Kuyasa, a very special school....

I was fortunate enough to spend the entire day at Kuyasa, the only special education center in Grahamstown. This school is considered an LSEN (learner with special education needs) school. I was picked up by the principal, Jill Rothman. Kuyasa is set in the township area and most of the students are black. From my observations, the students that attend Kuyasa range from students with severe cognitive impairments to students with mild cognitive impairments as well as students with autism, emotional impairment and learning disabilities. Kuyasa was started in 1981, and at this time, there were only 8 students with two aids and Jill. 

Currently, there are 144 students with various special needs and 13 teachers. It is amazing how Kuyasa has grown. Kuyasa is a special school that encompasses students speaking Xhosa, English and Afrikaans. It was interesting to me that some of the teachers working there do not have degrees in Special Education; however, they are studying to become certified in this area. Because Xhosa and Afrikaans teachers are much needed, the language area teachers are competent in almost becomes more important than a special education degree; understanding what students are saying and teaching in their native language is of utmost importance.

The school has four levels:

• Primary
• Junior (which include classes taught in Afrikaans and Xhosa)
• Middle (which include classes taught in Afrikaans and Xhosa as well as a practical stream for students with more severe special needs)
• Senior (which include classes taught in Afrikaans and Xhosa as well as a practical, vocational and pre-vocational classes to prepare students for their future jobs)

Since there is such a diverse population in regards to levels students are functioning at, the students range from many different ages in each level. There is not a "classification" or "label" or "age" that determines if they will be in primary, junior, middle or senior class. The teachers determine if the student will be able to succeed in these levels or if they need to be taught more practical skills such as hygiene, cooking, basic health knowledge, etc....things we would think of as adaptive skills. If so, the students are placed in the "practical" classrooms.

The students who have milder to moderate disabilities job shadow after their vocational classes are carried out. They job shadow in different businesses in the area including welding, glass repair, sewing, plumbing, etc. Jill has developed a wonderful program for students after they graduate where they can apply through Rhodes University to work in the kitchen or cleaning staff. They are paid wages and employed through the university with health care offered too. This program is only available for students who are extremely highly functioning, students who would, in America, be in normal classes.

 Kuyasa was developed to teach students with severe cognitive impairment, students with IQ's under 50. However, because of the lack of training in government funded schools for special education, the principal accepts students with lesser impairment because if she refuses the students, they will end up sitting in the back of the classroom without differentiation or accommodation. The students will go unnoticed and give up or drop out. 

 We are extremely lucky in America to have so many options for our students with special needs. We often focus on what we DON'T have and complain until we are blue in the face. It is true, that a system can always be better, however, let's give thanks for the resources we do have: competent staff who know about Special Education, Let's give thanks for the many schools a parent of a student with special needs may choose from....for the idea of least restrictive environment, positive behavior support, for our knowledge and understanding of differentiated interventions for students with learning impairments, autism, emotional impairment. 

Kuyasa is an inspiration of a school because the resources are not abundant. Kuyasa makes do with the resources and available staff it has. The emphasis is on “whole circle” teaching as I say. Making the student learn concepts that are of value…so the student may transfer these into their lives outside of school. The idea is very similar to natural teaching. 

Some students, at the age of 14, were still in 2nd grade at these township/government funded schools. This is why Kuyasa accepts the students who have mild intellectual disabilities. They are not served AT ALL in the government schools. When Kuyasa is full, students are placed on a waiting list and determined eligible or ineligible for services at Kuyasa. 

The process of referring a student to a LSEN school like Kuyasa is different than America in so far as the documents in South Africa are not legally binding, IQ tests do not always have to be carried out to place a child at Kuyasa (unless referred by a government school) and the previous teachers of students often do not send the information about a student to Kuyasa as the principal requests (portfolio, health information, family information, etc.). Many times students with special needs, if not enrolled in a government school, sit in their homes. If parents bring the student in to enroll, the student does not need an IQ test. However, if a teacher in the government school believes that the student is not able to be serviced there, he/she must fill out a Referral which expresses:

• reasons for referral
• general health
• large motor development
• fine motor development
• body awareness
• visual perception
• sensory
• language development (vocabulary, speech, sentence construction, expression)
• cognitive development (mathematics concepts)
• concentration
• art development

In an idealistic world, once the teacher fills out the form, the ILST (institution learner support team) would determine if the students sounds like they would benefit from Kuyasa. The teachers from the government schools would be involved in this process. This is very similar to our Child Study Team’s in Michigan. Then the next step would be for the DBST (district based support team) to determine if the student is eligible after reviewing the paperwork. However, this is NOT how the process goes. The DBST gives Kuyasa staff hardly any support, although they are the head of the special education staff, they know nothing about it. So instead, Jill and her head of department end up going through all the paperwork and determining if the students should come to the school on their own. This takes hours of reading through paperwork, which often seems vague after the government teachers have filled it out.

While observing at Kuyasa, I noticed a huge emphasize on art. The students learn how to make beautiful art projects including painting, pottery, art, sewing, beaded masks and more. Kuyasa believes in finding the things students enjoy, not trying to get students to succeed in areas where they have the potential to just graze, but really giving students something to feel confident about. The students sell their products at markets and keep the money for their classrooms. The learner must understand the VALUE of their work to be motivated to complete it. I think art motivates most of us.

Students also learn maths, literacy development (they use a program called Molteno which focuses on hands on and visual literacy), life orientation, living skills, technology and more. The students work on things that are adapted for the level in which they are functioning.

It is so so important to remember that apartheid played an enormous part in South Africa’s education system. The focus now is on trying to desegregate black, colored and white people. Special education has taken the back seat to more obvious issues. I think that Kuyasa is a great example of a school that refuses to give up. The principal is extremely enthusiastic and committed and it takes enormous dedication and patience to deal with all the issues she has on a daily basis.

I hope in the future that special education will become more understood in South Africa. I’m not sure what the next step needs to be. First the main issue of black against white needs to be resolved. The government is doing all the wrong things it seems, especially with the Black Economic Empowerment Initiative. This is sort of like affirmative action but to more extremes. I think that the only way to move on from the past is to look towards the future and make it evident that all groups are equal and capable of succeeding in the same areas.

On a last note, it is important to understand that the government schools in South Africa function on a Quintile system which rates schools from 1-5, 1 being the fully free schools and 5 being the schools with the least funding.

In a small town like Grahamstown, what happens is that private schools are for the richest of the rich, and rich parents who have a child with special needs try to get them in there or move to a larger city like Cape Town that offers more resources for students with special needs.

The government schools range from schools that parents must pay a small fee to attend and are attended by all ethnicities and then the township schools that are free to attend and funded by the government, but the teachers and staff and resources at these schools are not adequate. I think it all depends on the staff at a school. In any school, if you have passionate teachers who are willing to spend their own money and expel many long nights thinking of interesting, motivating, lessons, students will do well.

Kuyasa Building

Painting on the Fence around Kuyasa

Some of the students!!

Wonderful artwork

More artwork done by students

Students playing games during break time

I would never have guessed how much I would learn about our education system in America by coming to another country. I am so satisfied with my decision to go into special education and I will spend the rest of my life trying to educate the world on the challenge, joy and wonder of working with students with special needs.