6.2 Presentation and discussion of data
6.2.1 Challenges relating to the provision of resources
6.2.1.2 Inadequate provision of human resources
114 inappropriate infrastructure becomes a challenge to learning and development when individual needs are not met in the classroom. Mahlo (2011) further argues that to have appropriate infrastructure in schools would enhance the implementation of the policy because then all learners, even those learners who are experiencing physical disabilities would be accommodated. The provision of resources is not only on infrastructure but it also involves human resources.
115 fifty learners. This leads to overcrowding and it is difficult for a teacher to implement Inclusive Education policy in that situation. We do not have nurses for medical problems and psychologists in case a learner needs counselling. There are learners who come reporting abuse at home and some are reporting rape. Teachers are not trained on that.
Insufficient staff makes it difficult for the policy to be implemented. Waltkinson (2003) echoes similar sentiments saying that the problem inclusive schools face is the need for additional classroom personnel because children with diverse educational needs learn at different pace and in different ways. Teachers identified challenges which were beyond their understanding to diagnose learners. That needed qualified staff such as nurses and sometimes psychologists to attend to. The schools must have support centres and staff deployed to work in those centres. Ms Dawn, Principal of Lilly Rose Primary School expressed her views saying:
We have a support centre that was donated to our school but there is no one to work there to support the learners. Due to the limited number of teachers at school, we cannot take the teacher to remain in the support centre and support learners. We feel we need assistant teachers because of some the learners who are experiencing challenges in their learning. There are no school nurses and therapists in the support centre of which is vital important that we have them.
This was affirmed by Ms Judith the Principal of Impala Primary School. She said that she had a problem with support staff such as nurses and therapists. Even if the support centre was provided at school as they did; however, with regards to the material they have to use, it is important that there is someone who is knowledgeable about them, otherwise, there will still be a problem. This is what she said:
The school has a support centre as the school was identified for Inclusive School project. The DoE is running workshops in our school and the school is made a reference to other schools. We do have assistant teachers but because of the number
116 of learners who need assistance, two teachers are not enough. We do not have school nurse and therapist. Teachers are frustrated when they have to refer cases that need nurses and therapists.
Assistant teachers are a prerequisite in the Inclusive school. In the class of sixty learners, a teacher cannot spend enough time with learners who encounter barriers in learning because of time allocated for each subject. It is therefore advisable that the school have support centres and staff working there to support learners who have challenges in their learning. Assistant teachers take them slowly in their pace while the teacher continues with others. In support of the comments above, Ms Judith, the Principal of Impala Primary School commented:
If the school had assistant teachers, the burden will be eased from class/subject teachers because teachers are not delayed with struggling learners instead these learners are taken to the assistant teachers who takes them slowly for support. This support eliminates learner drop –outs.
In the three schools visited, human resources were identified as major problem. White Paper 6 (Republic of South Africa, 2001) elaborates on the provision of resources to ensure successful implementation of the policy. Views shared by the three school principals were also the concerns of the HODs and the teachers in the participating schools. They complained of big numbers in classes which resulted in teachers failing to attend each and every learner.
They also complained of frustration they faced when they have matters that needed professionals such as speech therapist. They commented that if there was enough human resource in schools, then it was going to be easy to have Inclusive Education policy implemented. That was the reason Ms Elephant, HOD from Impala Primary School when she said:
The number of teachers at school is not enough. Learner: teacher ratio by the DoE is said to be 1: 40 but in our school is not like that. We sometimes have 60 learners in
117 each class and that make it difficult to individualise learners. I understand curriculum differentiation but in this case, it is difficult to have it applied.
The views expressed by three principals and the HODs in participating schools were corroborated by those of the three teachers. Teachers highlighted that the challenges in human resource provision whereby they had to teach many learners in one class because of insufficient teachers at school. This made them to struggle to implement Inclusive Education policy. Some learners were very difficult to handle. They needed extra time or else the teacher would spend more time with them. This is what Ms Ant; teacher from Impala Primary School had to say:
I am teaching Grade 2 and have 69 learners. I do not even know their names and I sometimes do not mark their workbooks. The classroom is small that means I do not have space to stand and have no space to walk around when I teach. There are learners when they have to write, they hide with other learners because they know I cannot come to their table. When the staff allocation is done, the department does not look at the difficulty of each learner. There are learners where one learner is equal to four learners. I as a teacher need to spend more time to that learner. This means that there can be no proper teaching and learning and the implementation of the policy is hindered.
The above comments stands in stark contrast with what is contemplated in the White Paper 6 (Republic of South Africa, 2001) when it states that there should be provision of resources.
One can deduce that whatever the policy says is in paper, but practically, it is impossible. For instance, various Human Resources Management (HRM) circulars are sent to schools where learner-teacher ratio is clearly stated, but one may find that the post provisioning norm (PPN) says something different. In the final analysis, the principal will be guided by the PPN because it determines the number of teaching staff that the school may have, and provisions of the White Paper may mean nothing in this scenario. This also indicates that school principals are limited in terms of what they can do in schools. Schools cannot make decisions on their own in appointing teachers if there is a need. This fact highlighted by Mullick,
118 Deppeler and Sharma (2012) where they cite a case of Bangladesh. In that country, just like it is the case in South African public schools, School Management Teams did not have any authority to employ teachers. The recruitment of teachers was the activity of the government officials (Mullick, et al (2012). The same reality exists in South African schools, where the powers to appoint the teachers still rests with the government officials. Although one may argue that schools have some authority on teacher appointment, through the School Governing body provisions, but schools powers are very limited in terms of what they can do.