Chairperson, hon Minister, it is high time that our education does more to create opportunities for learners with disabilities to access their education with dignity. The DA believes that every child must get the opportunity to reach their full potential.
A total of 3 856 special needs learners wrote the National Senior Certificate exams in 2018 and two thirds of these learners are from the Western Cape, making up 2 471 learners. This prompted the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education in March this year to conduct oversight on Vukani Centre for Children with Special Needs in Khayelitsha, Iqhayiya Care and Support House in Khayelitsha and De Heide Children Special Care Centre in Claremont.
Minister, it is clear that where the DA governs special needs learners have more access to education. Why is it then Minister
that other provinces have a lethargic approach when it comes to special needs education?
Human Rights Watch estimated in 2018 that there were 600 000 children with disabilities not attending school in South Africa. The Working Group Protocol mentioned by the President in his Sona will not solve this problem. A total of 600 000 kids don't have time to wait around for discussions papers and summits. Coding and tablets won't make a difference to special needs learners who are not in school, Minister.
The implementation of White Paper 6 has been slow. White Paper 6 was first introduced in 2001 and 17 years later, there has not been much progress in the implementation of the inclusive education system. So, Mr President and Minister, for how long must we watch this space? The implementation of this policy is hampered by the lack of teacher skills and knowledge in differentiating the curriculum to address a wide range of learning needs and schools to screen, identify, assess and support learners.
Despite the fact that universal access to education is enshrined in national legislation, thousands of learners with disabilities remain locked out of opportunities to realise their right to access education. The ANC- led government's chronic underfunding of special need facilities is placing massive financial constraints on parents who must pay school fees and hostel fees. This is aggravated by the fact that many special schools are not classified as no-fee schools.
Currently, the conditions in special needs schools don't meet the standards in guidelines as required by White Paper 6. As an example, Sigcau Special School in Flagstaff has appalling and deteriorating conditions due to failing infrastructure, a health and security risk for learners whose basic human rights are violated on a daily basis, Minister.
Minister, it is time that the national government puts its money where its mouth is. You can do this by: allocating new funding to establish more purpose-built, professionally-staffed schools for learners with special needs; strengthening special schools to ensure that they can act as resource centres and support the
entire inclusive education system by offering training on curriculum differentiation, assessment and instruction; and improving the already- existing facilities to bring them in line with the inclusive education approach. Be bold enough Minister, to ensure that provincial education departments spend conditional grants earmarked for special needs on special needs facilities. Remember, you said that you were not certain what the provincial departments were doing with it.
Quoting the words of the late President Mandela, please ... [Time expired.] [Applause.]