Question NW1440 to the Minister of Basic Education

Reply:

(1) (a) (b) (c) The Department of Basic Education has remedial learning and teaching mechanisms in place to support learners who have been identified in the Foundation Phase. The procedures outlined in the Policy on Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS), specifically in the Support Needs Assessment Forms 1, 2 and 3 and in the Individual Support Plan (ISP) make provision for planning and tracking support provided to learners. As the Policy is incrementally implemented, by also capturing information on the revised South African School Administration Measures (SA-SAMS) and the Learner Unique Record and Information Tracking System (LURITS), the majority of learners with additional support needs will be tracked by 2019.

(1) (i) (ii) (aa) The number of learners in Grades 1, 2 and 3 who have special needs as identified in special and in ordinary schools is provided in Tables 1 and 2 below, with the categories of special needs listed in term of prevalence.

Table 1: Number of Grades 1, 2 and 3 learners in SNE schools, by primary disability and Grade, in 2015:

Disability	Grade 1	Grade 2	Grade 3	Total
Not Specified	5289	4829	4692	14810
Severe intellectual disability	3171	4456	3703	11330
Specific learning disability	823	899	1116	2838
Mild or moderate intellectual disability	696	727	1245	2668
Cerebral palsy	761	574	430	1765
Attention Deficit Disorder	424	696	595	1715
Autistic Spectrum Disorder	756	408	279	1443
Deafness	393	417	407	1217
Numeric difficulties	344	310	322	976
Physical disability	347	298	240	885
Behavioural Disorder	330	281	229	840
Moderate to severe intellectual disability	247	179	223	649
Epilepsy	241	169	189	599
Partially sightedness	175	118	126	419
Blindness	128	110	81	319
Hard of Hearing	95	74	96	265
Multiple disability	40	47	31	118
Attention Deficit Disorder with hyperactivity	16	25	48	89
Attention Deficit Disorder without hyperactivity	2	20	38	60
Other	9	11	30	50
Communication impairments	15	5	8	28
Deaf-blindness	6	4	6	16
Aphasia/Dyslexia	4	6	2	12
Reading difficulties	1	4	5	10
Psychiatric Disorder	2			2
Total	14315	14667	14141	43123

Source: 2015 LURITS

Table 2: Number of SNE learners in ordinary schools, by disability and grade, in 2015

Disability	Grade 1	Grade 2	Grade 3	Total
Specific Learning Disability	2 052	2 913	3 631	8 596
Attention Deficit Disorder	564	985	1 313	2 862
Severe Intellectual Disability	211	249	343	803
Behavioural Disorder	180	266	312	758
Numeric Difficulties	130	235	270	635
Partial Sightedness	145	167	299	611
Physical Disability	185	213	166	564
Moderate to Severe Intellectual Disability	75	151	212	438
Autistic Spectrum Disorder	128	141	143	412
Hard of Hearing	112	115	149	376
Epilepsy	69	77	103	249
Other	54	75	107	236
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity	14	51	95	160
Multiple Disability	39	48	61	148
Language Difficulties	30	36	71	137
Deafness	51	29	38	118
Blindness	43	20	27	90
Psychiatric Disorder	29	30	27	86
Cerebral Palsy	30	19	25	74
Attention Deficit Disorder without Hyperactivity	5	25	44	74
Aphasia/Dyslexia	9	16	27	52
Reading difficulties	15	12	18	45
Deaf-blindness	5	5	8	18
Dyscalculia	3	1	3	7
Total	5 246	7 856	10 141	23 243

Source: 2015 LURITS

(bb) The relevant remedial mechanisms that are applied for the learners listed above are addressed through the Policy on Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (2014) and the Guidelines for Responding to Diversity (2012). All provinces are conducting ongoing training on the implementation of these policies and guidelines at district and school level.

2. Yes, the Department provides the (a) health, (b) hearing and (c) sight tests to learners through the Integrated Health Programme, offered in collaboration with the Department of Health.

(i) The Integrated School Health Programme (ISHP) aims to assess each learner once per educational phase as follows:

• Grades R or 1: Foundation phase
• Grade 4: Intermediate phase
• Grade 8: Senior phase, and
• Grade 10: Further Education and Training

All learners repeating a grade or those that are referred by an educator are also assessed.

(ii) There was no budget allocated for specified tests in all the financial years indicated above. The services are provided by the Department of Health through the school health teams. Therefore, the cost for health services are not borne by the Department of Basic Education.