Gauteng Education Department discriminates against special schools, says FEDSAS
The Gauteng Education Department discriminates against learners with special education needs. This is the only conclusion one can come to regarding this department's post provision scales for 2013 that were released recently.
"According to these scales, schools for learners with special education needs will lose quite a number of posts. Some of these schools are now forced to close schools hostels because there are simply not enough staff members to keep the hostels in operation. Many of these schools accommodate learners for all over South Africa, which makes hostels a necessity," says Mrs Melanie Buys, the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African's Schools' (FEDSAS) provincial manager in Gauteng.
Buys says these schools accommodate learners with hearing disabilities, those living with epilepsy, as well as cerebral palsy and physical disabilities. "Many of these learners need full-time care. If the department does not provide more posts urgently, including posts for therapists, these learners will not be able to receive the necessary special education." Provision for posts for normal public schools is awarded on a scale of 1:33. For special schools the provision for posts for 2013 is effectively 1:44 if the weights awarded in terms of disability are taken into account.
According to Buys some of these schools are forced to ask parents to pay for additional posts so that each classroom has at least one teacher. "Some of these schools are literally the only institutions that make use of certain education methods. These children have nowhere else to go for quality education," she says.
"For years FEDSAS has been fighting for better post provision for special schools," says Dr Jaco Deacon, deputy CEO of the organisation. "And for years we had to hear that the situation is under investigation when we ask for feedback regarding standards for the sector. This extremely vulnerable group of learners falls through the cracks - despite the fact that they have the same right to quality education as the rest of the children in our country."