First steps for all: Inclusive education in pre-primary and primary schools in Uthukela, South Africa

Project duration: October 2023 to December 2025

Project goal:

Strengthened education district ensuring that all early grade learners are enrolled at school, stay in school and complete their schooling .

Project objectives:

• Build the capacity of Grade R and Foundation phase teachers to implement effective early identification of barriers that prevent access to schooling
• Strengthen Full-service and Inclusive schools to provide effective support to the schools in their clusters
• Sensitize caregivers and school communities on the need to support schools to become fully inclusive centres of learning
• Strengthen multisectoral support networks to promote the access to schooling for early grade children through ongoing support

Project Overview:

MIET AFRICA in collaboration with a German education NGO, Africa-action Deutschland e.V (aaD), has been implementing an Inclusive Education support project in the Uthukela Education District since December 2011, funded by the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development in Germany (BMZ: Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung).

The first Inclusive Education project (2012-2016) was implemented at three schools (Inkanyezi Special School, Madlala Full-service school, and Lokothwayo Combined School) to test the implementation of the KZNDoE strategy for Inclusive Education to see how the continuum of support worked across the three main school types. Following the success of that project, the aaD proposed a four-year technical support Inclusive Education project (2018-2021) across ten schools (seven new schools were added to the original three and the support was extended to reach schools in Bergville and Estcourt). Due to the impact of COVID in 2020, the project was extended to February 2023.

The successes of the project prompted the aaD and BMZ to provide further support to Uthukela District through a new two-year project called First Steps for All – Inclusive education in pre-schools and primary schools in Uthukela, South Africa, involving 15 schools in the Estcourt Circuit. The First Steps project targets capacity-building of teachers of Grade R and Foundation Phase to promote the early identification of barriers to learning and development so that young learners with barriers could be supported early in their development.

The 15 schools are located in three clusters in the Estcourt Circuit with a nodal school in each cluster. The support focuses on strengthening schools to implement the DBE’s policy on Inclusive Education and become inclusive schools of learning care and support. The capacity-building component of the project targets district officials, school officials (SMT, teachers, and SGB) and caregivers of learners at the schools so that there is regular early identification of learners with barriers to learning and development through the implementation of the SIAS process.  An important part of the project is to support the district and schools to establish and strengthen multisectoral support networks to support vulnerable learners identified through the SIAS process.

Project reach (estimated)

The estimated target groups include 8386 learners, 232 teachers (includes SMT members), 10 district officials, and 3000 caregivers (includes SGB members).

For more information contact Chris Ramdas chris@miet.coza