Date: 19/11/2002
Source: Ministry of Education
Title: Asmal: New Hope School
ADDRESS BY THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION, PROFESSOR KADER ASMAL, MP, AT THE NEW HOPE SCHOOL, Pretoria, 19 November 2002
The Principal and staff
School governing body members, parents and pupils
Good morning to you all, and thank you for the invitation to address you today. I do regret the instability that your school has recently suffered, and the negative publicity it has received, but I am pleased to hear that you have been able to put these incidents behind you. Indeed, your presence here today suggests that you are rightly concerned about the future, and not the past. I certainly look forward to being shown what this school is doing for our learners with special needs.
I speak to you at a very exciting time - a time when the Department of Education, together with the provincial Departments, is taking the first steps in implementing our policy for Special Needs Education. My purpose today is to share with you the objectives of this policy, and to suggest how it will affect you.
Let me start by saying that this policy is just one of many that have been developed in the past seven years to transform our education system. All our policies are guided by the principles and values of our Constitution - one of the finest such documents in the world. They have a common goal of re-uniting our society, which was torn apart by apartheid, and building a new, values-based nation, which will continue to lead the world in its commitment to human rights, democracy and freedom. The twin objectives of our transformation agenda - which informs all our laws and policies - are about increasing access and equity, while at the same time improving the quality of the education which our children receive.
The area of special needs education is not exempt from this process. Indeed, it has provided a rather glaring example of the disparity in provision between racial groups, across provinces, and between urban and rural areas. In some communities, without facilities, children and adults with disabilities are hidden away in isolation in dark backrooms and sheds. Others are institutionalised from an early age, with little intent at remediation and rehabilitation. Children are refused admission to ordinary neighbourhood schools, or even to special schools, on the basis of their race, language or poverty status. All of this is unacceptable, and it is therefore not surprising that the movement for greater social inclusion of people with disabilities has been gaining momentum in our country.
Sadly, we have a large and growing population of orphans and child-headed families, children who have been abandoned, or abused, all of who have special needs. We have children with physical, emotional and learning disabilities, each of whom requires a particular level of support. We have gifted pupils, academically or physically, who also deserve to be treated in a special way - nurtured and developed as a national asset.
It has been a matter of great concern to us that these learners are not being adequately catered for, and our new policy seeks to address these inequities. It is of special concern when these children, who have perhaps the greatest right to support, are often the very ones excluded from school, from learning opportunities, or just a chance to socialise with other children their age. There is a strong commitment on the part of Government to ensure that these injustices are prevented, as we work to put in place the foundation for building of a truly inclusive education and training system. Inclusion is not just about disability; how we deal with learners with special needs is an indicator of how we value all our children.
Inclusion is all about how we value and respect diversity in our society. As a noted contributor to this topic once remarked "Inclusion is a moral issue, a goal, indeed a value we decide to pursue or reject on the basis of what we want our society to look like". Our inclusive education policy is therefore not an addition to the process of transformation in all South African schools. It is one of the central mechanisms by which such transformation can actually be achieved.
Our policy in this regard was released in July 2001, following an extensive research and consultation process undertaken by the National Commission on Special Needs Education. From the start it was the goal of the Government to listen to the voices of the most marginalised and vulnerable people in our country, people who live in poverty and in the rural areas with little or no access to basic services - in this case 'the voiceless people' who have not been able to organise themselves through disability organisations or through schools and unions. This is not to say that we do not also recognise the importance of organised formations of any sort, that comprise civil society, and which have specialised knowledge and experience in a particular field. We listened to everyone, the disability sector, the parents and staff of ordinary and special schools, disabled and vulnerable people, and their families from poor and disadvantaged urban and rural contexts. We studied different models from around the world. And in typical South African fashion, we finally reached consensus on the very best way forward.
The strategy set out in our policy therefore addresses the legacy of our shameful past in a very systematic manner. It provides for the eventual transformation of special needs education, from early childhood level through to higher education, and importantly including Adult Basic Education. Because the changes require a shift in public perceptions, social partners within education, as well as communities, will be targeted in the process. Government officials at provincial and district level, schools (both ordinary and special), teachers, school governing bodies, parents, care givers, community organisations and our partners in other government departments, will all have a role to play in developing a new understanding of their respective contributions towards the development of an inclusive education and training system.
The enormity of the task we face is well understood, which is why we have adopted an approach that acknowledges that any change which has to occur on such a large scale is best served by an incremental approach. There are no quick fix solutions here, and the implementation process has a realistic twenty-year trajectory. But this does not imply that it will be "business as usual" until then, or that there will be a rush of activity in year nineteen! The policy lays out a realistic schedule that gives a clear indication of the milestones to be reached, and we should start seeing the changes in some schools at least, from next year, when 30 schools per province are targeted for special support to offer a "full-service" education. Most of the changes will be introduced within the next 8 years.
Special schools like yours will undoubtedly be affected in many ways. You represent the interests of parents and learners at special schools, and it is important that you have an understanding of the impact that the changes are likely to have on your institution. Indeed, we value and rely upon your guidance and advice in these areas, and expect you to take the lead in many of the important developments. In doing so, I must take for granted your support for the Constitutional imperatives for a more just education system, that offers respect and dignity to all our children, whatever their needs, or their background. This compels us to find ways together, to ensure that support for the most vulnerable learners in the system is provided in a manner that is equitable and effective. I am pleased to note that the New Hope School has been able to successfully deracialise, and that it offers tuition in more than one language.
As regards to special schools, our policy states upfront that there will be an improvement of existing special schools for the learners that they serve. There is no threat to any of these institutions, which are in short supply anyway, and they must be built up, not diminished. We plan to commence the phased conversion of these schools into multi-purpose resource centres, which can provide professional, specialised support to a community of schools, through district-based support teams. The role is an expanding one, serving a much broader set of children, many of who will be in mainstream schools. Our policy sets out the basis for identifying, assessing and enrolling learners in special schools, and acknowledges the central role played by teachers and parents in this area. I therefore look forward to your co-operation in this process.
The major change that has been introduced through our policy relates to how the system will gradually but systematically moves away from using "categories of disability" as an organising principle for placement and support of learners, and for institutions. Labels are not helpful in education - especially those that serve to mystify the condition. They build a culture of predictive judgements - and too often become self-fulfilling prophecies. In future we will base provision on the intensity of support needed by each individual to overcome the effects of those barriers. There are some children with similar classifications of disability, yet who require quite different levels of support. In this way our policy shifts away from a medical perspective, which assumes a defined pathology, to a human rights based approach, which will allow for the development of all our people. We have all agreed it is not the learner who must adapt; it is the institutions that must become receptive. No child should feel alienated by any institution or its culture - even a university must be attuned to the identity of its learners.
The first stage of implementation has been to conduct an audit of all special schools in the country, and this is being finalised at present. This report will provide comprehensive information on the general provision of special schools, learner profiles and staff profiles, and once this has been determined, we will be able to see what we need and where. This will allow us all to make more informed decisions, especially in relation to admissions to special schools. We must have a proper basis for determining access to scarce resources; it cannot be on the basis of luck, and it should not be on the basis of wealth. Our developmental path as a country is built around the capacities of our human resources, and it is our fundamental belief that every person has capabilities, which can contribute to the development of our society. We must work with children to achieve their aspirations.
As a learning institution, your contribution must be to review everything that you do, in the light of the policy directives. Ask whether your admission processes respect the wishes and choices of learners and their parents. Check that there is a constant move away from institutionalisation towards increasing social integration. Ensure that your Life Skills programmes are geared towards independence, dignity and autonomy. How about developing programmes for parent mobilisation and education, which will encourage them to acknowledge the rights of their children, and to have an understanding of the principles of inclusion? Another area for you to consider is whether you enable an effective transition from school to work, with the conviction that everyone has the ability and the right to be productive? And continually ask yourselves: is the ethos in this institution truly inclusive, welcoming and accepting of diversity?
The governance arrangements of these institutions may also need re-consideration. Do we really see people with disabilities as partners in the decision-making processes about their education? Do we align ourselves with the motto of people with disabilities: "Nothing about us without us?" Do we ensure that learners and organisations representing people with disabilities have representation in governance structures, as required in the South African Schools Act?
And in how and what we teach, there is always room for improvement. There are many ways of achieving the outcomes of Curriculum 2005, and teachers are expected to develop the most suitable programmes for their learners. Has your institution shaped the programmes to ensure that they are accessible to all? Have learning support materials been developed, adapted to meet the special needs of the learners. There should be no "watered-down" curriculum; adaptation does not mean a "separate but equal" curriculum for learners with disabilities. All the conditions and standards must apply, and even assessment practices must be in line with the national policy guidelines, while fully exploiting the flexibility in the guidelines to accommodate the diversity of your schools.
Together with you and other interest groups, we are currently finalising revised admissions criteria and procedures for special schools. As I mentioned earlier, these criteria will be based on the level of support needed, rather than on the category of disability, and will be subjected to intense consultation. Once agreed, they will be field tested in the 30 Districts of the nodal areas of the country that have been identified for special attention.
In the same 30 Districts we will test the transformation of selected special schools into resource centres. More equitable support services to schools will be provided by district-based support teams, which will include staff from the resource schools. These support teams will provide services to a much wider range of learners in ordinary as well as in special schools. We will also convert selected ordinary primary schools into full service schools in each of the 30 Districts, completing the total model of inclusive provision, which will include full service ordinary schools, special schools, and district support teams, based at designated resource centres.
This two-year development programme in the 30 Districts will provide the necessary information on minimum standards of provision, in terms of personnel, as well as other resources for learning, to properly plan for taking the model to scale.
The goal of our inclusion policy is to see that all schools become truly welcoming environments, with the capacity to make the curriculum accessible to all. Ultimately, our wish is that every child should have the opportunity to attend the school closest to home, together with their brothers and sisters. This will be the complete acknowledgment of every person's right to full participation in society.
In accordance with this ideal, I would like to conclude with the words of President Thabo Mbeki:
"Among the yardsticks by which we measure a society's respect for human rights, to evaluate the level of its maturity and its generosity of spirit, is by looking at the status that it accords to those members of society who are most vulnerable, disabled people, senior citizens and its children." I look forward to working with you in building our society so that all our children, especially those most vulnerable, are nurtured and given the opportunity, which many have been denied for so long, to develop their full potential.
I thank you
Issued by Ministry of Education
19 November 2002
Source: Ministry of Education
Title: Asmal: New Hope School
ADDRESS BY THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION, PROFESSOR KADER ASMAL, MP, AT THE NEW HOPE SCHOOL, Pretoria, 19 November 2002
The Principal and staff
School governing body members, parents and pupils
Good morning to you all, and thank you for the invitation to address you today. I do regret the instability that your school has recently suffered, and the negative publicity it has received, but I am pleased to hear that you have been able to put these incidents behind you. Indeed, your presence here today suggests that you are rightly concerned about the future, and not the past. I certainly look forward to being shown what this school is doing for our learners with special needs.
I speak to you at a very exciting time - a time when the Department of Education, together with the provincial Departments, is taking the first steps in implementing our policy for Special Needs Education. My purpose today is to share with you the objectives of this policy, and to suggest how it will affect you.
Let me start by saying that this policy is just one of many that have been developed in the past seven years to transform our education system. All our policies are guided by the principles and values of our Constitution - one of the finest such documents in the world. They have a common goal of re-uniting our society, which was torn apart by apartheid, and building a new, values-based nation, which will continue to lead the world in its commitment to human rights, democracy and freedom. The twin objectives of our transformation agenda - which informs all our laws and policies - are about increasing access and equity, while at the same time improving the quality of the education which our children receive.
The area of special needs education is not exempt from this process. Indeed, it has provided a rather glaring example of the disparity in provision between racial groups, across provinces, and between urban and rural areas. In some communities, without facilities, children and adults with disabilities are hidden away in isolation in dark backrooms and sheds. Others are institutionalised from an early age, with little intent at remediation and rehabilitation. Children are refused admission to ordinary neighbourhood schools, or even to special schools, on the basis of their race, language or poverty status. All of this is unacceptable, and it is therefore not surprising that the movement for greater social inclusion of people with disabilities has been gaining momentum in our country.
Sadly, we have a large and growing population of orphans and child-headed families, children who have been abandoned, or abused, all of who have special needs. We have children with physical, emotional and learning disabilities, each of whom requires a particular level of support. We have gifted pupils, academically or physically, who also deserve to be treated in a special way - nurtured and developed as a national asset.
It has been a matter of great concern to us that these learners are not being adequately catered for, and our new policy seeks to address these inequities. It is of special concern when these children, who have perhaps the greatest right to support, are often the very ones excluded from school, from learning opportunities, or just a chance to socialise with other children their age. There is a strong commitment on the part of Government to ensure that these injustices are prevented, as we work to put in place the foundation for building of a truly inclusive education and training system. Inclusion is not just about disability; how we deal with learners with special needs is an indicator of how we value all our children.
Inclusion is all about how we value and respect diversity in our society. As a noted contributor to this topic once remarked "Inclusion is a moral issue, a goal, indeed a value we decide to pursue or reject on the basis of what we want our society to look like". Our inclusive education policy is therefore not an addition to the process of transformation in all South African schools. It is one of the central mechanisms by which such transformation can actually be achieved.
Our policy in this regard was released in July 2001, following an extensive research and consultation process undertaken by the National Commission on Special Needs Education. From the start it was the goal of the Government to listen to the voices of the most marginalised and vulnerable people in our country, people who live in poverty and in the rural areas with little or no access to basic services - in this case 'the voiceless people' who have not been able to organise themselves through disability organisations or through schools and unions. This is not to say that we do not also recognise the importance of organised formations of any sort, that comprise civil society, and which have specialised knowledge and experience in a particular field. We listened to everyone, the disability sector, the parents and staff of ordinary and special schools, disabled and vulnerable people, and their families from poor and disadvantaged urban and rural contexts. We studied different models from around the world. And in typical South African fashion, we finally reached consensus on the very best way forward.
The strategy set out in our policy therefore addresses the legacy of our shameful past in a very systematic manner. It provides for the eventual transformation of special needs education, from early childhood level through to higher education, and importantly including Adult Basic Education. Because the changes require a shift in public perceptions, social partners within education, as well as communities, will be targeted in the process. Government officials at provincial and district level, schools (both ordinary and special), teachers, school governing bodies, parents, care givers, community organisations and our partners in other government departments, will all have a role to play in developing a new understanding of their respective contributions towards the development of an inclusive education and training system.
The enormity of the task we face is well understood, which is why we have adopted an approach that acknowledges that any change which has to occur on such a large scale is best served by an incremental approach. There are no quick fix solutions here, and the implementation process has a realistic twenty-year trajectory. But this does not imply that it will be "business as usual" until then, or that there will be a rush of activity in year nineteen! The policy lays out a realistic schedule that gives a clear indication of the milestones to be reached, and we should start seeing the changes in some schools at least, from next year, when 30 schools per province are targeted for special support to offer a "full-service" education. Most of the changes will be introduced within the next 8 years.
Special schools like yours will undoubtedly be affected in many ways. You represent the interests of parents and learners at special schools, and it is important that you have an understanding of the impact that the changes are likely to have on your institution. Indeed, we value and rely upon your guidance and advice in these areas, and expect you to take the lead in many of the important developments. In doing so, I must take for granted your support for the Constitutional imperatives for a more just education system, that offers respect and dignity to all our children, whatever their needs, or their background. This compels us to find ways together, to ensure that support for the most vulnerable learners in the system is provided in a manner that is equitable and effective. I am pleased to note that the New Hope School has been able to successfully deracialise, and that it offers tuition in more than one language.
As regards to special schools, our policy states upfront that there will be an improvement of existing special schools for the learners that they serve. There is no threat to any of these institutions, which are in short supply anyway, and they must be built up, not diminished. We plan to commence the phased conversion of these schools into multi-purpose resource centres, which can provide professional, specialised support to a community of schools, through district-based support teams. The role is an expanding one, serving a much broader set of children, many of who will be in mainstream schools. Our policy sets out the basis for identifying, assessing and enrolling learners in special schools, and acknowledges the central role played by teachers and parents in this area. I therefore look forward to your co-operation in this process.
The major change that has been introduced through our policy relates to how the system will gradually but systematically moves away from using "categories of disability" as an organising principle for placement and support of learners, and for institutions. Labels are not helpful in education - especially those that serve to mystify the condition. They build a culture of predictive judgements - and too often become self-fulfilling prophecies. In future we will base provision on the intensity of support needed by each individual to overcome the effects of those barriers. There are some children with similar classifications of disability, yet who require quite different levels of support. In this way our policy shifts away from a medical perspective, which assumes a defined pathology, to a human rights based approach, which will allow for the development of all our people. We have all agreed it is not the learner who must adapt; it is the institutions that must become receptive. No child should feel alienated by any institution or its culture - even a university must be attuned to the identity of its learners.
The first stage of implementation has been to conduct an audit of all special schools in the country, and this is being finalised at present. This report will provide comprehensive information on the general provision of special schools, learner profiles and staff profiles, and once this has been determined, we will be able to see what we need and where. This will allow us all to make more informed decisions, especially in relation to admissions to special schools. We must have a proper basis for determining access to scarce resources; it cannot be on the basis of luck, and it should not be on the basis of wealth. Our developmental path as a country is built around the capacities of our human resources, and it is our fundamental belief that every person has capabilities, which can contribute to the development of our society. We must work with children to achieve their aspirations.
As a learning institution, your contribution must be to review everything that you do, in the light of the policy directives. Ask whether your admission processes respect the wishes and choices of learners and their parents. Check that there is a constant move away from institutionalisation towards increasing social integration. Ensure that your Life Skills programmes are geared towards independence, dignity and autonomy. How about developing programmes for parent mobilisation and education, which will encourage them to acknowledge the rights of their children, and to have an understanding of the principles of inclusion? Another area for you to consider is whether you enable an effective transition from school to work, with the conviction that everyone has the ability and the right to be productive? And continually ask yourselves: is the ethos in this institution truly inclusive, welcoming and accepting of diversity?
The governance arrangements of these institutions may also need re-consideration. Do we really see people with disabilities as partners in the decision-making processes about their education? Do we align ourselves with the motto of people with disabilities: "Nothing about us without us?" Do we ensure that learners and organisations representing people with disabilities have representation in governance structures, as required in the South African Schools Act?
And in how and what we teach, there is always room for improvement. There are many ways of achieving the outcomes of Curriculum 2005, and teachers are expected to develop the most suitable programmes for their learners. Has your institution shaped the programmes to ensure that they are accessible to all? Have learning support materials been developed, adapted to meet the special needs of the learners. There should be no "watered-down" curriculum; adaptation does not mean a "separate but equal" curriculum for learners with disabilities. All the conditions and standards must apply, and even assessment practices must be in line with the national policy guidelines, while fully exploiting the flexibility in the guidelines to accommodate the diversity of your schools.
Together with you and other interest groups, we are currently finalising revised admissions criteria and procedures for special schools. As I mentioned earlier, these criteria will be based on the level of support needed, rather than on the category of disability, and will be subjected to intense consultation. Once agreed, they will be field tested in the 30 Districts of the nodal areas of the country that have been identified for special attention.
In the same 30 Districts we will test the transformation of selected special schools into resource centres. More equitable support services to schools will be provided by district-based support teams, which will include staff from the resource schools. These support teams will provide services to a much wider range of learners in ordinary as well as in special schools. We will also convert selected ordinary primary schools into full service schools in each of the 30 Districts, completing the total model of inclusive provision, which will include full service ordinary schools, special schools, and district support teams, based at designated resource centres.
This two-year development programme in the 30 Districts will provide the necessary information on minimum standards of provision, in terms of personnel, as well as other resources for learning, to properly plan for taking the model to scale.
The goal of our inclusion policy is to see that all schools become truly welcoming environments, with the capacity to make the curriculum accessible to all. Ultimately, our wish is that every child should have the opportunity to attend the school closest to home, together with their brothers and sisters. This will be the complete acknowledgment of every person's right to full participation in society.
In accordance with this ideal, I would like to conclude with the words of President Thabo Mbeki:
"Among the yardsticks by which we measure a society's respect for human rights, to evaluate the level of its maturity and its generosity of spirit, is by looking at the status that it accords to those members of society who are most vulnerable, disabled people, senior citizens and its children." I look forward to working with you in building our society so that all our children, especially those most vulnerable, are nurtured and given the opportunity, which many have been denied for so long, to develop their full potential.
I thank you
Issued by Ministry of Education
19 November 2002
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