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Director of Ceremonies, Members of the Executive Committee of SANASE, Distinguished Guests, Organisers of the Conference, Ladies and Gentlemen

I thank you for inviting me to this important occasion. It gives me great pleasure to address you at this conference especially at a time when the field of education you are concerned with is undergoing refreshing changes. This conference is convened at a very historic time after the recent launch and publication of the Education White Paper 6 on Special Needs Education, which is about building an inclusive education and training system. As you are aware, the White Paper was launched on 26 July and gazetted on 27 July 2001. The Education White Paper 6 incorporates a 20-year long management plan, the details of which I will refer to later.

Tonight I would like to address three important issues. First, I would like to refer to the importance of interrogating conventional discourse on special education in order to assist us to move in a constructive manner towards an inclusive ethos. Second, we will examine the core philosophical, structural and practical changes proposed in the Education White Paper 6. And third, I will discuss the outline of the long-term plan.

To shift from theories, assumptions, practices and models based on disability to a non-disabilities inclusive system of education there has to be changes that ensure that theory and practice are consistent with the human rights discourse of inclusive education.

We must take seriously the influence of conventional theory since the bulk of special education discourse is located within conservative education theories. The theme of professionalism pervades the medical discourse and its associated discourses - psychology, social work, occupational therapy, rehabilitation, counselling and physiotherapy. Whilst these discourses still play an important role in an inclusive model, there is a need to examine their consonance with a new human rights model regarding the theory and practice relationship.

Many of the psychological theories underpinning much of the understanding around learning breakdown shape the belief that problems are located within learners and very little is said about the influence of systemic deficiencies. The manner in which learners are socialised, their degree of exposure to intellectual work, poverty and its concomitant social problems have hitherto not been taken seriously in understanding why there is a breakdown in learning.

Special education theory is located within a predominantly functionalist paradigm and is concerned with learners who experience learning breakdown. The belief that the system worked and that any breakdown was caused by individual deficits resulted in invoking the pathological label. That there was always something wrong with the individual has become a common explanation for failure.

In order to bring about a desirable paradigm shift, a rethinking is required about our consciousness concerning disability. The first step is to move from an understanding of disability that is shaped by the medical model to an understanding underpinned by a human rights model.

Secondly, barriers to learning in the system need to be identified and interventions made. In other words one needs to examine impediments in the system that could prevent access to learning. These barriers could include poverty, ideology, physical access, inflexible curriculum, inappropriate language, ineffective or wrong communication channels, inaccessible built environments, lack of or inappropriate transport and similar factors within the system. Arguably, there are some barriers that exist within children such as neurological impairment.

In trying to establish the best way to respond to the learner's needs we need to consider different forms of intelligence such as linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinaesthetic ability or personal areas of competence or expertise and address them through pedagogical responses.

The philosophical changes that are suggested by the Education White Paper 6 present a radical departure from the traditional special education model. The special education model excluded learners from the mainstream because of disabilities that were thought to be natural and irremediable. On the contrary, the Education White Paper 6 suggests an inclusive model that:

(a) Acknowledges that all children and youth can learn and that all children and youth need support;
(b) Advocates the establishment of enabling education structures, systems and learning methodologies to meet the needs of all learners;
(c) Acknowledges and respects differences in learners, whether they are due to age, gender, ethnicity, language, class, disability, HIV status or other infectious diseases;
(d) Is broader than formal schooling and acknowledges that learning also occurs in the home, community and within formal and informal settings and structures;
(e) Promotes the change of attitudes, behaviour, teaching methods, curricula and environment to meet the needs of all learners; and
(f) Is concerned with maximising the participation of all learners in the culture and curriculum of educational institutions and uncovering and minimising barriers to learning.

This inclusive model focuses on changing the system and therefore attempts to create space and possibilities for all learners.

Instead of special schools, special classes and remedial classes that are proposed in the special education model, on a structural level the White Paper emphasises the following:

* The establishment of district-based support teams that will provide co-ordinated professional support services. These teams will draw on the expertise from further and higher education institutions and local communities. Their services would target special schools, specialised settings, and designated full-service and other primary schools and educational institutions.

* Converting special schools into resource centres that would be utilised by the district support team.

* Beginning with 30 school districts that are a part of the national district development programme, the focus would be to reflect on policy development and research. This exercise will ideally constitute a district support team whose task would be to determine the following:
* minimum levels required to provide adequately for learners with special needs,
* the conversion of special schools to resource centres,
* full service schools, full service technical colleges and higher education institutions,
* personnel planning,
* and non-personnel expenditure.

* A phased conversion of approximately 500 of the 20 000 primary schools into full-service schools. Full service schools and colleges are schools and colleges that will be equipped and supported to provide for the full range of learning needs for all learners.

At a practical level, there will be a radical shift from a dual to a single system curriculum. In this case C2005 would become the core curriculum. Other important aspects that constitute alternative practices relate to the following:

* Overhauling of the process of identifying, assessing and enrolling learners into special schools and settings, and replacing this by one that acknowledges the central role-played by educators, lecturers and parents;
* The acknowledgement of multiple forms of intelligence and various learning styles as a framework for understanding difference;
* Injecting co-operative learning that celebrates different ability levels; and
* Adapting C2005 to meet the needs of diversity.

In the final analysis I want to point out that the Ministry of Education considers the implementation of inclusive education an important area of focus. Therefore, the department has devised a twenty-year realistic and manageable plan. This plan has a short, medium and long-term focus. It is characterised by the following phases:

In the short term (from 2001 - 2003) the emphasis would be:

(a) Implementing a national advocacy and education programme on inclusive education;
(b) Planning and implementing a targeted outreach programme, beginning at the government's rural and urban development nodes to mobilise disabled out-of-school children and youth;
(c) Completing the audit of special schools and implementing a programme to improve efficiency and quality;
(d) Designating, planning and implementing the conversion of thirty special schools to special schools/resource centres in thirty designated school districts;
(e) Designating, planning and implementing the conversion of thirty primary schools to full service schools in the same thirty districts as in (d) above;
(f) Within primary schooling and on a progressive basis, establishing systems and procedures for the early identification and address of barriers to learning in the Foundation Phase (Grades R to 3); and
(g) Within all other public education institutions, also on a progressive basis, begin the general orientation and induction of managements, governing bodies and professional staff to the inclusion model.

In the medium term (2004 - 2008) attention will be focused on:

(a) Introducing changes in further education and training and higher education institutions to recognise and address the diverse range of learning needs of learners, especially disabled learners;
(b) In line with available resources expanding the targeted community outreach programmes basing this on government's rural and urban development nodes to mobilise disabled out-of-school children and youth.
(c) Expanding the number of special schools/resource centres, full-service schools and district support teams in (d), (e) and (f) above in line with lessons learnt and available resources.

In the long term (2009 - 2021):

Expanding provision to reach the target of 380 special schools/resource centres, 500 full service schools and colleges and district support teams, and the 280 000 out-of-school children and youth.

In conclusion, I would like to add that while our country's past practices in special education did little or nothing for most of our population, the current policy offers enormous possibilities. We need to translate this policy into practice. This will help us to move towards a non-separatist society. I invite you all to join us in making inclusion a reality in our education system. We value the contribution you are making to this very important area of education and we rely on your continued support to succeed.

I thank you.

Issued by Ministry of Education

10 August 2001