East London: Fort Hare University
Max and I were in East London
today, a city of about 400,000 people that sits alongside the
Indian Ocean. The coastline is rocky here and we saw large
shipping boats coming into the working harbor from the windows of
our hotel.
Our hosts for the daylong event were from the Faculty of Education, Department of Rehabilitative Studies and the Office of International Partnerships at the University of Fort Hare. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss career transition pathways for learners with special needs.
Our meeting was held in a large
open conference room on the fourth floor of their modern library,
attended by about 20 people representing leadership from the
special schools in this community, the Eastern Cape Department of
Education and the South African National Association for Students
with Special Needs, a parent advocacy group for students with
disabilities.
When I asked the question, “What are your hopes and dreams for youth with disabilities in East London?” their answers surprised me. I was expecting to hear people talk about hopes for individual students, but the participants instead raised issues regarding the lack of systems and structures needed to support learners as they leave secondary schools and prepare to enter community employment.
There were several examples of
innovative programs here, such as the partnership that one
special school has with Mercedes Benz to hire and train students
to work in their production plant, but the overall sentiment is
that there are not enough psychologists to assess and refer
children, not enough teachers to support them, and not enough
government resources to create high quality
programs. Collectively, the workshop participants are
seeking to change educational systems in the Eastern Cape to
create brighter futures for young people with disabilities.
