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VVOB and EU to remove barriers to learning in South Africa
22/11/2016

The EU and VVOB officially signed the agreement of their cooperation on improving inclusive teaching in primary schools in South Africa. With support from the EU, we are joining forces with our co-applicants Inclusive Education South Africa (IESA) and three South African universities that offer an education in teaching, namely University of the Witwatersrand, North-West University and University of the Free State. Our common goal is to improve the quality of teacher education and further professional development so (student) teachers are provided with the necessary skills to identify and address barriers to learning experienced by young learners in primary schools.

Effective partnership

Although enrolment rates of South African children in basic education institutions are high, learning outcomes are low compared to other (including less developed) countries. Over the past three years, VVOB support was therefore already aimed at the basic education system, with focus on the Free State province. Our 2014-2016 programme is aligned with the government’s Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development and specifically addresses the improvement of continued professional development opportunities for teachers through professional learning communities. The recent allocation of EU funding presents the opportunity to further and deepen our commitment to this objective in order to improve learning outcomes for all children.

The EU and VVOB have a history of collaborating on capacity development for education. In December 2015, a three-year project aimed at improving the quality of teaching and learning in community schools in Zambia (ECSITE) came to an end. EU evaluations and external evaluations found the project to be “relevant, effective and efficient” and concluded that the cooperation model is an example for other projects. Building on the achievements of ECSITE, we continued our work with partners with a different three-year project addressing the quality of early education in community schools, also in Zambia (QEECS) and with the EU’s support.

Barriers to learning

The basic education system in South Africa is insufficiently equipped to respond to the diverse needs of its young learners in an adequate and timely manner. Especially children who experience barriers to learning – be it a disability or a challenge linked to their race, gender, class or origin – are at most risk of being left behind by an environment that is not aware of their challenges nor capable of adjusting the teaching strategies to include them.

The role of teachers in identifying children with learning difficulties at the earliest possible stage and intervening appropriately is crucial in order to secure a quality basic education for all. Therefore, the training of both new and experienced teachers needs to embed the existing inclusive education policy whose implementation is lagging behind. VVOB and the co-applicants were awarded a grant by the EU to “improve learning outcomes for all children in South Africa, including learners experiencing barriers to learning, through the provision of quality differentiated education by suitably skilled and qualified teachers”.

5 actions for inclusive teaching

Initial teacher education (ITE) and continued professional development (CPD) do not currently equip teachers with the necessary skills to identify and address barriers to learning in classrooms. Our EU co-funded project will address and amend this shortcoming in the teacher education system, so student teachers and newly qualified teachers, as well as existing teachers, are able to teach more inclusively. Together with our co-applicants, we will achieve this through five activities in three provinces (Free State, Northern Cape and North West) over the next three years:

  • IESA and VVOB will develop a library of relevant Open Educational Resources freely available and widely communicated to ITE and CPD providers. It will comprise of existing and new materials that promote a common understanding of inclusive education and will provide demonstrations of good practices in the South African context.
  • The co-applying universities will organise annual national symposia and regular working groups on inclusive teaching. Stakeholders will be invited to share good practices, address differing approaches in ITE and CPD and work towards a common approach to inclusive education.
  • With support from VVOB, IESA will develop, organise and evaluate a pilot induction programme for new teachers and a pilot mentoring programme for mentors. The induction programme will target 60 teachers over the course of one year. Another 60 school-based and/or district-based mentors will be trained in parallel to support new teachers in implementing good inclusive practices.
  • VVOB will pilot professional learning communities as a sustainable model for CPD in inclusive education for principals and teachers. These professional learning communities consist of members from ordinary schools, full-service schools and specials resource centres. This will assist teachers to apply acquired knowledge and skills to their specific school context, and offer feedback to their peers.
  • The co-applying universities, and selected other ones, will conduct relevant evidence-based research on teacher development for inclusive education. The research question will be: “How can initial teacher education programmes be enhanced to successfully prepare teachers for teaching inclusive and diverse learning environments?”