TECL II
White Paper on special needs education
The White Paper on special needs education, subtitled “Building an
inclusive education and training system” was adopted by government in
2001. It was a policy response to the situation of children of
school-going age who encountered barriers to accessing education or had
dropped out of school because the education system could not
accommodate their education needs.
While it was widely seen as a policy on education for children with
various disabilities, in fact only a few of the barriers to learning
mentioned in the White Paper related to the child’s physical and
intellectual abilities. In terms of the challenges of addressing child
labour, the White Paper addressed identified several more relevant
barriers, such as particular life experiences of children, their
socio-economic circumstances, inadequate support systems, negative
attitude and stereotypes, and inflexible curricula.
The White Paper recognised government’s responsibility to provide
“enabling education structures, systems and learning methodologies to
meet the needs of all learners . . . acknowledging and respecting
differences in learners, whether due to age, gender, ethnicity,
language, class, disability, HIV or other infectious diseases”.
The White Paper envisaged interventions to:
Change attitudes, behaviour, teaching methods, curricula and the school
environment in order to meet the needs of all learners.
Enable maximum participation of all learners in the culture and
curriculum of educational institutions.
Uncover and effectively address barriers to learning.
While it did not refer specifically to child labour, the White Paper
addressed the situation of “children at risk”, especially those
infected with HIV or living in families affected by HIV. It proposed
the establishment of school-based teams to identify children at risk
(including orphans) and to coordinate support and care for these
children. It further proposed that guidelines be developed for teachers
to assist them in supporting children at risk and making referrals to
appropriate social service agencies.
The White Paper also considered the situation of children awaiting
trial in reform schools and schools of industry. It stated that the
Department of Education would collaborate with the Department of Social
Development to ensure that there was a supportive and effective
learning and teaching environment in these institutions.
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