1 / 25

CHALLENGES FACED BY BLIND AND DEAF LEARNERS REGARDING FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT AND BRAILLE MATERIAL

CHALLENGES FACED BY BLIND AND DEAF LEARNERS REGARDING FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT AND BRAILLE MATERIAL. Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration Presentation: Department of Basic Education. OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION. Challenges faced by Blind learners

donaldproberts
Download Presentation

CHALLENGES FACED BY BLIND AND DEAF LEARNERS REGARDING FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT AND BRAILLE MATERIAL

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. CHALLENGES FACED BY BLIND AND DEAF LEARNERS REGARDING FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT AND BRAILLE MATERIAL Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration Presentation: Department of Basic Education

  2. OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION • Challenges faced by Blind learners • Progress in Respect of Deliverables • What has been done • Overview of DBE Braille Initiatives • Progress - Adapted Workbooks • Plans for 2013 • Challenges faced by Deaf learners • What has been done? • Plans for 2013

  3. Challenges Faced by Blind learners

  4. CHALLENGES FACED BY BLIND LEARNERS • Majority of Blind learners do not have early access to ECD programmes for stimulation and preparation for school in: • Textile discrimination for introduction to Braille • Orientation and mobility instruction for use of white canes and independent movements

  5. CHALLENGES FACED BY BLIND LEARNERS… Systemic challenges: • Limited availability of Braille instructors • Limited availability of Orientation and Mobility instructors employed in schools • Majority of teachers (about 80%) lack appropriate skills including Braille • Only two (2) of the 22 schools for the Blind are capable of producing Braille materials for their learners • Inadequate and unmaintained equipments across 20 schools for the Blind including Tiger Pro for printing graphs • Independent Living curriculum not offered in most schools for the Blind

  6. Progress in Respect of Deliverables

  7. WHAT HAS BEEN DONE? • Conducted an audit in all schools for the Blind in 2009/10 • 200 district officials and SMTs (including from Schools for the Deaf) participated in specialised training in visual impairment in March 2011 • A workshop was conducted with experts in areas of visual impairment to develop a framework for teacher training programmes in July 2012 • Grade R-9 workbooks were adapted for Braille production in 2012 • 60 teachers for Maths and Science were trained in technical codes of the Unified Braille Code (UBC) in December 2012

  8. WHAT HAS BEEN DONE?... • A teacher training programme was finalised by experts in a workshop held on 6 March 2013 for rollout in 2013/14 • 118 titles were selected from national catalogue for Brailling and R28m has been made available for producing master copies • Adapted workbooks submitted to Pioneer printers and Braille SA for printing and distribution to the 22 schools for the Blind • Daisy technology is being explored to expedite access to information for Blind and low vision learners • DBE participated in an investigation on Braille production in SA commissioned by Department of Arts and Culture

  9. OVERVIEW OF DBE BRAILLE INITIATIVES Adaptation of workbooks Printing of selected workbook titles Meeting with Pioneer Printers Meeting with Stakeholders Augmentative Alternative Communication Appointment – Deaf Communication Grade R adaptation Braille Code Workshop

  10. PROGRESS – ADAPTED WORKBOOKS

  11. PROGRESS – ADAPTED WORKBOOKS…

  12. PLANS FOR 2013 • Train teachers from all 22 schools for the Blind in on quality education and use of assistive technology by March 2014 • Train 129 grade 1 teachers on uncontracted Braille by May 2013 • Train 560 grade 2 teachers on contracted Braille by September 2013 • Engaging HEIs in reviewing Teacher Education Programmes both at Pre- and In-service levels • Developing HR Provisioning norms for an inclusive system • Coordinating the printing and distribution of workbooks for grades R-9 to all schools for the Blind

  13. PLANS FOR 2013… • Managing the production of 118 master copies of CAPS textbooks • Coordinate the procurement of Brailled textbooks by PEDs • Equipping all 9 provincial Vodacom ICT centres with assistive technology for learners who are Blind and partially sighted and link respective schools • Vodacom ICT Centres t providing specialised training to teachers for visually impaired

  14. Challenges Faced by Deaf Learners

  15. CHALLENGES FACED BY DEAF LEARNERS • Early identification of deafness • Majority of Deaf children not having early access ECD programmes for stimulation and development of Sign Language • Majority of Deaf children are born out of hearing parents and thus enter school without the requisite language

  16. CHALLENGES FACED BY DEAF LEARNERS… Challenges of systemic nature: • About 80% teachers in schools for the Deaf unable to use Sign Language • No nationally approved South African Sign Language curriculum • Few Deaf learners progress beyond grade 12 • Deaf learner boarders do not have access to hostel and support staff equipped with Sign Language • Not all classes for the Deaf have Deaf Teacher Assistants • Majority of schools for the Deaf do not have requisite equipments e.g. For recording learner assessment activities • Teachers not provided with guidelines for utilising workbooks • Few schools have audio equipment and audiologists

  17. WHAT HAS BEEN DONE? • District officials and SMTs (among 200 officials) participated in training in specialised areas of Deaf Education in March 2011 • A two-day workshop held with experts in July 2012 to develop a framework to inform teacher development activities up to 2014 • Minister established a Curriculum Management Team (CMT) to manage and provide oversight to development of South African sign Language (SASL) curriculum grades R-12 in 2011

  18. WHAT HAS BEEN DONE?... • Draft SASL curriculum grades R-12 and grade 9 Bridging Programme developed and finalised in December 2012 • Phased-in Implementation Plan of the SASL curriculum developed in 2012 • Reference Group identified and consulted throughout the development of the SASL curriculum • Developed Teacher Guides for workbooks utilisation

  19. PLANS FOR 2013 • Finalising the SASL curriculum grades R-12 for approval and rollout from 2014 • Conducting an audit in all 44 schools for the Deaf to establish state of readiness to implement the curriculum • Piloting the grade 9 Bridging Programme in two schools for the Blind respectively in GP and WC • Preparing the system for the phased-in implementation of the SASL curriculum including training teachers of implementing grades and resourcing the implementation where needed

  20. PLANS FOR 2013… • Developing HR Provisioning Norms for an inclusive system to also benefit Deaf learners • Mediating Teacher Guides on the utilisation of workbooks • Progressively training teachers on early identification of hard-of-hearing and Deafness • Progressively training teachers in specialised skills on Deafness and Deaf culture

  21. THANK YOU

More Related