Question NW1605 to the Minister of Basic Education

Reply:

(1) In May 2015 the number of Full-Service schools in the country stood at a total of 793. The total amount spent to revamp the schools to provide a full range of support services is not available for all provinces for the respective reporting years. According to reports received from four of the nine provinces the total amount spent in (i) 2013 – 2014 was R71 763 000 and in (ii) 2014 – 2015, R73 189 000 (Table 1 below gives a breakdown by Provincial Education Department).

(2) The number (a) of learners with (i) physical disabilities and (ii) other special needs enrolled in Full-Service Schools in 2014 was 19 735. Comprehensive disaggregated statistics on enrolment by category of disability are not available. This data will become available as the Policy on Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS) is incrementally rolled out, commencing with Special and Full-Service Schools in 2015 to 2016.

Table 1: The table below provides statistics related to Full-Service Schools:

Province	Number of Full Service Schools	Expenditure in 2013/14 R’000	Expenditure in 2014/15 R’000	Number of learners with special needs (including learners with physical and sensory disabilities)
EC	26	R 45 336	R620	2358
FS	134	-	-	1835
GT	74	R7 054-	R9 100	4310
KZN	101	-	R1 377	4295
LP	17	-	-	-
MP	140	R690	3,500	3195
NC	4	-	-	489
NW	150	R24,827	R60,638	2618
WC	147	R910	-	1720
Total	793	R71 763	R73 189	19735

Source: Reports submitted by PEDs in March 2015

The number of learners with physical and other disabilities enrolled in Special Schools respectively in 2013 and 2014 is provided in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Enrolment in Special Schools in 2013 - 2014

Province	Number of Special Schools	Number of Learners with Physical Disabilities (including sensory disabilities) in 2013	Number of learners with other special needs in 2013	Number of Learners with Physical Disabilities (including sensory disabilities) in 2014	Number of learners with other special needs in 2014
EC	42	2 406	6 852	2 276	8546
FS	21	1 584	4 546	1 487	4 691
GT	136	8 279	34 784	3 629	37 982
KZ	74	4 942	11 968	4 371	12 809
LP	34	2 597	6 095	2 445	6 085
MP	20	574	3 429	399	3 473
NC	11	411	1 374	300	1 597
NW	32	1 258	5 600	1 219	5 724
WC	83	3 326	17 459	3 114	16 491
SA	453	25377	92107	19240	97398

Source: Special School Snap Survey 2013, 2014

1. The number of teachers in (a) schools for learners with special needs and (b) Full-Service schools who have been trained in special needs teaching methods is provided in Table 3 below.

Table 3: Number of teachers trained in areas of specialisation in Inclusive Education

Province	Number of Teachers Trained in Curriculum Differentiation in 2014/15	Number of Teachers Trained on Full-Service School Guidelines in 2014/15	Number of Teachers Trained on SNE Guidelines in 2014/15	Number of Teachers Trained in SASL in 2014/15	Number of Teachers Trained in Braille in 2014/15
EC	55	435	0	94	60
FS	766	558	79	59	27
GT	6803	616	616	130	50
KZN	4176	2424	1752	64	30
LP	102	34	102	33	30
MP	1450	0	0	576	140
NC	3783	200	265	28	11
NW	1200	1200	1200	58	50
WC	405	405	405	160	65
Total	18740	5872	4419	1202	463

(4)(a)(i) and b(i) The national target for establishing new special schools in (aa) 2013-14 was six (6) and for (bb) 2014-15 one (1). ( c )(i) A total of seven (7) new special schools were completed between 2013 and 2015.

(a)(ii) and b(ii) After a substantial growth in the number of designated Full-Service Schools from 30 in 2009 to 793 in 2015, most Provincial Education Departments have entered a phase of consolidation which would include implementation of the SIAS Policy, strengthening of School-based Support Teams, staff training, provision of assistive technology and physical infrastructure upgrading to comply with norms of universal design and access. The national target for converting additional ordinary schools into full-service schools in (aa) 2013-14 was 116 and for (bb) 2014-15, 21 .

( c )(ii) A total of 137 new full-service schools were completed between 2013 and 2015 .

Specific targets set by individual provinces for 2014 – 15:

Eastern Cape

Financial Year	Number of Special Schools to be established	Actual Achievement	Number of Full Service Schools to be established	Actual Achievement
2013/14	2	0	5	5
2014/15	2	0	21	21

Free State:

One Special School will be built in Xhariep District in the 2015/16 financial year. Two Full-Service Schools have been designated for upgrading in 2015/16.

Gauteng:

Gauteng Province had a target of 19 Full-Service Schools for 2013/14 and 2014/15. This target was achieved. A target of 45 has been set for 2015/16 and this target will be achieved as the province started capacitating certain schools in 2013/14 and 2014/15 in order to ensure that the number of Full-Service Schools can be increased to expand the support for learners who experience barriers to learning. No targets were set in 2013/14 and 2014/15 to increase the number of Special Schools. However, Gauteng is currently considering increasing the number of Special Schools.

Limpopo:

Due to budgetary constraints, Limpopo Province is concentrating on consolidating the Full-Service and Special Schools that have been converted or newly built over the past four years by training of teachers and provision of resources.

KwaZulu Natal:

Two new Special Schools were registered in 2014 and no new Full-Service schools have been designated in the period 2013 – 2015.

Mpumalanga

Tsakane Special School in Bushbuckridge was opened in October 2014 making provision for 120 learners with high levels of support needs. The province is awaiting the construction of a residential school for the Deaf and blind learners in Mbombela. There are no plans for designating any new Full Service Schools in 2015.

Northern Cape

In 2014 the Kleinzee Special School was established with donor funding from the Anglo American Corporation. No new Special or Full-Service schools will be built in 2015/16.

North West Province:

Full Service schools 2013-14	Full Service Schools 2014-15
Target	Time Frame	Target achieved	Target	Time Frame	Target achieved
20 (05 per district)	2013/14	20	20 (05 per district)	2014/15	20
Special schools 2013-14	Special Schools 2014-15
Target	Time Frame	Target achieved	Target	Time Frame	Target achieved
32	2013/14	32	0	2014/15	0

Western Cape

Full Service schools 2013-14	Full Service Schools 2014-15
Target	Time Frame	Target achieved	Target	Time Frame	Target achieved
32	2013/14	32	40	2013/14	40
Special schools 2013-14	Special Schools 2014-15
Target	Time Frame	Target achieved	Target	Time Frame	Target achieved
71	2013/14	71	72	2014/15	72