Introduction
Botswana like other countries is signatory to the UN Declarations on Education for All. When the Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education was adopted in 1994, Botswana had already taken a step in the right direction by setting up a National Commission on Education. The Terms of reference required the Commission to conduct a broad ranging review of the entire education system, vocational education and training, preparation and orientation towards the world of work articulation between the different levels of the system and a re-examination of the structure (Revised National Policy on Education, 1994).
The Commission indicated amongst other issues that the education of disabled people needed immediate attention.
The commission came up with 134 main recommendations. All recommendations were adopted by Parliament and have become the basis for the National Policy on Education now set forth in the Government White Paper No2 of 1994, referred to as the Revised National Policy on Education (RNPE).
The policy seeks to make education accessible to all including children with special educational needs.
This paper discusses strategies, that is, projects and programmes, that have been developed to facilitate inclusive education.
Overview
Botswana has a population of approximately 1.5 million with 10% persons with various disabilities. According to the June 1994 issue of STATS Brief prepared by the Central Statistics Office of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, there is no significant difference between male and female disability distribution and that the ratio between sexes is constant in both urban and rural areas. The document however shows that a majority of disabled people is in rural areas. The document says all major disabilities are found in the North West District, especially Okavango area more than in other districts. It further says Boteti area in the Central District has many people with eyesight problems.
Although Special Education has been an integral part of the regular education system since 1984, the RNPE gave it a new impetus, enabling the Ministry of Education to increase access and equity to education for children with special educational needs. Through the new policy, the Government of Botswana commits herself to providing education for all children including the disabled in the next 25 years. Botswana government considers access to education a fundamental human right. The government further commits herself to the provision of Ten Year Basic Education. Ten-Year Basic Education is seen as a strong basis upon which further levels of learning and alternative forms of education and training such as vocational education would develop.
The overall goal of the RNPE is to prepare Batswana for the transition from a traditional agro-based economy to the industrial economy that the country aspires to be (Botswana National Policy on Education, 1994). The RNPE’ goal is complimented by Botswana Vision 2016, which states that:-
Botswana in 2016 should be educated, ... informed society. All citizens should have the choice of continued education, whether in academic fields or in vocational and technical subjects.
Prior to the adoption of the RNPE Special Education provision in Botswana was dominated by special education units in the mainstream schools. While this is still the practice there is now a deliberate move to embrace inclusive practices. Specifically the policy recommends that;-
Strategies adopted to facilitate Inclusive Education in the Botswana Education System
An important development in recent years has been a growing recognition that children with special educational needs should be included within the general education environment commonly referred to as inclusive education. Inclusive education is a new approach to addressing the diverse needs of individuals within the mainstream school setting. It is a process that aims at minimising all barriers to learning. It embraces the following:-
Botswana like other countries is gradually moving away from segregatory practices of special schools towards inclusive education. The move is facilitated by the implementation of the new policy (RNPE) which, as stated earlier, has given priority to the education and training of children with special educational needs. The Ministry of Education has adopted four main strategies to attaining this goal. These are; -
1. Capacity/Human Resource
Capacity building in support of inclusive education is one of the most crucial elements in developing more inclusive education system (The Salamanca statement and Framework for Action on Special needs Education, 1999). Capacity building has focused on teacher preparation, (both pre and in-service) in servicing of school heads, education officers and support staff.
A. Teacher Preparation
I Pre -service
The Department of Teacher Training and Development has introduced the Special Education component in all teacher training programmes. Special education teaching methodology is now part of the education and method courses in all colleges of education. The course aims to create awareness thereby enabling teachers to identify and meet the needs of children with special educational needs in their classes. Teachers from the onset are taught to accept and not exclude children with special educational needs. It is through the pre-paratory stage that the Ministry of Education hopes to gain teachers’ commitment to full inclusion. In fact research literature indicates that full inclusion starts with positive attitude on the part of the teacher.
II In-service
In addition to pre-service programme the University of Botswana has started two Special Education programmes:
In addition, serving teachers continue to be released annually to take up full time study abroad.
B Support Staff
Capacity building has been extended to the training of support staff. This is the personnel that work with teachers, children and parents:
I Assistant braillists
The training of assistant braillists to support teachers and the visually impaired children at primary and secondary school level is on going. The training is done through a franchised Braille Competency Course with Moray House College of Education in Scotland.
II Educational Psychologists
A significant number of high school leavers has been sent abroad to train as educational psychologists. Upon completion of their studies Psychologists would be placed in schools and provide support to teachers and children.
C In-service training of school heads and education officers.
The Ministry of Education has further recognised that inclusive schools can be developed not only by the training of teachers and support staff but by in servicing school heads and education officers who supervise the schools. Although the Division of Special Education has not directly organised special education workshops, conferences and seminars for this group, it has continued to prepare and present special needs papers at workshops; seminar’s and conferences organised by other Ministry of Education Departments targeting this group.
2. School Intervention Team Programme
It has already been stated that one of the principles of inclusion is emphasis on teachers working together and supporting each other. Since the adoption of the RNPE the Division of Special Education has been working with schools with a view to establishing support teams. The teams have come to be referred to as School Intervention Teams (SIT).
SIT is a team of teachers with a common vision appointed by the school head to advise and support other teachers in meeting the educational needs of all the children. The team assesses and recommends appropriate teaching strategies for children with special educational needs. It is a pre-referral strategy and is based on the premise that talents exist in schools and therefore these should be used before calling for external support.
3. Itinerant Teacher Project
Itinerant Teacher Project is another strategy, which the Ministry of Education has adopted to meet the needs of children with special needs in the mainstream education. Although the project does not yet cover the whole country where it is operational it is proving to be worthwhile. The support is given to both the teacher and children with physical disability within the general school settings. With the training of more special education teachers the plan is to extend the programme to other parts of the country.
4. Collaboration and Partnership
The new policy emphasises effective communication and cooperation between all the stakeholders. It is recognised that the benefit of greater partnership participation includes increased opportunities to share decision-making, a greater sense of ownership, better monitoring and accountability. To this end the Ministry of Education collaborates with other stakeholders in the provision of education and training. The education and training of all children is a joint venture between the Ministries, NGO’s and the Private Sector.
A. Collaboration with the Ministry of Health
There is collaboration between Ministries of Education and Health. This is facilitated by two policies, the RNPE 1994 and the National Policy on Care for People with Disabilities 1996. The two policies address the education and rehabilitation needs of disabled persons.
The Ministry of Health provides appliances such as wheelchairs, optical aids and hearing aids to children for use in the natural school settings. There is also shared use of experts such as Audiologists Therapists
B. Collaboration with Ministry of Local Government.
While the Ministry of Education provides teachers and professional advice at primary school level the Ministry of Local Government provides the infrastructure, materials and equipment. This has not only increased access and equity to education for children with special educational needs but is also making school inclusion successful. For example, typewriters, braille machines and braillon paper have been procured by councils for use by children with physical disabilities and visually impaired respectively in ordinary schools.
C. Collaboration with Non Governmental Organisations
Non Governmental Organisations work jointly with the Ministry of Education to enable special needs children to benefit from Special Education services and provisions
D. Collaboration with the Private Sector
Private charitable organisations such as Lions Club, Rotary Club and the Round Table continue to support the Ministry of Education in the provision of special education.
Their support has been in the provision of funds, procuring special equipment and materials for schools.
E. Collaboration with Parents
In Botswana like in other parts of the world parental involvement in the education of children is highly emphasised. The direct experiences of family members make them invaluable as support for meeting various challenges ( Stainback & Stainback, 1992). Parents Teacher Association (PTA’s) assists the schools and contributes to the day to day running of the schools. New associations such as the Down’s Syndrome Association of Botswana have been formed to join hands with professionals to increase public awareness on the needs of children with disabilities and advocating for inclusive practices.
Constraints
Attaining the universally accepted goal of education for all has been and remains, one of the most daunting challenges facing the global community (UNESCO, 1999). This is primarily due to rapid increase of school population (which includes growing numbers of previously excluded children) which demand more services. In Botswana major constraints to the delivery of Special Education services include the following: -
1. shortage of Trained Manpower
Shortage of trained manpower continues to retard progress toward inclusive schooling especially in the key areas of assessment.
2. Unsuitable Curriculum
One of the issues that Botswana is still battling with is making curriculum accessible to all children. The fact that the majority of teachers are not trained in meeting the needs of all children, they are not able to develop or choose learning objectives that are appropriate to individual children. That is, they are unable to adapt the curriculum to meet the diverse needs of children in their classes.
Shortage of Specialised Materials and Equipment
There is shortage of special materials and equipment in schools. This is partly due to the fact that such materials are not available locally.
Conclusion
The paper has attempted to provide some strategies that have been adopted by the Botswana Government towards providing inclusive education. It is hoped that the Special Education services and provision will keep on improving given the government’s commitment to providing equal opportunities to education for all Batswana.
References
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