Top Facilities for Special Schools in NC by 2019

 

Kleinzee – By 2019, all districts in the province will have top facilities for special school. This was announced by the Head of Department of Education in the province, Tshepo Pharasi during the official opening of a special school in Kleinzee – Namaqua district recently.

 

He said the Department many learners with special education needs still travel long distances to access schools while some are still in ordinary schools.

 

“All along, the nearest special school from here in Springbok is in Kimberley, which about 800 kilometres away. Learners requiring high levels of support were normally send to either Cape Town or Kimberley or remain in ordinary public schools which are unable to effectively accommodate their support needs.

 

As the Department we want to rectify this challenge and our target is to ensure that every district in our province gets a special school by 2019. I want to thank De Beers for coming to the fore in ensuring that no learner, regardless of their background and circumstances is left out in the cold. As we transform the education system to reflect the interests of our people we are mindful of the special needs of every child”, Pharasi added.

 

Kleinzee Sentrum vir Leer en Ontwikeling was official opened as a result of a partnership between the department and De Beers.

 

Currently, the school has 104 learners registered and the number is expected to increase to 400 in the next year academic years. As of January 2014, the school has been offering three streams, namely multi-grade mainstream, Support Centre and Skills related programs i.e needlework, woodwork, and catering.

 

Following the scaling down of the mining operation at Kleinzee by De Beers and the subsequent sale of the mine, De Beers partnered with the Department to make use of their facilities for learners with special education needs.

 

The Department provided supportive learning environment for learner requiring a higher level of support as well as a school of skills for learners would best be served by the option of pursuing a skills based curriculum.

 

De Beers Trust pledged to provide HR capacity support to the school for the next 3 years which will total R 2, 1 million.