Essay: Mogogodi Full service Primary School

Introduction
This assignment will be discussing and analysing problems which are faced by Mogogodi Full service Primary School which is a public institute which provides educational services to the children. Thereafter establish objectives, formulate a policy which will resolve the problems, and provide the outcomes of the policies.
2) Background and description of Institution
Mogogodi Full Service Primary school is a school in Sebokeng Zone eleven. According to Department of Education ‘Full-service Schools (FSS) entails Ordinary schools that are inclusive and welcoming of all learners in terms of their cultures, policies and practices. Such schools increase participation and reduce exclusion by providing support to all learners to develop their full potential irrespective of their background, culture, abilities or disabilities, their gender or race. These schools will be strengthened and orientated to address a full range of barriers to learning in an inclusive education setting to serve as flagship schools of full inclusivity.”. http://www.education.gov.za/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=cur6nfy3WEA%3d&tabid=617&mid=2371
According to Engelbrecht and Green (1999:6) ‘A shared value which promotes a single system of education dedicated to ensuring that all learners are empowered to become caring, competent and contributing citizens in an inclusive, changing and diverse society”
Learners are schooled in a less restrictive manner, because these learners have barriers the phase at which their taught is slower however this school covers the same curriculum which all the other schools cover. Furthermore the 40% of LSEN’s (Learners with special educational needs) are placed by the department after identification and screening processes have been followed.
Mogogodi Primary school consists of 60% mainstream learners and 40% LSEN (Learners with Special Educational Needs). Being a full service institutes entails that the school is an inclusive institute, for learners with learning barriers.” The vision of Mogogodi primary school is to provide education that will last a lifetime to the future generation regardless of their culture, language, and physical disabilities.
3) Identification of problems in the institute
I. There is a lack of resources, the school does not have a playground which the children can play on during breaks
II. There are no on-site specialists in the school, because this is a full service school there are learners who have special needs, eyesight problems, speech problems and those who require psychological assessments in order for the educators to identify under which category the learners fall under. The children who need psychological attention are referred to the district where there many other children who need to be attended to and there is only one specialist.
III. There is no sickroom, for when learners are ill. According to one of the educators ‘ There is over 5 learners at the school who often get epileptic fits during classes, as a result these learners are absent on a regular basis
IV. Stakeholders recently donated computers to the school for the children to make use of however the problem is that only two educators know to operate the computer and the software.
V. There are only five mainstream schools in the D8 region excluding multiracial schools which are in town and not all parents can afford to take their children to these school. Many learners have to travel long distances in order to get to school, some of these learners have disabilities
VI. There is no First Aid training for educators provided, moreover the lack of support and engagement of parents results in educators not knowing the protocol to follow in order to assist the learners when they fall sick at school.
4) Legislation and provisions put in place for education
1.1 The Constitution- supreme law of the country.
In terms of Section 29 of the Constitution (1996) ‘Education
29. (1) everyone has the right –
a) to a basic education, including adult basic education; and
b) to further education, which the state, through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible
(2) Everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or
Languages of their choice in
Public educational institutions where that education is reasonably practicable. In order to ensure
The effective access to, and implementation of, this right, the state must consider all reasonable
Educational alternatives, including single medium institutions, taking into account –
(a) Equity;
(b) Practicability; and
(c) The need to redress the results of past racially discriminatory laws and practices.
The Constitution is the supreme law of South Africa, and all legislations, policies and acts are subject to it, the above provision ensures that the rights to educations of everyone are not violated.
2.1 Education, sport and culture
”Over R640 billion will be allocated to basic education during the next three years.
Under Minister Motshekga’s oversight, a personnel planning for schools is currently under review, to ensure that learner-teacher ratios are maintained at appropriate levels.
The number of qualified teachers entering the public service is projected to increase from 8 227 in 2012/13 to 10 200 in 2017/18. To support teacher training, R3.1 billion will be awarded in Funza Lushaka bursaries over the next three years.
170 million workbooks will be printed and distributed to 23 562 public schools over this MTEF period. Each learner in Grades R to 9 will receive two books per subject each year in numeracy, mathematics, literacy, language and life skills.
The school infrastructure backlogs programme is allocated R7.4 billion for the replacement of over 500 unsafe or poorly constructed schools, as well as to address water, sanitation and electricity needs. The education infrastructure grants of R29.6 billion over the medium term will enable all schools to meet the minimum norms and standards for school infrastructure by 2016.
The budget also includes R4.1 billion over the MTEF period to build and support public libraries. School and community sport programmes and sports academies will receive R1.7 billion in conditional allocations to provinces.’ http://www.treasury.gov.za/documents/national%20budget/2015/speech/speech.pdf
The allocation of funds to the reform of education increases on an annual basis, to promote inclusivity, educational rights and to continue fixing the injustices of the past. The shortages of educator are yet to decrease in the next coming years due to the increase in new teachers entering the public sector. These teachers are likely to be young, diverse and much more educated about technology which currently plays a big role in us being a part of the global village.
For example in Politics 314 we are able to participate in class discussions even when we are not in class, by simply streaming online listening and asking questions where necessary. In future learners who cannot attend school due to being ill will just have to buy a modem, connect to the internet and join in the class discussions.
5) Reasons for the development of the policy
Education plays an important role in our country; this can also be seen in the allocation of funds to the reform of education by the minister of finance. Past inequalities are still being addressed, we have been a democratic country for the past 21 years now however we still have a long way before inequalities are completed balanced.
The reasons why this policy has to be developed; for the problems which have been mentioned above is so that the problems can be addressed and solutions formulated. Cloete and de Coning (2011:6) ‘A policy is a statement of which seeks to achieve the goals that have been set’.
We develop policies in order to better understand problems which we encounter; they also act as mechanisms which give us assurance that our problems will be resolved in the short, medium or long-term. Every single institute has policies in place, which are also used to regulate activities of the institute. What policies also do is that they give us direction, in order to observe if policies already put in place are effective or need to be enacted. The development of the policy will assist in achieving the objectives set; the problems mentioned above affect many full service schools therefore the policy will assist in tackling the similar problems. The main aspect though of policy formulation is to achieve goals.
6) Policy objectives.
‘ To appoint 3-5 therapists, psychologists and physicians in the school within the period 2015 to 2017
‘ Turn the un-used space in the school into a playground and sports ground for the learners within 2015 to 2016.
‘ Construct a sick room and specialist room on the open space next to the administrators office
‘ Provide workshops for computer lessons for educators within the period April and May 2015.
‘ Encourage parents to be hands on and to engage with educators, about their children’s conditions annually or twice a year.
‘ The establishment of a mode of transport for children with special needs who travel long distances for example an Iveco taxi which will have a ramp. 2016 to 2017.
‘ The construction of more schools in the region or transform other schools which have been identified as having learners who have learning barriers within. 2016 to 2018.
7) Formulation of policies
1. Establishment of on-site specialists
The purpose of this policy is to ensure that a maximum of 3 specialists are established and appointed in Mogogodi Primary School. This will require stakeholders, school governing bodies, parents and educators to be involved in all processes. Greater funding will have to be designated to LTSM (learner teacher support material)
2. Playground
Unused space in the school has to be turned into a playground by planting grass, trees and removing weeds that lie in the field currently.
3. Sickroom construction
Get donors, stakeholders, local businesses around the school to contribute to the facilities, a portion of the funds allocated to government will be additional
4. Workshops for computer centre
Workshops by government or the stakeholders who donated the computers to the school should be conducted for all the educators in the school, so every single one understands the technology. They ought to be conducted three times a week, so the centre can start functioning.
5. Participation by parents
Parents should be involved in their children’s lives; even more so cause the learners require additional support and encouragement to build their confidence in their studies. Partnership between parents and learners is important. In instances where learners have an illness eg (epilepsy), parents ought to discuss the matter with the educators and inform them of what to do when the learner has episodes.
6. Provision of Transport
Full service school must have their mode of transport, to collect and deliver learners who have special needs and those who travel long distance. Fundraising must be held to raise the funds, government, parents, and stakeholders must get involved.
7. More schools
To ensure efficiency and the effective use of public funds, government has to transform schools which have been identified as having many learners who have barriers to learning into Full service schools
8) The outcomes of the formulated policy
Through thorough monitoring and evaluation of all the formulated policies, it can be said that the greatest need is economic investment into all the policies, in order to achieve the objectives. Government, educators, stakeholders, school governing bodies, parents, communities, and businesses have to work closely together to ensure that all the objectives are achieved.
The creation of a playground that is safe and conducive for learners has been achieved. By parents and community members getting involved in its creation: promoting the essence of Ubuntu. However in order for the school to have specialist which are on site it going to require a lot of funding to be designated to the LTSM, for this policy to take effect it is going to take some time. Currently it has been put as a priority because it is not only a problem but also a need for learners.
A room in the school which used to store broken chairs and tables has been turned into a sickroom. The medication in the sickroom is from the nearby clinic and is kept in a cabinet which only the educators have access to. The broken chairs have been taken to be recycled by stakeholders and some of the tables where able to be repaired and re-used again.
Some of the parents who are nurses and paramedics volunteered to teach the educators about first aid principles, and how to perform it. Parents whose children have disorders or often have episodes at school have engaged with the educators on the steps to follow when the learners are ill, and which medication they are required to be given
The Principal consulted with other principals, the school governing body and the District through proper procedures, on workshops being arranged not only for Mogogodi but also different other schools about computers and the software.
The rest of the policies haven’t been implemented due to a lack of funding and the LTSM lacking funds too, however they still form part of the objectives which are upheld and yet to be implemented
9) Conclusion
In conclusion every child has the right to education, and when children are in conducive, supporting and nurturing environments they get to perform to their highest potential. When a learner with barriers is with other learners with barriers they all get to work at the same phase which results in good grades and the building of self confidence.
The policies which weren’t implemented have to find effect in the stipulated timeframe, and if failure occurs alternatives have to be formulated.
For more information contact: Mrs M.N Khumalo @ 016 594 1617
Bibliography
Cloete, F. & de Coning, C. Improving Public Policy. 3rd ed. Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers.
Department of Education 2005c. Guidelines for Inclusive Learning Programmes. Pretoria: Department of Education.
Department of Education 2001. Education White Paper 6: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System. Pretoria: Department of Education.
Engelbrecht, P. & Green, L. (eds) 1999. Promoting Learner Development: Preventing and working with barriers to learning. Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers.
Grant, K. B & Ray, J. A. Home, School and Community Collaboration. London: SAGE Publications.
Department of Education 2014. Policy on screening, identification, assessment and support. Pretoria: Department of Education http://www.education.gov.za/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=cur6nfy3WEA%3d&tabid=617&mid=2371 Date of access: 24 Mar. 2015.
Finance Ministry 2015. Budget Speech http://www.treasury.gov.za/documents/national%20budget/2015/speech/speech.pdf Date of access: 25 Mar.2015.
Khumalo, M. 2015.Problems encountered by institute. 20 Mar. Zone 11 Sebokeng.
Nealer, E.J. 2013. Public Management and Administration. Potchefstroom: NWU,Potchefstroom Campus. (Study guide PUMA 314).
Pillay, J. & Di Terlizzi, M. 2009. A case study of a learner’s transition from mainstream schooling to a school for learners with special educational needs (LSEN): lessons for mainstream education. South African Journal of Education, Vol 29:491-509.
South Africa. 1996, Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996.