The Role of School Managers in Implementing Inclusive Education 

Inclusion can only be successfully implemented if it is seen as a whole school endeavour in which the principal and management of the school play a central leadership role.

- The school management takes the lead in changing the attitude of all stakeholders;
- They establish a school-based support team which coordinates support to all learners in the school by meeting regularly, giving guidance to teachers and tracking support;
- They encourage active parental participation in the school and learners’ education; and
- They form networks with existing community resources such as SGBs, caregivers, families, disability organizations, health and social services, NGOs and Higher Education Institutions.  

Managers of Special Schools

On 9 - 11 March 2011, the DBE arranged a workshop for managers of schools for deaf and hard of hearing and district officials. The workshop was seen as a first step towards improving the standard of education in schools that specialise in Deaf and Hard of Hearing with the eventual aim of developing these schools as centres of excellence and resource centres.

The following presentation delivered during the plenary sessions can be downloaded:

1. Dr Moses Simelane, Director: Inclusive Education, DBE - Improving the quality of curriculum delivery at special schools

Managers of Schools for Deaf and Hard of Hearing

The following presentations delivered during the workshop sessions for schools of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing can be downloaded:

1. Prof De Wet Swanepoel, University of Pretoria - Hearing Loss in Children: Nature and Impact.

2. Dr Claudine Storbeck, Wits - Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

3. Dr Lydia Pottas, University of Pretoria - Selection, Utilisation and Maintenance of Assistive Technology for Learners with Hearing Loss

 Managers of Schools for Visual Impairment

The same DBE workshop was also presented for managers of all the special schools for visual impairment in the country.

The following presentations can be downloaded:

1. Hestelle Viljoen - Guidelines for Adapting Materials for Learners with Visual Impairment

2. Hazel Sacharowitz - Managing Educational Support for Learners with Low Vision

3. Sister Madel Viljoen - The Identification and Management of Eye Condtions at school-level

4. Philip Jordaan - Managing School-level Production of Braille

5. Thinus van Sittert - Effective Management of Assistive Technology at Schools