INCLUSIVE ECD HUBS PILOT PROGRAMME: HOW ‘INCLUSION CHAMPIONS’ WILL HELP RECTIFY UNEQUAL ACCESS TO LEARNING

Siyakwazi is growing! Our latest pilot programme within the wider Ugu district is the start of a new chapter to equip ECD practitioners to carry out the work of Siyakwazi’s Inclusion programme. 2024 brings with it the opportunity to reach even more children with disabilities and their educators in a meaningful and sustainable way.

It is not uncommon in South Africa for children with disabilities to be excluded from classroom learning, either by their educators or guardians. The educational experience can vary wildly from child to child; some children with disabilities may be wholly overlooked, while others are not given the opportunity to progress despite their willingness to learn. For those ECD practitioners who have no knowledge themselves about disability, it can feel overwhelming to support children with differing needs. 

This is where Siyakwazi comes in. One step at a time, we want to rectify unequal access to learning opportunities for children with disabilities, as well as provide resources and tools to their educators. In 2023 we made exciting in-roads in creating a sustainable framework for upskilling and supporting ECD practitioners to do the work of our fieldworkers remotely. Removing stigma around disability and giving children with disabilities a place within an educational environment is more than just a worthy cause. It is a basic right.  

Extending Siyakwazi’s reach 

Working with three ECD centres in Dududu, Murchison and Betania, we identified ways to grow and expand Siyakwazi’s Inclusion programme to reach even more children with disabilities outside our usual catchment areas of KwaNzimakwe and KwaXolo.

Reaching ECD practitioners within other parts of Ugu district and helping them to independently identify, teach and nurture children with disabilities is a huge milestone for Siyakwazi. It is a very practical demonstration of what ultimately underpins everything we do and the belief that every child can learn. 

Ugu’s newest Inclusion Champions

Siyakwazi’s programmes in KwaNzimakwe and KwaXolo are run by trained fieldworkers, also known as Siyasizas. But in the wider Ugu district, to have the most impact, we recognise that we need to equip ECD practitioners to become Inclusion Champions.

Remote mentoring and support towards incorporating inclusive practices will give ECD practitioners confidence to include children with disabilities and give them tools for supporting guardians. Siyakwazi’s specialised toolkit – which includes Intake and Inclusion assessment tools – is designed to bridge the gap between a child’s functional limitations and developmental activities with simple adaptations that ECD practitioners can implement on their own. 

Laddering is a good example of this and ECD practitioners within the pilot felt that laddering was a cornerstone of inclusion in the classroom. As the ladder analogy suggests, this educational framework focuses on taking small progressive steps towards learning a new skill. It is a particularly useful approach for assisting children with disabilities as it helps to build confidence at a level suitable to their abilities, while providing appropriately challenging goals for progression. 

Upskilling ECD practitioners

The ECD centres in Dududu and Murchison reported encouraging improvements in classroom involvement, access to additional therapies and services, as well as more positive interactions with guardians overall. 

One of the primary lessons has been that ECD practitioners must feel capable, supported and understood when working with children who require holistic interventions to bring a lasting and sustainable outcome. Our pilot’s pre- and post-surveys are clear: it is one thing to deepen and widen access to resources available to ECD practitioners, it is another to ensure they feel adequately prepared as champions of inclusion. 

What’s next?

The Inclusive Hubs pilot has not come to an end. Siyakwazi advocates an inclusive social model when it comes to education. Supporting a child with a disability is a long-term and ongoing process which involves engaging those within the child’s community and social network; it is not only about focusing on the individual at school. Building awareness around what disability is and implementing sustainable solutions to break down discriminatory attitudes are the foundational blocks to healing ignorance.

Any recommendations we make require constant feedback, tweaking and learning. Without Siyasizas onsite, we understand the importance of taking small attainable steps to achieve a greater goal. We will continue to offer mentorship and guidance to those ECD practitioners who were engaged with the programme in the hope that inclusive practices will become second nature in their teaching approaches. Where additional therapies or services are needed, we will work with our network, local healthcare professionals and clinics to find suitable support systems to ensure no child is left behind. 

Recruiting more ECD practitioners and training them to become Inclusion Champions through targeted mentorship and group training is the long-term goal of this pilot programme. In 2024, we believe it is possible to identify and remotely work with 10 to 20 ECD centres across Ugu. Over time, a fully-trained, equipped and empowered network of Inclusion Champions will lead to even more children with disabilities being included within local ECD centres with early identification and timely interventions.

“I didn’t know what to do before”

One of the most encouraging pieces of feedback we received in a post-survey with an ECD practitioner was that Siyakwazi was helping shape how she teaches: 

“Siyakwazi opened my eyes on disability, and on how to involve [children with disabilities] in the classroom. The laddering activities, intake tool, autism document and knowledge I received from this programme helped me to understand children with disabilities and inclusion.

The Inclusion programme has benefited us a lot. We didn’t involve children with disabilities in class […] but now I know better and I can involve them in everything the other children do.”

This ECD practitioner also told us that her awareness of disabilities has grown as she sees how children have an innate capacity to learn regardless of his or her developmental level.

To find out more information about Siyakwazi’s Inclusion Champions or the Inclusive Hubs Pilot Programme, contact Nontuthuko on 071 047 7305.