Question NW1003 to the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
17 April 2023 - NW1003
van der Merwe, Ms LL to ask the Minister of Basic Education to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1) In view of inclusive education having been defined as addressing diverse needs, addressing barriers that negatively affect learning, supporting removal of barriers to learning and ensuring that education is non-discriminative, and noting her department’s statement that there are approximately 410 000 teachers in approximately 25 000 schools across the Republic who are responsible for around 12,9 million students, what total number of the teachers have the necessary training to provide inclusive education as defined to learners with diverse needs; (2) whether any mechanisms are in place to ensure that all educators are exposed to inclusive education methodology; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1) 90 255
2) Yes, there is a dedicated programme for training teachers on specialised areas of inclusion. In addition, the collaborative partnership between Department of Basic Education and Department of Higher Education and Training has led to the development of specialised university qualifications in education of learners who are/have Deaf and hard of hearing (University of Witwatersrand); Visually impaired (University of Pretoria); and Neuro-developmental conditions (University of Western Cape and University of Johannesburg).