CLASIFICACIÓN DE LAS MAQUINARIAS Y EQUIPOS

Since education is key to the personal development of disabled young people, participants were asked to share their experiences of schooling. Some reported that they have never been to any school, others dropped out of school prematurely and only 2 out of 15 participants were still attending special schools. The reasons given for not going to school or leaving prematurely range from illness, finances to being over-age. Consistent with this finding, Elwan (1999; 2003) notes that in Africa, many children with disabilities do not attend school. Using the World health Organisation estimates, the South African Education White Paper 6 (EWP6) estimates that there are between 293,000 and 346,000 disabled children in the country, which is 2.2%-2.6% of approximately 13,312,000 learners in the system. This system currently holds 64,200 disabled learners, which leaves 260,000-280, 000 disabled children without care and provision (Department of Education, 2001b).

Most participants in the present study went to special schools up to the age of 23 years, regardless of the level of education they had attained at that age, that is whether, they had completed matric or not, participants were asked to leave. Some disabled young people are nevertheless grateful for any level of education they attained in a society which views them as sick and helpless as stated below:

Vuyiseka, 17 year-old with cerebral palsy: I never went to school…my mother says I was very sick that is why they never sent me to school. Nomthandazo: I went to Thembaletu (special school), but I stopped early because of money problems.

Lindiwe: I went to Thembaletu school up to grade 9. I could not go further with education because they told me I was old. I was the only one who went to school in my family … me the disabled one. My brothers and sisters are able bodied and they did not go to school …

In spite of the barriers to education stated above, the majority of disabled young people in the current study obtained some basic education. They missed the opportunity to go to secondary school or to complete secondary education mainly because of financial problems or policy issues (only allowed to be at special schools up to the age of 23). The fact that most disabled young people attended school is evidence that some parents tend to encourage their disabled children to obtain a better education than their non- disabled siblings or peers (Groce, 1997). Such parents feel that the future of disabled children, especially disabled young women, lies in education, since they may never marry because of social prejudice. Some participants complained about the social isolation they experience at special schools, as stated below:

Nceba: I went to a special school here in Montana, at St. Joseph’s home. Where you have been isolated from society. By the time I came out of the institution, I felt strange among able-bodied people. I saw myself different to them.

Nceba does not appreciate the experience of learning at a special school that reinforced his sense of being ‘different’ from his non-disabled peers. In contrast, going to a special school offered Lindiwe a better opportunity for basic education compared to her non-disabled siblings who did not go to school. In such a situation, it can be argued that sometimes disability works out to disabled young people’s advantage over their peers and siblings. In line with this argument, a disabled lawyer (Blumberg, 1980) states that one of the good things that happened to her apart from studying law, was that she came to better terms with her physical self. Her level of education helped her realise that there was so much about her body that was right, including a measure of good health. Having established disabled young people’s experience with education, it was important to find out their perceptions about the education system in South Africa.

5.3.2 Perceptions about the Education System

Participants were asked to state the school system they would prefer for themselves if they were given an opportunity to choose. Only participants who had been to secondary school and the key informants, all of whom were educated, felt comfortable to share their experiences on the subject. They gave different reasons for their preferences as expressed below:

Nomthandazo: I started school Emaxhoseni (the Eastern Cape) in a normal school, when I came here (Cape Town), my aunt took me to Thembaletu. Therefore, I have no problems with schooling; I can go any where, except non-disabled children always tease disabled children. They make you feel stupid.

Although Nomthandazo claims she does not mind going to either school system, she complains about the teasing of disabled children at mainstream schools. Yet Philisiwe asserts that she had no problems at a mainstream school, but foresees problems of reintegration back into society for those who go to special schools:

Philisiswe: Special schools are not needed. I was going to school with normal people and I was the only one who was disabled the whole school … I was not getting any problems there. I would choose mainstream schools because special schools isolate you … if you were educated at special schools and you come out to work, they discriminate against you, but if you are educated at mainstream schools, there is no discrimination.

Like disabled young people above, members of FGDs had different views on the subject as illustrated below:

FGD 5: I prefer that our children should be educated together with able bodied children because the able-bodied would be able to teach our children certain things and they would also learn to see that disable children are just like them … if they learn together, they learn from each other.

FGD 5: Our disabled children are slow therefore they should learn from the non-disabled. They should learn together to avoid discrimination

FGD 6: I prefer them to learn separately because the able-bodies tease the disabled children and they cannot concentrate on their school

Similarly, key informants’ views are in favour of mainstream education for disabled children:

Key 3: No, not special schools because you will always be with disabled people when you finish school that’s when you must meet normal (non-disabled) people and it’s so difficult. People are always looking at you and you can’t even address [express] yourself. But when you learn with able people you are strong and you are not shy. Key 4: When children with disabilities are able to attend mainstream education, they should not be stopped … you find that parents are very protective of their disabled children. There are all sorts of things like school learners will push you and you fall or they will laugh at you. In my case the opposite happened, the learners were supportive, they would assist me to sit, to carry my bags even without asking them.

Key 7: Learning at mainstream school was a good thing because people with disabilities should not be treated differently from society, they must be inside with other people as well so that people will get familiar with them.

The above quotes demonstrate that mainstream schooling is preferred by many because it provides the much-needed interaction between disabled and non-disabled young people, in a way that special schools do not. Yet, mainstream schooling is not suitable for all disabled children, especially those with severe forms of physical disability. Contrary to parents’ fears about disabled children being teased at mainstream schools, Key 2’s positive experience testifies against such a problem being universal. It is apparent that most disabled young people do not like the isolating experience provided by special schools. They would rather interact with non-disabled peers and share the same educational experience. Consistent with these findings, Albert (2005) found that education at special schools isolates disabled children from

society and society from disabled children. He also found that such education is more costly and focuses on vocational rather than academic subjects. In spite of the negative perceptions about special schools, Key 2 felt there are particular circumstances when special schools may be necessary as stated below:

There are special cases where you find disabled children with serious conditions they cannot fit schooling in mainstream so they need special schools.

Key 2 raises a point, which needs to be borne in mind when planning for inclusive education. Research into the role and effectiveness of disability legislation in South Africa, found that there are many disabled children in mainstream schools who seem to be ‘dumped’ there because there are not enough special schools to accommodate all disabled children (Albert, 2005) This finding is in contrast to the aim of inclusive education, which calls for the development of a system that is open to change so as to accommodate all learners that are able to participate as equal members of society (Struthers, 2005). This means recognising that special schools and mainstream schools need to be transformed in order to enable them accommodate learners of diverse needs.

For this reason, specials schools would still be needed for dealing with severe levels of disability. At the same time, attention needs to be paid to the curriculum at special schools so it is comparable to mainstream education. There needs to be a balance between the provision of mainstream and special schools for disabled children depending on the nature and severity of disability.