights and responsibilities of parents, educators and learners;
• providing effective development programmes for educators, support personnel and other relevant human resources;
• fostering holistic and integrated support provision through intersectoral collaboration;
• developing a community-based support system, which includes a preventative and developmental approach to support;
• developing funding strategies that ensure redress for historically disadvantaged communities and institutions, sustainability and – ultimately – access to education for all learners.

Based on the recommendations in the joint report, the Department of Basic Education released a Consultative Paper (Department of Education, Consultative Paper No. 1 on Special Education: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System. 30 August 1999). The submissions and feedback from social partners and the wider public were collated and informed the writing of WP6.

WP6 outlines what inclusive education and training systems are and how South Africa intends to build them, providing a framework and key steps for implementation.

Various policies and guidelines have been developed in response to WP6 and its goals. These include:

• Policy on Accommodations and Concessions
• Guidelines for Full-Service and Special Schools and Special School Resource Centres
• Guidelines for Responding to Learner Diversity in the Classroom through the National Curriculum Statement R-12
• Policy on Quality Education and Support for Learners with Severe to Profound Intellectual Disability and the Turn-around Strategy for Special Schools
• The Policy on Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS).
• Transformation of a segregated education system (mainstream and special education) into one integrated system which embraces equity and equality
• Acceptance of equal rights for all learners
• Transformation of the entire education system to effectively and efficiently respond to and support learners, parents and communities by removing barriers to learning and participation in the education system.

In 2019, South Africa is 18 years into the projected 20-year implementation plan for the WP6. Although progress has not been achieved as envisioned in 2001, some elements have been achieved to encourage inclusive education systems in South Africa.

In the ‘Report on the Implementation of Education White Paper 6 on Inclusive Education (2015)’, the Department of Basic Education acknowledged the high number of children with disabilities who were still out-of-school (estimated at approximately 590,000 in 2015). However, the report also listed the following achievements:

• The establishment of a protocol with the Department of Social Development (DSD) and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) ensures that all children with an identity number and receiving a child support grant attend school.
• The establishment of the Learner Unit Record Information and Tracking System (LURITS) to facilitate the tracking and monitoring of children within the school system.
• The development and introduction of the new learning programme for children with profound disabilities: the National Curriculum Statement Grade R–5 for Learners with Severe Intellectual Disability. This is currently being incrementally introduced in 177 special schools.
• 285 special schools are stronger by means of training and resource provision since 2001.
• 80 special schools have been converted into resource centres.
• The implementation of the Policy on Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS), which provides a tool for assessment of all children, especially those within care centres, to find appropriate schools for placement.

The SIAS Policy was developed to respond to the needs of all learners, especially those who are vulnerable. It was developed over 10 years in consultation with a wide number of stakeholders, including organisations for people with disabilities. SIAS aims to provide a policy framework for identification, assessment and support for all learners who require additional support to realise their right to participation and inclusion in the education system. The policy includes directives on how to plan, budget and provide support at all education levels.

SIAS specifically aims:

• to identify the barriers to learning experienced;
• to identify the support needs that arise from these barriers;
• to develop a support programme to address the impact of these barriers.

SIAS is structured to ensure that all educational staff understand the support needs of learners, to enable beneficial learning to take place. It provides a process for identifying learner needs at home and school and establishes the type and extent of support required at different levels. The policy is designed as a set of forms and identifies the roles and responsibilities of educators, managers, District-Based Support Teams and parents/caregivers.

To date, the progressive rollout of the SIAS Policy has reached 83,020 teachers from 23,840 schools. Across South Africa, 4,215 officials have been trained on the use of SIAS and the document is freely available online.

Stages of SIAS:

• Initial screening guided by learner profile
• Completed for all learners at admission and at the beginning of each phase.
• Any areas marked with * indicate that the next stage should begin.
• Identifying and addressing barriers to learning and development at school level
• Parents/caregivers are an integral part of this stage, which is co-ordinated by the educator
• An Individual Support Plan is formulated together and reviewed at least once per quarter
• If the support is not sufficient, the educator makes a referral to the School-Based Support Team (SBST), which then completes the SNA 2 form. An action plan is put in place where the support is strengthened.
• Identifying and addressing barriers to learning and development at district level
• The SNA 3 form guides the District-Based Support Team (DBST) in designing a more in-depth action plan, which spells out the support package and includes planning, budgeting, resource and service provision (e.g. speech therapy), training and counselling for parents/caregivers and monitoring of the plan.

 What was the timescale?

The policy was approved in 2014 and WP6 projected a 20-year implementation plan.

The policy is a processing tool for early identification of individual school, learner and teacher support needs.

It ensures that all children of school age experiencing barriers to learning, including those with disabilities, have reasonable access to inclusive, quality, free, primary and secondary education on an equal basis with other young people in the communities in which they live.

It helps schools to work out and make provision for all additional support needs.

It assists the District-Based Support Team in determining support requirements for the school, circuit and district as a whole and enables them to plan and budget for their most effective delivery.

The biggest challenges were:

• The DBSTs took a long time to respond to School-Based Support Teams’ requests for additional support.
• Once a package of support was decided on, it was not possible to implement it immediately, so support provision needed to be carefully planned and organised.
• The use of the forms by teachers to request support for a learner was a challenge.
• Digitising the policy to be an accredited online training programme for teachers, officials and parents.
• Including parents in the training in schools.

Department of Basic Education, 2001. Education White Paper 6: Special Needs Education: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System

Department of Basic Education, 2014. Policy on Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support

Department of Basic Education, 2016. Report on the Implementation of Education White Paper 6 on Inclusive Education: Overview for the period 2013–2015

The Right to Education for Children with Disabilities Alliance, 2017. Alternative report to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Department of Basic Education: Millicent Boaduo, Chief Education Specialist

South African Disability Alliance: Sandra Klopper, National Director of Autism South Africa

WHO MiNDbank: More Inclusiveness Needed in Disability and Development

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Education white paper 6: special needs education: building an inclusive education and training system

Special needs education in South Africa is a sector suffering from the systematic under-resourcing of the apartheid era and there are concerns about the future of special schools and specialised settings under the post-apartheid government reforms. In response to these concerns, the government declared its intention to create special needs education as a non-racial and integrated component of the education system. This paper explains the government's concept of an inclusive education and training system and describes how it will be developed to accommodate students with special needs. It descr...  Show more

Special needs education in South Africa is a sector suffering from the systematic under-resourcing of the apartheid era and there are concerns about the future of special schools and specialised settings under the post-apartheid government reforms. In response to these concerns, the government declared its intention to create special needs education as a non-racial and integrated component of the education system. This paper explains the government's concept of an inclusive education and training system and describes how it will be developed to accommodate students with special needs. It describes the framework for establishing the system, the funding strategy, and the key steps required to put the system in place. The paper emphasises that special schools will be strengthened and that the process of identifying, assessing and enrolling learners in them will be overhauled. The challenges of inclusion are to be addressed with further professional and physical resources development, information dissemination and advocacy. Show less

Corporate authors: South Africa. Department of Education (DoE)

Published: Pretoria, South Africa, Department of Education, 2001

Resource type: Government report or paper

Physical description: 56 p.

ISBN: 0797039236

Document number: TD/IRD 88.289

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Subjects: Disability Finance Equity Students Policy Governance

Keywords: Access to education and training Special needs students Educational policy Education and training system

Geographic subjects: Africa South Africa

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Education WHITE PAPER 6. Special Needs Education. Building an Inclusive Education and Training System

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E d u c a t i o n W H I T E P A P E R 6

S p e c i a l n e e d s e d u c a t i o n, education white paper 6, special needs education, building an inclusive education and training system.

Copyright Department of Education 2001

All rights reserved. You may copy material from this publication for use in non-profit education programmes if you aknowledge the

source. For use in publications, please get the written permission of the Department of Education.

Enquiries and/or further copies:

ELSEN Directorate

Department of Education Sol Plaatjie House 123 Schoeman Street PRETORIA Private Bag X895 PRETORIA 0001 Tel: (012) 312 5074 / 312 5505 Fax: (012) 312 5029 / 325 7207 E-mail: [email protected] ISBN: 0-7970-3923-6

CONTENTS PAGE

Introduction by the Minister of Education 3

Executive Summary 5

CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS AN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND TRAINING SYSTEM? 9

1. Context 9

1.1 Introduction 11

1.2 The White Paper Process 12

1.3 The Current Profile and Distribution of Special Schools and Learner

Enrolment 13

1.4 What is Inclusive Education and Training? 16 1.5 Building an Inclusive Education and Training System: The First Steps 17 1.6 HIV/AIDS and Other Infectious Diseases 23

CHAPTER 2: THE FRAMEWORK FOR ESTABLISHING AN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

AND TRAINING SYSTEM 24

2.1 Introduction 24

2.2 The Framework for Establishing an Inclusive Education and

Training System 27

2.2.1 Education and training policies, legislation, advisory bodies and

governance and organisational arrangements 28 2.2.2 Strengthening education support services 28 2.2.3 Expanding provision and access 30 2.2.4 Further education and training 31

2.2.5 Higher education 31

2.2.6 Curriculum, assessment and quality assurance 31 2.2.7 Information, advocacy and mobilisation 33 2.2.8 HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases 34

2.3 Funding Strategy 35

CHAPTER 3: FUNDING STRATEGY 36

3.5 Costs Attached to Expanding Access and Provision 39

3.6 Funding Strategy 39

3.7 Conditional Grants 40

3.8 Budgets of the Provincial Education Departments 40

3.9 Donor Funding 41

3.10 Further Education and Training and Higher Education 42

3.11 The Time Frame 42

3.12 Summary 43

CHAPTER 4: ESTABLISHING THE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND

TRAINING SYSTEM 45

4.1 Our Long-term Goal 45

4.2 Our Short-term to Medium-term Goals 45

4.3 Strategic Areas of Change 46

4.3.1 Building capacity in all education departments 46 4.3.2 Strengthening the capacities of all advisory bodies 46 4.3.3 Establishing district support teams 47 4.3.4 Auditing and improving the quality of and converting special

schools to resource centres 47 4.3.5 Identifying, designating and establishing full-service schools, public

adult learning centres, and further and higher education institutions 48 4.3.6 Establishing institutional-level support teams 48 4.3.7 Assisting in establishing mechanisms at community level for the early

identification of severe learning difficulties 49 4.3.8 Developing the professional capacity of all educators in curriculum

development and assessment 49

4.3.9 Promoting quality assurance and quality improvement 50

4.3.10 Mobilising public support 50

4.3.11 HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases 50 4.4.12 Developing an appropriate funding strategy 51

Annexure A 52

RESPONSE TO SUBMISSIONS RECEIVED IN RESPONSE TO CONSULTATION PAPER NO 1: SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION -BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND TRAINING SYSTEM

INTRODUCTION BY THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION

When I announced the Implementation Plan for Tirisano, I noted with regret that our national and system-wide response to the challenge of Special Education would be delayed, but brought to the public as soon as we had analysed the comment on the Consultative Paper (Department of Education. Consultative Paper No. 1 on Special Education: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System. August 30, 1999). I am, therefore, glad to announce our response in this White Paper.

I am especially pleased that I have had the opportunity to take personal ownership of a process so critical to our education and training system which begun some five years ago in October 1996 with the appointment of the National Commission on Special Needs in Education and Training and the National Committee on Education Support Services. I say this because I am deeply aware of the concerns shared by many parents, educators, lecturers, specialists and learners about the future of special schools and specialised settings in an inclusive education and training system. They share these concerns because they worry about what kind of educational experience would be available to learners with moderate to severe disabilities in mainstream education. I understand these concerns, especially now, after I have observed what a difference special schools can make when they pro-vide a quality and relevant learning experience.

In this White Paper, we make it clear that special schools will be strengthened rather than abolished. Following the completion of our audit of special schools, we will develop investment plans to

improve the quality of education across all of them. Learners with severe disabilities will be accom-modated in these vastly improved special schools, as part of an inclusive system. In this regard, the process of identifying, assessing and enrolling learners in special schools will be overhauled and replaced by structures that acknowledge the central role played by educators, lecturers and parents. Given the considerable expertise and resources that are invested in special schools, we must also make these available to neighbourhood schools, especially full-service schools and colleges. As we outline in this White Paper, this can be achieved by making special schools, in an incremental man-ner, part of district support services where they can become resources for all our schools.

I am also deeply aware of the anxieties that many educators, lecturers, parents and learners hold about our inclusion proposals for learners with special education needs. They fear the many chal-lenges that may come with inclusion - of teaching, communication, costs, stereotyping and the

safe-Beginning with 30 and expanding up to 500 schools and colleges, we will incrementally develop full-service school and college models of inclusion that can, in the long term, be considered for system-wide application. In this manner, the Government is demonstrating its determination that through the development of models of inclusion we can take the first steps of implementing our policy goal of inclusion.

This White Paper, together with Education White Paper 5 on Early Childhood Development, com-pletes an extraordinary period of seven years of post-apartheid policy development and policy mak-ing outlined in Education White Paper 1 on Education and Trainmak-ing that began in the final quarter of 1994. It is a policy paper that took us more time to complete than any of the five macro-systems policies that it follows upon. This means that is has benefited the most from our early experience and knowledge of the complex interface of policy and practice.

It is, therefore, another post-apartheid landmark policy paper that cuts our ties with the past and recognises the vital contribution that our people with disabilities are making and must continue to make, but as part of and not isolated from the flowering of our nation.

I hold out great hope that through the measures that we put forward in this White Paper we will also be able to convince the thousands of mothers and fathers of some 280,000 disabled children - who are younger than 18 years and are not in schools or colleges - that the place of these children is not one of isolation in dark backrooms and sheds. It is with their peers, in schools, on the playgrounds, on the streets and in places of worship where they can become part of the local community and cul-tural life, and part of the reconstruction and development of our country. For, it is only when these ones among us are a natural and ordinary part of us that we can truly lay claim to the status of cherishing all our children equally.

Race and exclusion were the decadent and immoral factors that determined the place of our inno-cent and vulnerable children. Through this White Paper, the Government is determined to create special needs education as a non-racial and integrated component of our education system.

I wish to take this opportunity to invite all our social partners, members of the public and interested organisations to join us in this important and vital task that faces us: of building an inclusive educa-tion system. Let us work together to nurture our people with disabilities so that they also experience the full excitement and the joy of learning, and to provide them, and our nation, with a solid founda-tion for lifelong learning and development. I acknowledge that building an inclusive educafounda-tion and training system will not be easy. What will be required of us all is persistence, commitment, co-ordination, support, monitoring, evaluation, follow-up and leadership.

Professor Kader Asmal, MP Minister of Education

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. In this White Paper we outline what an inclusive education and training system is, and how we intend to build it. It provides the framework for establishing such an education and training system, details a funding strategy, and lists the key steps to be taken in establishing an inclusive education and training system for South Africa.

2. In October 1996, the Ministry of Education appointed the National Commission on Special Needs in Education and Training and the National Committee on Education Support Services to investigate and make recommendations on all aspects of ‘special needs and support services’ in education and training in South Africa.

3. A joint report on the findings of these two bodies was presented to the Minister of Education in November 1997, and the final report was published by the Department of Education in

February 1998 for public comment and advice (Report of National Commission on Special Needs in Education and Training and National Committee on Education Support, Department of Education, 1997).

4. The central findings of the investigations included: (i) specialised education and support have predominantly been provided for a small percentage of learners with disabilities within ‘special’ schools and classes; (ii) where provided, specialised education and support were provided on a racial basis, with the best human, physical and material resources reserved for whites; (iii) most learners with disability have either fallen outside of the system or been ‘mainstreamed by default’; (iv) the curriculum and education system as a whole have generally failed to respond to the diverse needs of the learner population, resulting in massive numbers of drop-outs, push-outs, and failures; and, (v) while some attention has been given to the schooling phase with regard to ‘special needs and support’, the other levels or bands of education have been seriously neglected.

5. In the light of these findings, the joint report of the two bodies recommended that the education and training system should promote education for all and foster the development of inclusive and supportive centres of learning that would enable all learners to participate actively in the education process so that they could develop and extend their potential and participate as equal members of society.

6. The principles guiding the broad strategies to achieve this vision included: acceptance of principles and values contained in the Constitution and White Papers on Education and

7. The report also suggested that the key strategies required to achieve this vision included: (i) transforming all aspects of the education system, (ii) developing an integrated system of education, (iii) infusing ‘special needs and support services’ throughout the system,

(iv) pursuing the holistic development of centres of learning to ensure a barrier-free physical environment and a supportive and inclusive psycho-social learning environment, developing a flexible curriculum to ensure access to all learners, (v) promoting the rights and responsibilities of parents, educators and learners, (vi) providing effective development programmes for educators, support personnel, and other relevant human resources, (vii) fostering holistic and integrated support provision through intersectoral collaboration, (viii) developing a community-based support system which includes a preventative and developmental approach to support, and (ix) developing funding strategies that ensure redress for historically disadvantaged com-munities and institutions, sustainability, and - ultimately - access to education for all learners.

8. Based on the recommendations in the joint report, the Ministry released a Consultative Paper (Department of Education. Consultative Paper No. 1 on Special Education: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System. August 30, 1999). The submissions and feedback of social partners and the wider public were collated and have informed the writing of this White Paper.

9. In this White Paper, we outline the Ministry of Education’s commitment to the provision of educational opportunities in particular for those learners who experience or have experienced barriers to learning and development or who have dropped out of learning because of the inability of the education and training system to accommodate their learning needs. We recognise that our vision of an inclusive education and training system can only be developed over the long term and that the actions we will take in the short to medium term must provide us with models for later system-wide application. Our short-term to medium-term actions will

also provide further clarity on the capital, material and human resource development, and consequently the funding requirements, of building an inclusive education and training system.

10. We also define inclusive education and training as:

• Acknowledging that all children and youth can learn and that all children and youth need support. • Enabling education structures, systems and learning methodologies to meet the needs of all

• Acknowledging and respecting differences in learners, whether due to age, gender, ethnicity, language, class, disability, HIV or other infectious diseases.

• Broader than formal schooling and acknowledging that learning also occurs in the home and community, and within formal and informal settings and structures.

• Changing attitudes, behaviour, teaching methods, curricula and environment to meet the needs of all learners.

• Maximising the participation of all learners in the culture and the curriculum of educational institutions and uncovering and minimising barriers to learning.

11. The Ministry appreciates that a broad range of learning needs exists among the learner population at any point in time, and that where these are not met, learners may fail to learn effectively or be excluded from the learning system. In this regard, different learning needs arise from a range of factors including physical, mental, sensory, neurological and

developmental impairments, psycho-social disturbances, differences in intellectual ability, particular life experiences or socio-economic deprivation.

12. Different learning needs may also arise because of:

• Negative attitudes to and stereotyping of difference. • An inflexible curriculum.

• Inappropriate languages or language of learning and teaching. • Inappropriate communication.

• Inaccessible and unsafe built environments. • Inappropriate and inadequate support services. • Inadequate policies and legislation.

• The non-recognition and non-involvement of parents.

• Inadequately and inappropriately trained education managers and educators.

13. In accepting this inclusive approach we acknowledge that the learners who are most vulnerable to barriers to learning and exclusion in South Africa are those who have historically been termed ‘learners with special education needs,’ i.e. learners with disabilities and impairments. Their increased vulnerability has arisen largely because of the historical nature and extent of the educational support provided.

14. Accordingly, the White Paper outlines the following as key strategies and levers for establishing our inclusive education and training system:

• The qualitative improvement of special schools for the learners that they serve and their phased conversion to resource centres that provide professional support to neighbourhood

• The mobilisation of out-of-school disabled children and youth of school-going age.

• Within mainstream schooling, the designation and phased conversion of approximately 500 out of 20,000 primary schools to full-service schools, beginning with the 30 school districts that are part of the national district development programme. Similarly, within adult basic, further and higher education, the designation and establishment of full-service educational institutions. These full-service education institutions will enable us to develop models for later system-wide application.

• Within mainstream education, the general orientation and introduction of management, governing bodies and professional staff to the inclusion model, and the targeting of early identification of the range of diverse learning needs and intervention in the Foundation Phase.

• The establishment of district-based support teams to provide a co-ordinated professional support service that draws on expertise in further and higher education and local communities, targeting special schools and specialised settings, designated full-service and other primary schools and educational institutions, beginning with the 30 districts that are part of the national district development programme.

• The launch of a national advocacy and information programme in support of the inclusion model focusing on the roles, responsibilities and rights of all learning institutions, parents and local communities; highlighting the focal programmes; and reporting on their progress.

15. The development of an inclusive education and training system will take into account the incidence and the impact of the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other infectious diseases. For planning purposes the Ministry of Education will ascertain, in particular, the consequences for the curriculum, the expected enrolment and drop-out rates and the funding implications for both the short and long term. The Ministry will gather this information from an internally commissioned study as well as from other research being conducted in this area.

WHAT IS AN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND TRAINING SYSTEM?

Special needs education is a sector where the ravages of apartheid remain most evident. Here, the segregation of learners on the basis of race was extended to incorporate segregation on the basis of disability. Apartheid special schools were thus organised according to two segregating criteria, race and disability. In accordance with apartheid policy, schools that accommodated white disabled learners were extremely well-resourced, whilst the few schools for black disabled learners were sys-tematically underresourced.

Learners with disability experienced great difficulty in gaining access to education. Very few special schools existed and they were limited to admitting learners according to rigidly applied categories. Learners who experienced learning difficulties because of severe poverty did not qualify for educa-tional support. The categorisation system allowed only those learners with organic, medical disabili-ties access to support programmes.

The impact of this policy was that only 20% of learners with disabilities were accommodated in special schools. The World Health Organisation has calculated that between 2.2 % and 2.6 % of learners in any school system could be identified as disabled or impaired. An application of these percentages to the South African school population would project an upper limit of about 400,000 disabled or impaired learners. Current statistics show that only about 64,200 learners with disabili-ties or impairments are accommodated in about 380 special schools. This indicates that, potentially, 280,000 learners with disabilities or impairments are unaccounted for.

The results of decades of segregation and systematic underresourcing are apparent in the imbal-ance between special schools that catered exclusively for white disabled learners and those that catered exclusively for black disabled learners. It is, therefore, imperative that the continuing inequities in the special schools sector are eradicated and that the process through which the learner, educator and professional support services populations become representative of the South African population, is accelerated.

In this White Paper we outline how the policy will:

• Systematically move away from using segregation according to categories of disabilities as an organising principle for institutions.

• Base the provision of education for learners with disabilities on the intensity of support needed to overcome the debilitating impact of those disabilities.

• Place an emphasis on supporting learners through full-service schools that will have a bias towards particular disabilities depending on need and support.

• Direct how the initial facilities will be set up and how the additional resources required will be accessed.

• Indicate how learners with disability will be identified, assessed and incorporated into special, full-service and ordinary schools in an incremental manner.

• Introduce strategies and interventions that will assist educators to cope with a diversity of learning and teaching needs to ensure that transitory learning difficulties are ameliorated.

• Give direction for the Education Support System needed.

• Provide clear signals about how current special schools will serve identified disabled learners on site and also serve as a resource to educators and schools in the area.

The National Disability Strategy condemns the segregation of persons with disabilities from the mainstream of society. It emphasises the need for including persons with disabilities in the work-place, social environment, political sphere and sports arenas. The Ministry supports this direction and sees the establishment of an inclusive education and training system as a cornerstone of an integrated and caring society and an education and training system for the 21st century.

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 Our Constitution (Act 108 of 1996) founded our democratic state and common citizenship on the values of human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms (Section 1a). These values summon all of us to take up the responsibility and challenge of building a humane and caring society, not for the few, but for all South Africans. In establishing an education and training system for the 21st century, we carry a special responsibility to implement these values and to ensure that all learners, with and without disabilities, pursue their learning potential to the fullest.

1.1.2 In building our education and training system, our Constitution provides a special challenge to us by requiring that we give effect to the fundamental right to basic education for all South Africans. In Section 29 (1), it commits us to this fundamental right, viz. ‘that everyone has the right to a basic education, including adult basic education ...’

1.1.3 This fundamental right to basic education is further developed in the Constitution in Section 9 (2), which commits the state to the achievement of equality, and Sections 9 (3), (4) and (5), which commit the state to non-discrimination. These clauses are particularly important for protecting all learners, whether disabled or not.

1.1.4 The Government’s obligation to provide basic education to all learners and its commitment to the central principles of the Constitution are also guided by the

recognition that a new unified education and training system must be based on equity, on redressing past imbalances and on a progressive raising of the quality of education and training.

1.1.5 In line with its responsibility to develop policy to guide the transformation programme that is necessary to achieve these goals, the Ministry of Education has prepared this White Paper for the information of all our social partners and the wider public. This policy framework outlines the Ministry’s commitment to the provision of educational

opportunities, in particular for those learners who experience or have experienced barriers to learning and development or who have dropped out of learning because of the inability of the education and training system to accommodate the diversity of learning needs, and those learners who continue to be excluded from it.

1.1.7 Particular attention shall be paid to achieving these objectives through a realistic and effective implementation process that moves responsibly towards the development of a system that accommodates and respects diversity. This process will require a phasing in of strategies that are directed at departmental, institutional, instructional and curriculum transformation. It will also require the vigorous participation of our social partners and our communities so that social exclusion and negative stereotyping can be eliminated.

1.2 The White Paper Process

1.2.1 This White Paper arises out of the need for changes to be made to the provision of education and training so that it is responsive and sensitive to the diverse range of learning needs. Education White Paper 1 on Education and Training (1995)

acknowledged the importance of providing an effective response to the unsatisfactory educational experiences of learners with special educational needs, including those within the mainstream whose educational needs were inadequately accommodated.

1.2.2 In order to address this concern within its commitment to an integrated and

comprehensive approach to all areas of education, the Ministry appointed a National Commission on Special Needs in Education and Training and a National Committee on Education Support Services in October 1996. A joint report on the findings of these two bodies was presented to the Minister in November 1997, and the final report was published in February 1998. The Ministry released a Consultative Paper (Department of Education. Consultative Paper No. 1 on Special Education: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System. August 30, 1999) based to a large extent on the recommendations made to the Minister in this report.

1.2.3 The Consultative Paper advocates inclusion based on the principle that learning dis-abilities arise from the education system rather than the learner. Notwithstanding this approach, it made use of terms such as ‘learners with special education needs’ and ‘learners with mild to severe learning difficulties’ that are part of the language of the approach that sees learning disabilities as arising from within the learner. There should be consistency between the inclusive approach that is embraced, viz. that barriers to learning exist primarily within the learning system, and the language in use in our policy papers. Accordingly, the White Paper adopts the use of the terminology ‘barriers to learning and development’. It will retain the internationally acceptable terms of ‘disability’ and ‘impairments’ when referring specifically to those learners whose barriers to learning and development are rooted in organic/medical causes.

1.2.4 A detailed report on the Department’s response to submissions generated by the Consultative Paper can be found in Annexure A.

1.3.1 Based on data from our Education Management Information System

(EMIS)(Department of Education, Pretoria), the following is the distribution of special schools, learner enrolment and individual learner expenditure across all provincial departments of education.

1.3.2 From national census data on disabled persons we can further see the extent of disparities in the provision of education for learners with disabilities.

1.3.3. Analysis of the data reveals the extent of the disparities in provision for learners with disabilities, for example:

• The incidence of disabilities in the Eastern Cape constitutes 17.39% of the disabled population, yet the province has only 10.79% of the total number of special schools.

• Gauteng has 17.14% of the disabled population but has 25.26% of the schools. • The Western Cape has 5.47% of the disabled population but has 21.58% of the

1.3.4 This mismatch between needs and provision is a direct result of previous apartheid policies that allocated facilities on a racial basis. These policies also centralised provision within the Western Cape and Gauteng so that, today, the vast majority of learners attend residential special schools in a province other than their own since no facilities are available in their province of residence.

1.3.5 A comparison between the overall incidence of disabilities and the number of learners accommodated in school also reveals stark disparities, for example:

• 0.28% of learners in the Eastern Cape are enrolled in special schools, yet the overall incidence figure for the population of disabled persons (of all ages) is 17.39%. • This pattern is repeated across provinces, indicating that significant numbers of

learners who - based on the traditional model - should be receiving educational support in special schools are not getting any.

• While the national total incidence figure for disabilities (of all ages) is 6.55%, the total number of learners in special schools is 0.52%.

1.3.6 The data further demonstrates that learner expenditure on learners with disabilities also varies significantly across provinces, ranging from R11,049 in Gauteng to R28,635 in the Western Cape and R22,627 in the Free State. While this distribution of learner expenditure demonstrates inefficiency in the use of resources, it also demonstrates the absence of a uniform resourcing strategy and national provisioning norms for learners with disabilities.

1.3.7 In an inclusive education and training system, a wider spread of educational support services will be created in line with what learners with disabilities require. This means that learners who require low-intensive support will receive this in ordinary schools and those requiring moderate support will receive this in full-service schools. Learners who require high-intensive educational support will continue to receive such support in special schools.

1.3.8 Based on the calculations in the table above and taking into account the number of learners who are currently accommodated in special schools, viz. 64,603, our estimate of a reasonable expectation, before adjustments for growth, of disabled learners who are out of school is 260,000. Our estimate of the upper limit of out-of-school disabled learners is 280,000.

1.4 What is Inclusive Education and Training?

1.4.1 In this White Paper inclusive education and training:

• Are about acknowledging that all children and youth can learn and that all children and youth need support.

• Are accepting and respecting the fact that all learners are different in some way and have different learning needs which are equally valued and an ordinary part of our human experience.

• Are about enabling education structures, systems and learning methodologies to meet the needs of all learners.

• Acknowledge and respect differences in learners, whether due to age, gender, ethnicity, language, class, disability or HIV status.

• Are broader than formal schooling and acknowledge that learning also occurs in the home and community, and within formal and informal modes and structures. • Are about changing attitudes, behaviour, teaching methodologies, curricula and

the environment to meet the needs of all learners.

• Are about maximising the participation of all learners in the culture and the curricula of educational institutions and uncovering and minimising barriers to learning. • Are about empowering learners by developing their individual strengths and

enabling them to participate critically in the process of learning.

1.4.2 It is clear that some learners may require more intensive and specialised forms of support to be able to develop to their full potential. An inclusive education and training system is organised so that it can provide various levels and kinds of support to learners and educators.

1.4.3 Believing in and supporting a policy of inclusive education are not enough to ensure that such a system will work in practice. Accordingly, we will evaluate carefully what resources we already have within the system and how these existing resources and capacities can be strengthened and transformed so that they can contribute to the building of an inclusive system. We will also decide on where the immediate priorities lie and put in place mechanisms to address these first.

1.4.4 In this White Paper we also distinguish between mainstreaming and inclusion as we describe below:

‘Mainstreaming’ or ‘Integration’ ‘Inclusion’

Mainstreaming is about getting learners to ‘fit into’ a Inclusion is about recognising and particular kind of system or integrating them into this respecting the differences among all existing system. learners and building on the similarities.

Mainstreaming is about giving some learners Inclusion is about supporting all learners, extra support so that they can ‘fit in’ or be integrated educators and the system as a whole so into the ‘normal’ classroom routine. Learners are that the full range of learning needs assessed by specialists who diagnose and prescribe can be met. The focus is on teaching technical interventions, such as the placement of learners and learning actors, with the emphasis in programmes. on the development of good teaching strategies that will be of benefit to all learners.

Mainstreaming and integration focus on changes Inclusion focuses on overcoming barriers that need to take place in learners so that they in the system that prevent it from meeting can ‘fit in’. Here the focus is on the learner. the full range of learning needs.

The focus is on the adaptation of and support systems available in the class-room.

1.5 Building an Inclusive Education and Training System: The First Steps

1.5.1 The Ministry accepts that a broad range of learning needs exists among the learner population at any point in time, and that, where these are not met, learners may fail to learn effectively or be excluded from the learning system. In this regard, different learning needs arise from a range of factors, including physical, mental, sensory, neurological and developmental impairments, psycho-social disturbances, differences in intellectual ability, particular life experiences or socio-economic deprivation. Different learning needs may also arise because of:

• Negative attitudes to and stereotyping of differences. • An inflexible curriculum.

In accepting this approach, it is essential to acknowledge that the learners who are most vulnerable to barriers to learning and exclusion in South Africa are those who have historically been termed ‘learners with special education needs’, i.e. learners with disabilities and impairments. Their increased vulnerability has arisen largely because of the historical nature and extent of the educa-tional support provided.

1.5.2 As will be obvious from a reading of the factors contributing to the diverse range of learning needs, it is possible to identify barriers to learning operative within the learner or the education and training system. These may also arise during the learning

process and be temporary, and can be addressed through a variety of mechanisms and processes. Interventions or strategies at different levels, such as the classroom, the school, the district, the provincial and national departments and systems, will be essential to prevent them from causing learning to be ineffective. Interventions or strategies will also be essential to avoid barriers to learning from contributing to the exclusion of learners from the curriculum and/or from the education and training system.

Human resource development for classroom educators

Classroom educators will be our primary resource for achieving our goal of an inclusive education and training system. This means that educators will need to improve their skills and knowledge, and develop new ones. Staff development at the school and district level will be critical to putting in place successful integrated educational practices. Ongoing assessment of educators’ needs through our developmental appraisal, followed by structured programmes to meet these needs, will make a critical contribution to inclusion.

1. In mainstream education, priorities will include multi-level classroom instruction so that educators can prepare main lessons with variations that are responsive to individual learner needs; co-operative learning; curriculum enrichment; and dealing with learners with

behavioural problems.

2. In special schools/resource centres, priorities will include orientation to new roles within district support services of support to neighbourhood schools, and new approaches that focus on problem solving and the development of learners’ strengths and competencies rather than focusing on their shortcomings only.

3. In full-service schools, priorities will include orientation to and training in new roles focusing on multi-level classroom instruction, co-operative learning, problem solving and the

development of learners’ strengths and competencies rather than focusing on their short-comings only.

4. Education support personnel within district support services will be orientated to and trained in their new roles of providing support to all teachers and other educators. Training will focus on supporting all learners, educators and the system as a whole so that the full range of learning needs can be met. The focus will be on teaching and learning factors, and emphasis will be placed on the development of good teaching strategies that will be of benefit to all learners; on overcoming barriers in the system that prevent it from meeting the full range of learning needs; and on adaptation of and support systems available in the classroom. 5. Management and governance development programmes will be revised to incorporate

orientation to and training in the management and governance implications of each of the categories of institutions within the inclusive education and training system, viz. special, full-service and mainstream. Training will focus on how to identify and address barriers to learning.

1.5.3 This approach to addressing barriers to learning and exclusion is consistent with a learner-centred approach to learning and teaching. It recognises that developing learners’ strengths and empowering and enabling them to participate actively and critically in the learning process involve identifying and overcoming the causes of learning difficulties. The approach is also consistent with a systemic and developmental approach to understanding problems and planning action. It is consistent with new international approaches that focus on providing quality education for all learners.

What are curriculum and institutional barriers to learning and how do we remove these?

One of the most significant barriers to learning for learners in special and ‘ordinary’ schools is the curriculum. In this case, barriers to learning arise from different aspects of the curriculum, such as:

• The content (i.e. what is taught).

• The language or medium of instruction.

• How the classroom or lecture is organised and managed. • The methods and processes used in teaching.

What can be done to overcome these barriers and who will assist institutions in doing it?

The most important way of addressing barriers arising from the curriculum is to make sure that the process of learning and teaching is flexible enough to accommodate different learning needs and styles. The curriculum must therefore be made more flexible across all bands of education so that it is accessible to all learners, irrespective of their learning needs. One of the tasks of the district sup-port team will be to assist educators in institutions in creating greater flexibility in their teaching methods and in the assessment of learning. They will also provide illustrative learning programmes, learning support materials and assessment instruments.

1.5.4 Embracing this approach as the basis for establishing an inclusive education and training system does not mean that we should then proceed to declare it as policy and hope that its implementation will proceed smoothly within all provincial systems and all education and training institutions. Rather, the successful implementation of this policy will rely on a substantive understanding of the real experiences and capabilities of our provincial systems and education and training institutions, the setting of achievable policy objectives and priorities over time and regular reporting on these. Successful policy implementation will also rely on the identification of key levers for policy change and innovation within our provincial systems and our education and training institutions.

1.5.5 It is this approach that lies at the heart of this White Paper: a determination to establish an inclusive education and training system as our response to the call to action to establish a caring and humane society, and a recognition that within an education and training system that is engaging in multiple and simultaneous policy change under conditions of severe resource constraints, we must determine policy priorities, identify key levers for change and put in place successful South African models of inclusion.

1.5.6 Against this background, we identify within this White Paper the following six key strategies and levers for establishing our inclusive education and training system:

1.5.6.1 The qualitative improvement of special schools and settings for the learners that they serve and their conversion to resource centres that are integrated into district-based support teams.

The place and role of special schools in an inclusive education system

As we described earlier, special schools currently provide, in a racially segregated manner, educa-tion services of varying quality.

1. While special schools provide critical education services to learners who require intense levels of support, they also accommodate learners who require much less support and should ideally be in mainstream schools.

2. When implementing our policy on inclusion we will pay particular attention to raising the overall quality of education services that special schools provide.

3. We will also ensure that learners who require intense levels of support receive these services since mainstream schools will be unable to provide them.

4. In addition to these roles, special schools will have a very important role to play in an inclusive system. The new roles for these schools will include providing particular expertise and support, especially professional support in curriculum, assessment and instruction, as part of the district support team to neighbourhood schools, especially ‘full-service’ schools. This role also includes providing appropriate and quality educational provision for those learners who are already in these settings or who may require accommodation in settings requiring secure care or specialised programmes with high levels of support.

5. Improved quality of special schools will also include the provision of comprehensive education programmes that provide life-skills training and programme-to-work linkages. Here is an example of how a special school can operate a resource centre in its district.

A special school has specialised skills available among its staff and has developed learning materi-als to specifically assist learners with visual impairments. There may materi-also be facilities for Braille available at the school. The professional staff at this school, as part of their role in the district sup-port team, could run a training workshop in their district for other educators on how to provide addi-tional support in the classroom to visually-impaired learners. The special school could produce learning materials in Braille and make them available through a lending system to other schools in the district. The school could also set up a ‘helpline’ for educators or parents to telephone in with queries.

6. But what will be done to help special schools take on this additional role? The White Paper explains that, to assist special schools in functioning as resource centres in the district support system, there will be a qualitative upgrading of their services.

7. We will focus especially on the training of their staff for their new roles. This process of upgrading will take place once we have completed our audit of the programmes, services

1.5.6.2 The mobilisation of the approximately 280,000 disabled children and youth outside of the school system.

1.5.6.3 Within mainstream schooling, the designation and conversion of approximately 500 out of 20,000 primary schools to full-service schools, beginning with the 30 school districts that are part of the national District Development Programme. Similarly, within adult basic, further and higher education, the designation and establishment of full-service educational institutions. The eventual number of full-service institutions (beyond the target of 500) will be governed by our needs and available resources.

What are full-service schools and colleges and how do we intend establishing them?

Full-service schools and colleges are schools and colleges that will be equipped and supported to provide for the full range of learning needs among all our learners.

1. It will be impossible in the medium term to convert all 28,000 schools and colleges to provide the full range of learning needs. Notwithstanding this, it will be important to pursue our policy goal of inclusion through the development of models of inclusion that can later be considered for system-wide application.

2. Full-service schools and colleges will be assisted to develop their capacity to provide for the full range of learning needs and to address barriers to learning.

3. Special attention will be paid to developing flexibility in teaching practices and styles through training, capacity building and the provision of support to learners and educators in these schools.

But how will this be done?

4. The Ministry, in collaboration with the provincial departments of education, will designate and then convert a number of primary schools throughout the country into what are called ‘full-service’ schools.

5. These are schools that will be equipped and supported to provide for a greater range of learning needs.

6. The programmes that are developed in the ‘full-service’ schools will be carefully monitored and evaluated. The lessons learnt from this process will be used to guide the extension of this model to other primary schools, as well as other high schools and colleges.

What kind of support will these schools receive?

7. The support they will receive will include physical and material resources, as well as professional development for staff.

8. They will also receive special attention from the district support teams so that they can become beacons of our evolving inclusive education system.

Which schools will become ‘full-service’ schools?

9. Initially, we will select at least one primary school in a selection of 30 school districts. Based on lessons learnt from this sample, 500 primary schools will later be selected for con-version into ‘full-service’ schools. When identifying the 500 schools, particular attention will be paid to the mobilisation of community and parent participation so that all social partners and role players can become part of the process of developing these schools.

1.5.6.4 Within mainstream education, the general orientation and introduction of management, governing bodies and professional staff to the inclusion model, and the targeting of early identification of disabilities and intervention in the Foundation Phase.

1.5.6.5 The establishment of district-based support teams to provide a co-ordinated professional support service that draws on expertise in further and higher education and local communities, targeting special schools and specialised settings, designated full-service and other primary schools and educational institutions, beginning with 30 school districts.

1.5.6.6 Finally, we will prioritise the implementation of a national advocacy and information programme in support of the inclusion model focusing on the roles, responsibilities and rights of all learning institutions, educators, parents and local communities and high-lighting the focal programmes and reporting on their progress.

1.6 HIV/AIDS and Other Infectious Diseases

1.6.1 The development of an inclusive education and training system must take into account the incidence and the impact of the spread of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.

1.6.2 For planning purposes, the Ministry will need to ascertain, in particular, the conse-quences for the curriculum, the expected enrolment and drop-out rates and the funding implications in both the short and long terms.

THE FRAMEWORK FOR ESTABLISHING AN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

And training system, 2.1 introduction.

2.1.1 The central objective of this White Paper is to extend the policy foundations, frame-works and programmes of existing policy for all bands of education and training so that our education and training system will recognise and accommodate the diverse range of learning needs.

2.1.2 The most significant conceptual change from current policy is that the development of education and training must be premised on the understanding that:

• All children, youth and adults have the potential to learn within all bands of education and they all require support.

• Many learners experience barriers to learning or drop out primarily because of the inability of the system to recognise and accommodate the diverse range of learning needs typically through inaccessible physical plants, curricula, assessment, learning materials and instructional methodologies. The approach advocated in this White Paper is fundamentally different from traditional ones that assume that barriers to learning reside primarily within the learner and accordingly, learner support should take the form of specialist, typically medical interventions.

• Establishing an inclusive education and training system will require changes to mainstream education so that learners experiencing barriers to learning can be identified early and appropriate support provided. It will also require changes to special schools and specialised settings so that learners who experience mild to moderate disabilities can be adequately accommodated within mainstream education through appropriate support from district-based support teams including special schools and specialised settings. This will require that the quality of provision of special schools and specialised settings be upgraded so that they can provide a high-quality service for learners with severe and multiple disabilities.

2.1.3 We are persuaded that the inclusion of learners with disabilities that stem from

impaired intellectual development will require curriculum adaptation rather than major structural adjustments or sophisticated equipment. Accordingly, their accommodation within an inclusive education and training framework would be more easily facilitated than the inclusion of those learners who require intensive support through medical interventions, structural adjustments to the built environment and/or assistive devices with minimal curriculum adaptation. Given the serious human resource constraints in the country and the demands for justice, there is an onus on the Government to ensure that all human resources are developed to their fullest potential. In the long run, such a policy will also lead to a reduction in the Government’s fiscal burden as the inclusive education and training system increases the number of productive citizens relative to those who are dependant on the state for social security grants.

2.1.4 The central features of the inclusive education and training system put forward in this White Paper are:

• Criteria for the revision of existing policies and legislation for all bands of education and training, and frameworks for governance and organisation.

• A strengthened district-based education support service. • The expansion of access and provision.

• Support for curriculum development and assessment, institutional development and quality improvement and assurance.

• A national information, advocacy and mobilisation campaign. • A revised funding strategy.

2.1.5 It is also essential to acknowledge that many of the barriers to learning that we are drawing attention to in this White Paper are being tackled within many other national and provincial programmes of the Departments of Education, Health, Welfare, and Public Works in particular.

2.1.6 To illustrate, in the case of the Department of Education, the COLTS programme previously, and now the Tirisano programme, the District Development Programme, Curriculum 2005, the Language-in-Education Policy, Systemic Evaluation (of the attainment of Grade 3 learners), the HIV/AIDS Life Skills Programme and the joint programmes with the Business Trust on school efficiency and quality improvement, are examples of programmes that are already seeking to uncover and remove barriers to learning

2.1.8 The Department of Health is implementing an Integrated Nutrition Strategy including the Primary Schools Nutrition Project to provide learners from poor families with a nutritious meal. The Department also provides free health care for children younger than six years, while the Technical Guidelines on Immunisation in South Africa (1995) provide for children younger than five years to be prioritised for nutritional intervention.

2.1.9 The Department of Social Development prioritises the provision of social development services to children under five years. The Department also provides a child support grant for needy children younger than seven years.

2.1.10 All of these programmes will be enhanced by policies and programmes being advocated in this White Paper.

2.1.11 Accordingly, in this White Paper, the Ministry puts forward a framework for transformation and change which aims to ensure increased and improved access to the education and training system for those learners who experience the most severe forms of learning difficulties and are most vulnerable to exclusion.

2.1.12 This will, of necessity, require that we focus our attention on those learners in special schools and settings and those in remedial or special classes in ordinary schools and settings.

2.1.13 However, while we must focus our efforts on improving the capacity of the education and training system to accommodate learners who experience the various forms of learning difficulties, our focus will require the transformation and change of the entire education and training system for us to be able to accomplish these objectives and to enable mainstream education and training to recognise and address the causes and effects of learning difficulties in ‘ordinary’ classes and lecture halls.

2.1.14 Transformation and change must therefore focus on the full range of education and training services: the organisations - national and provincial departments of education, further and higher education institutions, schools (both special and ordinary); education support services; curriculum and assessment; education managers and educators; and parents and communities.

2.2 The Framework for Establishing an Inclusive Education and Training System

2.2.1 Education and training policies, legislation, advisory bodies and governance and organisational arrangements

2.2.1.1 In order for the Ministry to establish an inclusive education and training system, it will review all existing policies and legislation for general, further and higher education and training so that these will be consistent with the policy proposals put forward in this White Paper. The South African Schools Act (1996), the Higher Education Act (1997), the Further Education and Training Act (1998), the Adult Basic Education and Training Act (2000) and the accompanying White Papers already provide the basis for the establishment of an inclusive education and training system. Accordingly, the Ministry will require all advisory bodies to provide it with advice on how to implement the policy proposals contained in this White Paper. The Ministry will also review the memberships of all advisory bodies to ensure that appropriate expertise and representation enable these bodies to advise the Minister and Members of the Provincial Executive Councils responsible for Education on goals, priorities and targets for the successful establishment of the inclusive education and training system.

2.2.1.2 In revising policies, legislation and frameworks, the Ministry will give particular, but not exclusive, attention to those that relate to the school and college systems. Policies, legislation and frameworks for the school and college systems must provide the basis for overcoming the causes and effects of barriers to learning. Specifically admission policies will be revised so that learners who can be accommodated outside of special schools and specialised settings can be accommodated within designated full-service or other schools and settings. Age grade norms will be revised to accom-modate those learners requiring a departure from these norms as a result of their particular learning needs. Simultaneously, the Ministry will collaborate with the

Ministries of Health and Social Development to design and implement early identification, assessment and education programmes for learners with disabilities in the age group 0-9 years. Boarding facilities and transport policies and practices will be reviewed on the understanding that the neighbourhood or full-service school should be promoted as the first choice.

2.2.1.3 In respect of reform schools and schools of industry, the Ministry will collaborate with the Ministry of Social Development and the provincial departments of education to

2.2.1.4 In higher education institutions access for disabled learners and other learners who experience barriers to learning and development can be achieved through properly co-ordinated learner support services, and the cost-effective provision of such support services can be made possible through regional collaboration. Institutional planning is now a critical part of national planning for higher education, and higher education institutions will be required to plan the provision of programmes for learners with dis-abilities and impairments through regional collaboration. This is now a requirement of the National Plan for Higher Education.

2.2.1.5 An aspect of the development of learning settings that the Ministry will give urgent attention to is the creation of barrier-free physical environments. The manner in which the physical environment, such as buildings and grounds, is developed and organised contributes to the level of independence and equality that learners with disability enjoy. The physical environment of most ordinary schools and learning settings is not

barrier-free and even where this is the case, accessibility has not been

planned. Accordingly, space and cost norms for buildings, including grounds, will focus on the design and construction of new buildings, as well as the renovation of existing buildings. These actions will be undertaken in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Works and provincial departments of public works.

2.2.1.6 In beginning to implement the policy proposals put forward in this White Paper, it will be essential to match the capacity of Government with the roles proposed for it. Professional development programmes will focus on the development of effective leadership in policy, administration and programme implementation, the establishment of management information systems, and the development of competencies necessary for addressing severe learning difficulties within all branches and sections of the national and provincial departments of education.

2.2.1.7 The National Norms and Standards for School Funding will apply to the new Inclusive Education and Training System and its application will be customised to ensure equity and redress.

2.2.2 Strengthening education support services

2.2.2.1 The Ministry believes that the key to reducing barriers to learning within all education and training lies in a strengthened education support service.

2.2.2.2 This strengthened education support service will have, at its centre, new district-based support teams that will comprise staff from provincial district, regional and head offices and from special schools. The primary function of these district support teams will be to evaluate programmes, diagnose their effectiveness and suggest modifications. Through supporting teaching, learning and management, they will build the capacity of schools, early childhood and adult basic education and training centres, colleges and higher education institutions to recognise and address severe learning difficulties and to accommodate a range of learning needs.

2.2.2.3 At the institutional level, in general, further and higher education, we will require institutions to establish institutional-level support teams. The primary function of these teams will be to put in place properly co-ordinated learner and educator support services. These services will support the learning and teaching process by identifying and addressing learner, educator and institutional needs. Where appropriate, these teams should be strengthened by expertise from the local community, district support teams and higher education institutions. District support teams will provide the full range of education support services, such as professional development in curriculum and assessment, to these institutional-level support teams.

2.2.2.4 The Ministry will also investigate how, within the principles of the post-provisioning model, designated posts can be created in all district support teams. Staff appointed to these posts can, as members of the district support team, develop and co-ordinate school-based support for all educators.

2.2.2.5 The Ministry recognises that the success of our approach to addressing barriers to learning and the provision of the full range of diverse learning needs lies with our education managers and educator cadre. Accordingly, and in collaboration with our provincial departments of education, the Ministry will, through the district support teams, provide access for educators to appropriate pre-service and in-service education and training and professional support services. The Ministry will also ensure that the norms and standards for the education and training of educators, trainers and other development practitioners include competencies in addressing barriers to learning and provide for the development of specialised competencies such as life skills, counselling and learning support.

that they provide to their existing learner base. In order to ensure that special schools and settings are well prepared for their new role, we will conduct an audit of their current capacities and the quality of their provision, raise the quality of their provision, upgrade them to resource centres and train their staff to assume these new roles as part of the district support team.

2.2.2.7 In revising and aligning our education support service, we will focus our efforts on establishing a co-ordinated education support service along a continuum from national through to provincial departments of education, through to schools, colleges, adult and early childhood learning centres, and higher education, which is sensitive to and accommodates diversity, with appropriate capacities, policies and support services.

2.2.3 Expanding provision and access

2.2.3.1 A central feature of our programme to build an inclusive education and training system is the enrolment of the approximately 280,000 disabled children and youth of compul-sory school-going age that are not accommodated in our school system.

2.2.3.2 The Ministry will put in place a public education programme to inform and educate parents of these children and youth, and will collaborate with the Department of Social Development to develop a programme to support their special welfare needs, including the provision of devices such as wheel chairs and hearing aids.

2.2.3.3 To accommodate these children and youth of school-going age, we will, in collaboration with the provincial departments of education, designate and then convert, as a first step, primary schools to full-service schools, beginning in those school districts that form part of the national schools district development programme. Eventually, we expect to designate and convert to a full-service school at least one primary school within each of our school districts, taking into account the location of the special

schools/resource centres. These full-service schools will be provided with the necessary physical and material resources and the staff and professional development that are essential to accommodate the full range of learning needs. In this manner, we will expand provision and access to disabled learners within neighbourhood schools alongside their non-disabled peers.

2.2.3.4 Together with the provincial departments of education, the Ministry will monitor the successes and impact of these pilot schools closely to inform the expansion of the model to other primary and high schools.

2.2.3.5 With the collaboration of the provincial departments of education and school governing bodies, full service schools will be made available to adult learners as part of public a adult learning programmes.

2.2.4 Further education and training

2.2.4.1 The Ministry will link the provision of education to learners with disabilities stemming from impaired intellectual development and who do not require intensive support to the general restructuring of the further education and training sector currently being under-taken.

2.2.4.2 It is likely that a similar model to that proposed for general education will be developed for technical colleges, namely that there will be dedicated special colleges which will mirror the full-service schools in the general education sector.

2.2.5 Higher education

2.2.5.1 The National Plan for Higher Education (Ministry of Education, February 2001) commits our higher education institutions to increasing the access of learners with special education needs. The Ministry, therefore, expects institutions to indicate in their institutional plans the strategies and steps, with the relevant time frames, they intend taking to increase enrolment of these learners.

2.2.5.2 The Ministry will also make recommendations to higher education institutions regarding minimum levels of provision for learners with special needs. However, all higher education institutions will be required to ensure that there is appropriate physical access for physically disabled learners.

2.2.5.3 It will not be possible to provide relatively expensive equipment and other resources, particularly for blind and deaf students, at all higher education institutions. Such facilities will therefore have to be organised on a regional basis.

2.2.6 Curriculum, assessment and quality assurance

settings, or ‘ordinary’ schools and settings. These barriers to learning arise from within the various interlocking parts of the curriculum, such as the content of learning

programmes, the language and medium of learning and teaching, the management and organisation of classrooms, teaching style and pace, time frames for completion of curricula, the materials and equipment that are available, and assessment

methods and techniques. Barriers to learning and exclusion of this kind also arise from the physical and psycho-social environment within which learning occurs.

2.2.6.2 Accordingly, new curriculum and assessment initiatives will be required to focus on the inclusion of the full range of diverse learning needs. A key responsibility of the district support teams will be to provide curriculum, assessment and instructional support to public adult learning centres, schools and further education institutions in the form of illustrative learning programmes, learning support materials and assessment instruments.

2.2.6.3 As described earlier, the prevailing situation in special schools and settings and in remedial classes and programmes is inappropriate, and in general fails to provide a cost-effective and comprehensive learning experience for participating learners. In taking the first steps in building an inclusive education and training system, we will review, improve and expand participation in special schools/resource centres and full- service institutions. The Ministry believes that these programmes should provide a comprehensive education, and should provide life skills and programme-to-work link-ages. As described earlier, these programmes will also be required to provide their services to neighbourhood schools. Attention will also be given to those programmes and settings that accommodate learners requiring secure care, specialised programmes and/or high levels of support to ensure that these are provided in an appropriate and cost-effective manner, and that they provide for the psycho-social needs of these learners.

2.2.6.4 Institutional development will therefore focus on assisting educational institutions to recognise and address the diverse range of learning needs among learners. While we provide a framework for educational practices that are consistent with the establishment of an inclusive education and training system in this White Paper, we will focus on and prioritise special schools/resource centres and full-service schools and colleges that provide education services to learners most profoundly affected by learning barriers and exclusion.

2.2.6.5 The Ministry fully appreciates the importance of assessment and interventions during the early phases of life. It is during the pre-schooling years that hearing and vision-testing programmes should reveal early organic impairments that are barriers to learning.

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Embracing the Impact and Importance of Inclusive Education for All Learners

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Thousands (more than 380,000) of learners experiencing barriers to learning of school-going-age are not at school (Department of Education, Education White Paper 6. Special Needs Education: building an inclusive education and training system. Pretoria, Department of Education, 2001) and thousands are at risk of not being admitted at existing special schools. Further, some special schools will be converted into resource centres catering for the needs and aspirations of those who have severe barriers. It is high time to redesign, modernize and implement a system that will cater for all students’ needs and embrace diversity. Inclusive education could become effective for students, education authorities, parents/guardians and different communities. For inclusive education to be effective, it has to be adaptable, flexible and relevant to guarantee that young and old have or would acquire the means to pursue lifelong learning and obtain both relevant skills and competencies to survive and cope with ever-changing society across different industrial and educational revolutions. This chapter aims to highlight key issues surrounding the readiness of all stakeholders regarding the impact and importance of inclusive education for students themselves and the society at large. Given the rate of change in today’s education systems, the future has never seemed less certain and challenging to students, teachers and parents/guardians.

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Maguvhe, M.O. (2023). Embracing the Impact and Importance of Inclusive Education for All Learners. In: Maguvhe, M.O., Masuku, M.M. (eds) Using African Epistemologies in Shaping Inclusive Education Knowledge . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31115-4_13

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Guidelines for full-service / inclusive schools 2010. Education white paper 6: special needs education. Building an inclusive education and training system

Special education students still struggling with pandemic's setbacks

Even now, Melissa Clark wonders whether her daughter Brianna, who has autism, would be better at speaking, learning and socializing if the COVID-19 pandemic hadn't interrupted her progress.

The West Babylon mother said she saw her 15-year-old daughter's skills deteriorate during the months of remote and hybrid learning. Brianna couldn't connect with instruction on her laptop. She couldn't focus for long periods on a screen. Her in-person speech, life skills therapy and opportunities to socialize fell apart, her mother said.

"She was totally out of sync," said Clark, adding that even after Brianna returned to school  in the fall of 2020, it took her until the end of the school year to settle in and begin catching up. "Our children, they thrive on routine, and the pandemic threw a monkey wrench into that. … She fell behind on things she should have been working on."

These days, many students with disabilities and in special education are still grappling with setbacks associated with the pandemic, said Dr. Vera   Feuer, associate vice president of Northwell Health's mental health's services for schools. Northwell Health, the Island's largest health care provider, had provided behavioral services to five Island school districts before the pandemic. By 2022, those relationships had grown to 26 districts, and now it's up to 50 districts, she said. 

"We're hearing from all the districts that they are seeing a high amount of regression in special education students," Feuer said. "Maybe it does look like we're back to normal. The impacts of the pandemic have not gone away. The mental health impact is still heavily present." 

Learning loss and emotional setbacks can be more severe for special education students versus those in the general population, educators say. When general education students regress in school, they might lose some skills in math and English. But when special education students lose ground, some lose life skills that could help them communicate with others and be more independent, they said. 

When the pandemic shut down schools in March 2020, pushing many students into 2½ rocky years of remote and hybrid learning along with vaccine and mask mandates, the disruption set back students across the board. Students in general were already facing mental health challenges, and the pandemic worsened matters. But it hit students with disabilities and special needs that much harder, educators and mental health experts said.karis

"Since the pandemic, we've seen an increase in mental health support and a decrease in academic skills," said Susan McNulty, assistant to the superintendent for special education curriculum and instruction for Nassau BOCES, which handles many special education students. "We're not out from behind the eight ball. We're continuously working to close the gaps in learning and mental health."

Still, educators see progress.

"Our students have done a lot of great work," said Bridget Karis, West Hempstead's executive director of pupil personnel services, regarding special education students. "Over the last four years, we've really seen them springboard ahead. … The last year or two, we've moved forward from focusing on the pandemic."

These students have benefited greatly from the increased funding and resources for mental health that followed the pandemic, she said. Schools have been able to increase staffing and services. West Hempstead is among the districts working with Northwell Health on these services.

State lawmakers have focused on the youth mental health crisis. Gov. Kathy Hochul has said $20 million will be spent for schools statewide. The money will help open mental health clinics, making it easier for students and their families to access clinical services. To date, more than 1,100 school-based mental health clinic satellites are either operating or under development, state officials said.

Long Island has 65,064 students with disabilities, who account for 15.7% of its 414,094 students, according to the state Department of Education. Statewide, there were 456,385 students with disabilities, 18.8% of the 2.4 million total K-12 students for 2022-23, the agency said.

When most students came back to schools in September 2020, educators said they saw serious behavioral and academic issues among many special needs students. They had trouble maintaining eye contact with others, some couldn't sit still in class, high schoolers were behaving like middle schoolers, and some developed negative behaviors, educators said.  

Brianna Clark started elbowing her instructor when her patience ran thin, her mother said. She made little progress academically that year. 

Judging how well these students are rebounding is challenging, experts said.

Students in special education and those with disabilities have a wide range of diagnoses, from autism to medical problems, deafness to developmental delays, learning disabilities to mental health issues, they said. Moreover, students in these categories often progress in very individual ways, at their own speed, educators said.

School officials are still seeing signs that concern them, Karis said. Before the pandemic, the West Hempstead district would see about 10 referrals every three months to assess whether students needed special education; now she sees about 30, she said.

Even before the pandemic, standardized test scores for students with disabilities were substantially lower than those of nondisabled students. Scores for students with disabilities dropped by an average of 8 points in math between 2020 and 2022, compared to 7 points for nondisabled students, according to the Center for Reinventing Public Education, a research organization at Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. Students with disabilities dropped by an average of 7 points in reading, compared to 5 points for nondisabled students, the group said.

The return to school prompted a slew of new assessments, revised service plans and team meetings with special education families, said Veronica Garcia, director of development for the Nassau-Suffolk Autism Society of America.

"Some kids wouldn't sit in a circle. That ability went away," she said. "We had to go back to having them sit for one minute, then two minutes, then three minutes."

She added, "Parents were super sad, having watched their child's progress slip away."

Brianna Clark is mostly nonverbal, meaning that her family can understand her speech but many others can't, her mother said. She often uses her iPad to spell out what she wants to say. She's good at following instruction, but coming back into a classroom setting at James E. Allen Junior-Senior High School in Dix Hills was rough, her mother said.

Many programs saw high vacancies, educators said.

Programs for special needs students are in dire need of certified special education teachers, said Stephen Hernandez, a Hofstra associate professor who instructs future special education teachers.

"It's not unusual for my special education students to receive job offers before they graduate — and they get them on Long Island," Hernandez said of the teachers.

Hernandez said he was especially concerned for preschoolers who, because of the pandemic shutdowns and quarantines, might not have learned to relate to other children their age.

"They might have difficulty sharing toys and expressing themselves to others," he said. "They might grab a toy out of another child's hands and raise their voice."

Karis, of the West Hempstead district, said the district has seen a sharp increase in preschool referrals to evaluate whether a child needs special education. Since last July, the district has seen 75 such referrals. Prior to the pandemic, they saw about 25 in that period, she said.

"Whether or not that is directly tied to the pandemic, I can't say," she said.

The pandemic compounded existing challenges to providing speech, physical and other therapists for preschoolers. Earlier this year, dozens of providers spotlighted the issue through testimony before the Nassau County Legislature. They described a financial and moral crisis in which they were unable to recruit and retain therapists because the payment rates were low.

Close to 200 children went without the federally mandated services and were put on a waiting list, some for as long as a year, they said.

In April, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced plans to increase the county reimbursement rates from $40 to $50 per half-hour for these providers, which would mark the first increase in 25 years. The county Board of Health is expected to approve the increase this month, officials said.

Special education students historically have higher rates of school discipline issues, noted Eilleen Buckley, executive director of the Long Island Advocacy Center, a nonprofit that works with families struggling with school suspensions and the special education process of obtaining services.

"We're seeing a huge increase in suspensions, with schools looking to suspend students longer," Buckley said. "Under the law, these students cannot be suspended for behavior that is a manifestation of a student's disability. ... There are times when the school finds the behavior is not a manifestation of their disability. It's a gray area." 

The great majority of Long Island special education students attend local public schools and are educated for some part of the day alongside their general education peers in classrooms, according to the state Comptroller's Office.

Chronic absenteeism has significantly increased in Island schools since the pandemic, including among students with disabilities. Students with disabilities are registering higher rates than those of the general population, according to state public school data analyzed by Newsday.  Students are considered chronically absent if they miss 10% or more of instructional days.

Even as COVID-19 has receded, attendance has not bounced back in many schools. 

For the Island's general school population, the rate of chronic absenteeism has almost doubled, from 11% in the 2018-19 school year to 19% in 2022-23, according to the data.

For students with disabilities, the rate of chronic absenteeism jumped from 15% to 24% in those years, the data said.

Overall, students with disabilities represent about 20% of all the students who were chronically absent, both before and after the pandemic, state figures showed. Some Island districts, however, saw greater percentages. 

In the Hauppauge school district, 142 of the 453 chronically absent students were those with disabilities, almost a third, according to data from the state Department of Education.

"This is an important topic to us as we believe that students need to be in school in order to thrive academically, socially and emotionally," said Superintendent Donald Murphy. He noted that the Hauppauge district formed a Chronic Absentee Committee to identify root causes and address the issue.

"We have added targeted programs and hired additional staff members to support our students," he said. "Also, we have partnered with Northwell Health to provide parents with resources and support to help with students dealing with school avoidance, anxiety and depression."

John Kilduff is 20 and has Down syndrome. He's outgoing and very verbal, though has limited reading ability, said his father, Jim Kilduff. When the pandemic sent the educational world into remote learning, the Rockville Centre resident was a popular student at Southside High School, taking special ed classes while mixing in with the general population at lunchtime, recess and other activities.

"He had a sense of fitting in. We lost that with the pandemic," Jim Kilduff said.

The Kilduff family helped him get through remote instruction, taking turns monitoring and assisting him, his father said. Southside officials, seeing the difficulty of distance learning for special ed students, brought them back early, in June 2020, he said.

"Academically, the fact that he got back into school so quickly, I don't think he lost significant ground," said his father. And being around other students helped ease John's sense of isolation, he added. "He just got through it, like the rest of us."

Angelo Zegarelli is the superintendent of the Henry Viscardi School in Albertson. The school specializes in providing education to children with severe physical disabilities and who often require life-sustaining medical treatment throughout the day.

"Early on we saw some regression. I feel we combated that pretty nicely," said Zegarelli of the school that serves 160 students.

This academic year, the school hired a specialist in social and emotional learning, he said. During the pandemic the school created a special wellness team to address the regression among students, he said. 

"We saw students not making eye contact, not saying hello, showing trouble with conflict resolution," he said. Many of the students are medically fragile, which made them nervous. "We saw students showing an anxiety and fear of COVID. They feared that they could get sick."

The students' disabilities often played havoc with pandemic restrictions on social distancing and mask-wearing, he said. Many couldn't wear a mask because they need to be continually monitored for choking on their saliva. 

"I think our students are where they should be, pretty close to where they were" before the pandemic, he said.

Melissa Clark has dreams for her daughter.

"I'd love for her to be independent, to be able to have a job and go to the store, shop herself. Simple things that are really hard," she said.

For now, Brianna is learning and practicing assembling products into containers and packages.

Her mother hopes Brianna develops the skills she'll need to work. 

"We're just behind, a little further behind. … We have to catch up," she said.

With Michael Ebert and Arielle Martinez

WHAT TO KNOW

• Many students with disabilities and in special education are still grappling with setbacks associated with the pandemic.
• Still, educators see progress thanks to extra funding due to the pandemic, and increased attention to students' mental health challenges.
• Learning loss and emotional setbacks can be far more severe for special education students versus those in the general population.

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"We're not out from behind the eight ball," said Susan McNulty, of Nassau BOCES. Credit: Kendall Rodriguez

Difficulties in assessing progress

Brianna Clark at her home in West Babylon. Credit: Kendall Rodriguez

A dire need for teachers

Melissa Clark with daughter Brianna at the James E. Allen Elementary School in Dix Hills in December 2020, a year of pandemic disruptions. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca

Lost: A sense of fitting in

"We're just behind, a little further behind," said Melissa Clark. Credit: Kendall Rodriguez Credit: Kendall Rodriguez

‘We have to catch up’

Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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