Issued by Ministry Education
26 July 2001
Director of Ceremonies
Distinguished Guests
and Children
It gives me great pleasure to announce the Education White Paper 6 on Special Needs Education: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System.
It is an area of education and of our lives that too many people have chosen to ignore, by pretending that there is no real problem or that it is not deserving of our attention. Yet there are thousands of South Africans who have to live with disability of one sort or another and who really deserve better.
Our Constitution in a democratic South Africa is clear on the issue of disability (Act 108 of 1996, Article 9 (3)), when it says that "the state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.
Ours is a country where we should celebrate our diversity, and our differences. Slowly but sure we are beginning to do this, to accept people for who and what they are, whether they are black or white, thin or fat, rich or poor, tall or short. In so doing we begin to accord all our people the dignity and the respect that comes with a society that espouses a culture of promoting the value and practice of human rights.
In the past race and exclusion were the indecent and immoral factors that determined the place of our innocent and vulnerable children. Under apartheid the dual system of education, which included a mainstream and special education component, was characterised by racial disparity. The consequence of the dual system and racial disparity resulted in large numbers of learners being excluded from the mainstream of education.
Although not unique to any particular class, race or gender special education was also not untouched by the inequalities of the previous government. For example in 1992, the apartheid government expenditure on support services was estimated to be over 3% of the total education budget. White education, comprising 10% of the school going population, was allocated more than 30% of this meagre budget. For black children, special education was largely unavailable, something they could only yearn after but never enjoy. Less than 0.2% of African children were enrolled in special schools compared with 1.5% whites. The attrition and failure rates amongst a large number of learners were estimated at between 40 and 50% according to the National Policy Investigation into Education Support Services commissioned by the Minister of Education to investigate the state of special education and support in South Africa and make recommendations, summed up the situation clearly when they reported that:
Historically the areas of special needs education, or specialised education, and education support services provision have reflected the general inequalities of South African society, with disadvantaged learners (the majority of learners) receiving inadequate or no provision. Specialised education and support has predominantly been provided for a small percentage of learners with disabilities within 'special' schools and classes. Most learners with disability have either fallen outside of the system or been 'mainstreamed by default'. The curriculum and education system as a whole has generally failed to respond to the diverse needs of the learner population, resulting in massive numbers of dropouts, push-outs, and failures.
The Special Schools Act in 1948 in South Africa introduced into special education a medical and mental diagnosis and treatment model. This model, which focused on the individual deficiencies, viewed the person as largely a helpless being. The medical discourse shaped and largely influenced exclusive practices in the field of education, which continued for decades after their introduction.
Disability was associated with an impairment or loss. The entire focus was on the individual who was viewed as helpless and dependent. The individual deficit theory viewed the person as in need of treatment and assistance outside regular education. No attempt was made to establish the deficiencies of the system. For example, a physically disabled person using a wheelchair required a ramp to gain access to a mainstream school and which was not usually provided for by the system. Access to education was often prevented as a result of barriers, which reflected a deficient system and not a deficient person. Through this White Paper, the Government is determined to create special needs education as a non-racial and integrated component of our education system.
It is for the first time that policy on schooling in South Africa reflects the wants of the disabled. This has been possible since people who are disabled have been centrally involved in the development of policy, which involved the disability movement. This is a radical departure from the past where the focus was on the needs of the disabled decided by a small group of people that did not include the disabled.
A realistic time frame of twenty years is proposed for the implementation of the inclusive education and training strategy. The White Paper provides detail in this regard relating to Immediate to short-term steps (first two years), Medium-term (Years 3-5) and, Long-term (Years 6-20). It is within this realistic time frame in the White Paper that we commit ourselves to the following steps.
Firstly, our long-term goal is the development of an inclusive education and training system that will investigate and address barriers to learning, and recognise and accommodate the diverse range of learning needs. This long-term goal is part of our programme to build an open, lifelong and high quality education and training system for the 21st Century. The inclusive education and training system shall include a range of different institutions, including special schools/resource centres and designated full service and other schools, public adult learning centres and further and higher education institutions. As mentioned earlier the vision and goals that we have outlined in this White Paper reflect a twenty-year developmental perspective.
Our short-term to medium-term goals will focus immediately on addressing the weaknesses and deficiencies of our current system and on expanding access and provision to those of compulsory school-going age who are not accommodated within the education and training system. In this manner we shall begin to lay the foundations for the kind of education and training system we wish to build over the next twenty years.
Over the next five years we shall introduce strategic changes. These focus on the revision of all policies, legislation and structures that are necessary to facilitate the transformation process. This period will also include addressing the following:
In this White Paper we make it clear, contrary to what some people think, 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 accommodated 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 teachers, 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 manner, part of district support services where they can become a resource for all our schools.
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 education 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 foundation for lifelong learning and development. I acknowledge that building an inclusive education 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.
This White Paper is 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 do, but as part of, not isolated from the flowering of our nation.
Finally, I want to acknowledge our social partners in the disability sector for your commitment and dedication within the framework of Tirisano - working together. I would also like to convey my appreciation to the Swedish International Donor Agency (SIDA) for funding this launch as well as the Danish and Finnish for funding Inclusive Education projects in this country.
I thank you.