Children with special needs in Grahamstown’s rural schools cannot enjoy their right to education, because the Eastern Cape Department of Education (DoE) does not have qualified teachers for them.
Children with special needs in Grahamstown’s rural schools cannot enjoy their right to education, because the Eastern Cape Department of Education (DoE) does not have qualified teachers for them.
Children in farm schools already face challenges of transportation, resource scarcity and lack of trained teachers. But learners with special needs face even greater challenges.
“There are not enough specialised teachers to teach these children,” Robin Solwandle, an education development officer for Grahamstown’s district, said.
Qualifying to teach these children requires an optional extra year course above the three-year teacher training.
Solwandle said this year the department appointed unqualified teachers in the hope of giving them in-service training, but this did not materialise.
“We recently advertised six positions for teachers with special skills, but we only managed to find one teacher,” he said.
Nombeko Mbane, a teacher at Masakhane Combined School in Seven Fountains, said, “I have a cognitively challenged learner and it is frustrating for me to deal with him because I am not trained.
The department says I must try harder to help him.” Rural and farm schools around Grahamstown, such as Farmerfield Intermediate School and Mosslands Farm School, do not have trained teachers to teach such learners.
Kuyasa School for Specialised Education is the only school in Grahamstown that caters entirely for children with mental handicaps.
It is situated in the city and farm children often have to move in with relatives and friends nearby to be able to attend. “We have learners from as far as Peddie and Bathurst,” principal Jill Rothman said.
Not all children who would like to attend get accommodation nearby, she added. “There is an urgent need for hostel facilities to accommodate these children because sometimes fostering relatives can be neglectful.”
These children are vulnerable and the support of their families is vital. “One learner who was fostered was raped because she was often left unattended,” Rothman said.
Transport is another major challenge for them. “There is a learner from Manley Flats near Port Alfred who stopped attending school this year because of transport problems,” Rothman said.
“Their parents cannot afford to pay.” Solwandle said Kuyasa provides its own transport to learners and gets a subsidy from the DoE.
