EFFORTS must be made to ensure quality inclusive education for children with disability, President Cyril Ramaphosa told delegates at the Summit on Economic Empowerment for Persons with Disabilities in Ekurhuleni on Thursday.
“We need to provide quality inclusive education for children with disabilities. This entails improving and strengthening reasonable
accommodation support measures for learners in both special and ordinary schools,” Ramaphosa said.
[EXHIBITION]: Economic Empowerment of and for Persons with a Disability
— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) December 8, 2022
The theme for this year’s #DRAM2022 is “Empowering persons with disabilities through resourceful, sustainable and safe environments”.#LeaveNoOneBehind 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/FpNHu4B6pq
He urged stakeholders to ensure that children with disabilities in ordinary schools have accessible learning materials no matter where
the school is located.
[EXHIBITION]: Economic Empowerment of and for Persons with a Disability
— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) December 8, 2022
The theme for this year’s #DRAM2022 is “Empowering persons with disabilities through resourceful, sustainable and safe environments”.#LeaveNoOneBehind 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/fHmR0lDDJq
The government has developed a process to review Education White Paper 6 on Inclusive Education towards developing full-service
schools and inclusive methods in mainstream schools.
Ramaphosa emphasised that all children, including children with disabilities, need to receive a quality education wherever they are
and whatever their circumstances.
“Let us work together to build an inclusive and transformative society where the needs of all are advanced with equal priority and equitable resourcing. Let us work to give practical meaning to the principle of ‘nothing about us, without us,” said Ramaphosa.
“Let us emerge from this summit not only with a clear sense of what needs to be done to empower persons with disabilities for economic and financial inclusion, but also with a renewed determination to make it happen.”
Ramaphosa directly asked Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Maite Nkoana-Mashabane to ensure that barriers
that impede the meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in all areas of public life are practically removed.
All areas in which persons with disabilities face discrimination through, for example, increasing job and training opportunities, promoting
inclusive education and ensuring access to health care services must urgently be removed.
These outcomes include the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability across the employment value chain, and that persons
with disabilities have equal access to just and favourable conditions of work.
He said role players can assist to enable persons with disabilities to access technical and vocational guidance programmes, placement
services and continuing training.
In an effort to actively promote employment opportunities and career advancement for persons with disabilities, appropriate policies
will be looked into which will include affirmative action programmes, incentives and other measures.
The President promised to mobilise collective resources in both public and private to promote opportunities for self-employment,
entrepreneurship and the development of cooperatives.
For its part, the government has introduced targeted programmes on economic empowerment that include a procurement
target of 7% for companies owned and run by persons with disabilities.
INSIDE EDUCATION
