South Africa like many developed countries and developing countries has adopted a policy on Inclusive Education where learners experiencing barriers to learning for various reasons such as ineffective learning ecology are included as far as possible (Kgothule & Hay, 2013).
Inclusive Education policy as one of many policies and legislation in the government of the country needed to be implemented. The Department of Education (1997) introduced these policies with the aim to provide a framework for creating a sustainable learning ecology, recognising diversity and providing quality education for all learners including those excluded by the previous system (Kgothule & Hay, 2013). Again, the Department of Education (2009) re-emphasised the Section 5 of the South African Schools Act that all schools must make provision for all schools to be full service schools by stating that public schools must admit learners and serve their educational needs without unfair discrimination.
34 Siemens (2003) argues that these goals were to be achieved only if a learning ecology or an environment that is consistent with how learners learn. The appointment of the National Commission on Special Need Education and Training (NCSNET) and the National Commission on Education Support Services (NCESS) by the Minister of Education in 1996, supported the development of the index for Inclusion in 2000 (Booth, Ainscow & Shaw, 2000). According to the government Notice No. 16874, the terms of reference of NCSNET and NCESS were to advise the Minister of Education on the following matters (Department of Education, 2001):
The immediate and long-term national and provincial needs and strategies for the education of learners with special needs education;
The support structures required by the Minister of education, the provincial Minister of Education, the Department of Education or any other stakeholder‟s relevant authority for implementation strategies;
The training of personnel for specialised education and education support services;
The implications of the policy of mainstreaming for general education and strategies for marketing the policy to communities;
The organisation, governance and funding of schools providing education for learners with special education needs;
An implementation plan to effect the above guidelines for the involvement of international agencies and their interaction on provincial and local levels;
A project plan and time frame when it is made available.
The above NCSNET and NCESS terms of references gave the way to the implementation and practice of Inclusive Education policy (Stofile & Green, 2007). Many schools in South Africa had begun to offer Inclusive Education policy as part of those changes. Some schools even changed their names from being ordinary primary schools to full service primary schools.
2.7.1 Support in the implementation of Inclusive Education policy in South Africa
The release of the Education White Paper No. 6: Special Needs Education (Republic of South Africa, 2001) was indicative of the fact that South Africa‟s work on creating Inclusive Education had begun and that the government was committed to the principles and values enshrined in the constitution of the country. The Report of the National Commission on
35 Special Need Education and Training (NCSNET) and National Commission on Education Support Services (NCESS) and the Draft Education White Paper on Special Education argue that there is a need to examine the social and political processes that operated within the education systems that excluded children with special needs (Department of Education, 2001). This approach was particularly irrelevant in countries where inadequate facilities, inadequate educator development, poverty and other social and political factors impact on the learning process. In order to reconstruct special need education, the focus had to be on the development of the education system so that it can be recognised and be made to respond to the diversity in the learning population rather than merely focus on supporting individual learners (Engelbrecht & Green, 2006). This also requires that countries which are eager to implement the policy should have a detailed policy on Inclusive Education.
The development of the policy on Inclusive Education has led to the development of different strategies on an Inclusive community-based system support education (Dalton, 2012).This was done in order to make Inclusive Education policy a reality. This policy legislated that no learner should be prevented from participating in the education system regardless of his/her physical, intellectual, social, emotional, language or other differences. This implies that all learners should have access to education, to the curriculum and to provide support where needed so that the full potential of each learner can be actualised (Department of Education, 1997). However, impressive policies and objectives encapsulated in the White Paper require appropriate support strategies to ensure that the outcomes of the envisaged policy are achieved in practice. However, this support has not been forthcoming in the manner outlined in the policy document (Weeks & Erradu, 2013).
Kgothule and Hay (2013) argue that it seems that the SMTs had not yet been equipped with knowledge and requisite skills. Similarly, it seems that the teachers had not been put into real situation where Inclusive Education policy takes place in order to ascertain whether they can implement inclusive practices. Engelbrecht (2006) notes that the attitude of many regular school principals and the teachers towards inclusion have unfortunately, been found often not to be positive. Teachers and principals had demonstrated a lack of knowledge about learners with learning barriers and inclusion. A growing number of authors were calling for professional preparation approaches that better prepared principals and teachers for the diversity of today‟s classrooms (Winter, 2007).
36 Inclusive Education policy in South Africa is envisaged as an integrated education system which involves special schools, regular schools, partnerships with stakeholders from the health and social development sectors and allows for pathways to all levels of education as well as all types of provision. Therefore, it complements the more Inclusive Education which is implemented in South African Schools. The Index for Inclusion (Booth, et al., 2000) predominantly developed in the United Kingdom, but now is utilised internationally, is a valuable tool for creating inclusive learning ecology and implementing Inclusive Education policy. This Index highlights three dimensions used to ensure the successful implementation of Inclusive Education policy (Booth & Ainscow, 2002). The three dimensions are; creating inclusive cultures; producing inclusive policies and evolving inclusive practices. Through the process of addressing each of these dimensions meticulously, individual school communities are able to empower themselves in creating the type of Inclusive Education that is effective in their contexts and of benefit to their particular learners (Corbett, 2005). Therefore, if inclusion is to be comprehensively and efficiently implemented, school principals and teachers‟ views and knowledge regarding emerging inclusive practises should be established and developed (Tshifura, 2012).
At a school level, School Management Teams and the teachers must, in terms of the provisions of the Constitution and the Employment of Educators Act, play a leading role in the implementation of Inclusive Education policy. Strogilos (2012) concurs with this view and argues that Inclusive Education policy involves changes in many different levels, from policy and structural levels, partnership to the level of school leadership. Implementation is defined as a mechanism for the translation of policy into practice (Khalid, 2001). The implementation of the policy would have succeeded through the commitment of the SMTs and the teachers to the plan of action. The people to take a lead needed to be well informed of the policy and have a clear understanding of the policy.
Van Wyk and Marumoloa (2012) mention three stages to be followed in order to implement the policy effectively. The first stage is to develop guidelines that need to be followed and which include priority determination. The second stage entails a situation where the original policy is translated into practical measures that involve issues such as human resources provision, work procedures and organisational arrangement. The third stage is where corrective measures and reviews come about during implementation. For successful
37 implementation of policy, strategies and action plans needed to be developed to address the needs identified which are managerial needs and priorities (Van Zyl, 2012). Ainscow (1995) is of the view that there is more to successful implementation than simply producing a strategic plan. It is in the links between planning and action which in the end justify the effort put into planning activities. The practical focus on the impact of planning rather than the technical merits of different planning systems or approaches has to be kept in mind (Ainscow, 1995). In line with this line of thought, Ainscow (1995) further provides the following prerequisites for the successful planning in education management. The first argues that planning must be linked to common vision for the future. It is important that priorities for planning arise from this vision. Where there is a lack of congruence between a long term goal and a particular initiative, it is difficult to build commitment amongst the staff. The second argues that widespread involvement of staff in planning process gives assurance to their individual goals and that organisational goals are tied together. Involvement in the planning activity seems to be more important than producing plans; it is through collective planning that goals emerge and differences can be resolved and basis for action created.