Question NW3358 to the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
27 September 2022 - NW3358
Arries, Ms LH to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
What measures have been put in place to accommodate children living with disabilities in early childhood development (ECD) centres as there is a shortage of ECD practitioners and schools for children living with disabilities?
Reply:
According to the Children's Act, it is expected that all Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes that provide services to children with disabilities must have specialised training to provide quality ECD services that will benefit those children. In line with this, training of ECD practitioners, in accordance with the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), has a module that looks at working with children with disabilities. Over and above this, the Department is funding Uhambo, which is a disability organisation which continues to support and capacitate practitioners in stimulating children with different disabilities. In terms of inclusion, the developed infrastructure designs take into consideration the needs of children with disabilities. The Department has also begun reviewing the Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS) policy to establish gaps in regard to children in ECD living with disabilities. This will be used to capacitate ECD practitioners.