Schools for kids with disabilities – where are they?
Frustrated parents and teachers say there are just not enough placements or facilities for children and adults with disabilities in the Lowveld.
MBOMBELA – Meanwhile, three schools in the region were torched this week by community members in Bushbuckridge as part of the ongoing service-delivery protests, and the DA raised questions to find out whether the alleged closing of 31 schools in Mpumalanga will follow due and proper processes.
‘Let us allow our children to go to schools’ – Premier Mabuza
“We are going to reopen all the schools tomorrow. We will not run away from our schools because of the criminals. This country will never be for criminals,” he said on Tuesday.
Let us allow our children to go to schools, it is their right to do so.”
At last month’s State of the Province Address, Mabuza spoke about government’s improvements to education infrastructure with the construction of five new boarding schools and several other facilities, the replacement of 28 unsafe schools and the completion of basic services and sanitation in 222 establishments since 2015.
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754 pupils on waiting lists for special schools
According to Jasper Zwane of the provincial department, there are 754 pupils on waiting lists for special schools. He maintained that no learners were refused admission in 2017, however, “as they remain in existing schools until they find space”.
DA provincial chairman, Jane Sithole, said the party will, however, hold the premier to account on his promise to build more schools for children with disabilities.
In our province, it’s a problem. There are a lot of children waiting at home. They cannot get placement (where there is currently space) because they need special attention,” Sithole said.
Provincial chairman for Disabled People South Africa, Patrick Mahlakoane, said he cannot understand why Mabuza is not addressing the lack of schools for these children.
“He prioritised boarding schools for children from rural farming areas, but we do not have a special needs high school. Most inclusive schools only cater for grades one to seven. Our disabled children, especially those who are hearing and visually impaired, have to go to other provinces to be educated,” Mahlakoane said.
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He added that many public buildings in the province do not have sufficient facilities and that public transport is not accessible.
Zwane said projects are planned for the expansion of spaces in existing schools and a school for the hearing and visually impaired in the province.
But what happens when disabled people are no longer of schoolgoing age?
Jaconé Stols is 28 years old. She used to attend Dasha Foundation every day, a school for disabled children in Mbombela. When her mother, René Walker, had to relocate to Johannesburg, Stols lost her spot at the centre, which accepts intellectually impaired people of all ages.
Now back in the Lowveld, Stols, who suffers from autism and cerebral palsy, has to stay at home because Dasha has a waiting list of 46, and she has to be looked after 24 hours a day.
When she went to Dasha, she was the happiest I have ever seen her. Now she has no stimulation whatsoever,” Walker said.
“It is so important for young people to make friends and be around others they can compare themselves to. I know Jaconé misses her time at Dasha. I am also unable to work because she requires full-time care which is not affordable.”
Dasha’s principal, Shirley Parsons, said there are as many people on the waiting list as the school can actually accommodate. Few people ever leave.
“Provincial government needs to supply more land, buildings and funding for special schools. Some children can cope well in inclusive school environments but at times, this type of education is also not good for many reasons,” Parsons explained.
Private and public facilities catering for various special-education needs in the Lowveld:
• Pro Gratia, Mbombela: 076-981-4733
• Flamboyant School, White River: 013-751-3484/013-750-1427
• Dasha Foundation, Mbombela: 013-741-4039
• Estralita, Lydenburg: 013-235-2378
• KaMagugu, Mbombela: 013-748-0016
• Silindokuhle, Mangweni Trust: 013-782-0245/013-782-4154
• Tsakane, Acornhoek: 081-082-2888.
