The Covid-19 pandemic raised the bar for educators everywhere, but the challenges were greatest for children with special needs and disabilities. Getting specialist support to these children during the lockdown became a major challenge, especially as the majority were from poorer households who had limited access to computers and other crucial technology to remain in touch and on top of their curricula.
Provincial education departments, organisations, schools and teachers must be applauded for quickly creating and adapting teaching and learning materials so that learners could complete the school syllabus in their homes while the country was on lockdown. Parents and families were expected to play an active role by monitoring their childās learning, setting up homeschool programmes and becoming more active participants within the teaching process.
However, while many resources are now available in the form of guides, YouTube channels and websites, little support is accessible to parents and families who have the task of homeschooling their children with disabilities. For instance, as parents and educators continue to navigate remote learning, children with visual impairments have the added burden of learning in virtual classrooms that arenāt designed for them. Hybrid and socially distant in-person classes present challenges of their own.
Disruptions in daily routines pose a challenge to several children with developmental disabilities and their families. Children who have sensory, physical, or intellectual disabilities often require more intensive supervision and care than typically developing children. They may be less able to follow self-directed learning because they are not supplied with adaptations such as braille, or South African Sign Language (SASL), which are essential for them to access learning materials. Some have not yet learnt to read by themselves, while others require higher levels of interaction and learning support.
In a recent study by Associate Professor Judith McKenzie, head of Disability studies at the University of Cape Town, highlighted concerns from a teacher at a school for the deaf regarding challenges of remote learning for her learners: āWe are finding it very difficult to contact all our families. Some phone numbers donāt exist. For deaf kids, the videos that we send are data-intensive hence initially there was not a good response to the work sent.ā
The impact of Covid-19 continues to be widely felt, and no more so than for children with special educational care needs, who need more practical solutions. Broader commitment from role players in society is required as Covid-19 has only highlighted a pre-existing challenge.
According to UNICEF estimates, there are about 93 million children with disabilities worldwide. According to the 2009 general household survey in South Africa, there are an estimated 2.1 million children with disabilities. Of these around 600,000 have never been to class.
Greater networking between teachers and parents to discuss how to adapt learning to the needs of their children is one answer. Now is certainly an opportunity to extend the collaboration between home and school that has been so sadly lacking in special schools.
In MTNās view, everyone deserves to enjoy the benefits of the modern, connected life and one area where are ramping up our support, is to support the most vulnerable children in society.
For instance, during the lockdown MTN SA Foundation saw that there was a serious gap in the support received for children with disabilities, and MTN believed the power of technology can be harnessed for good to change futures ā creating much-needed economic opportunities and growth within the special needs community.
To date, a total of 36 special needs schools have been connected to customed multimedia centres, benefitting more than 5,000 learners with special needs These schools are based in all nine provinces of South Africa.
The MTN SA Foundationās highly successful flagship Schools Connectivity Programme was initially aimed at supporting 350 disadvantaged schools over a 10-year period. However, in recent years the Foundation identified a gap in the special needs learning environment.
In our bid to contribute to inclusivity in education, the MTN SA Foundation has partnered with the Department of Education and the Department of Social Development to extend the information and communications technology (ICT) programme to special schools.
While we are proud of what we have achieved so far, there is still a long road ahead. We have in 2021 renewed our commitment to do even more by providing tailored digital tools and software to ensure everyone can access the digital world and open the door to exciting opportunities and a brighter future.
