Education

3.       My department has informed me of the following:

          (1)     “Social ills” such as violence and abuse within the community and the home can impact our schools.  Some of the factors causing these social ills includes, but are not limited to, witnessing violence in the home, community, or media, experiencing abuse or neglect, substance abuse, influence of peers, gang formation and related violence, lack of parental roles and responsibilities and lack of respect or values within the home.  The root cause of social ills must therefore be dealt with within a ‘whole of society’, and a whole of government, approach requiring everyone to collaborate and put supportive and preventative measures in place.

                   The Western Cape Education Department has various programmes in place to address these issues. Some of the key programmes include our Positive Behaviour Programme and our Psycho-Social support interventions.

                   Positive Behaviour Programme:

                   The Positive Behaviour Programme is a strengths-based approach on disciplining and guiding children and youth.

                   Trauma informed care practices are essential in establishing reclaiming environments within school contexts where children spend most of the time.

Support needs can arise from any factor that causes a barrier to learning, whether that factor relates to social, emotional, cognitive, linguistic, disability, or family and care circumstances. For instance, additional support may be required for a child who has learning difficulties; is being bullied; has been bereaved; has sensory or mobility impairment; is at risk of school dropout or has behavioural barriers to learning.

The effect they have varies from child to child, but it is how these factors impact on the individual child’s learning that is important and this impact determines the level of support provision required. The organizing principle for the Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS) process is that every child should have the right to receive quality basic education and support within his or her local community and the right to receive reasonable accommodation in an inclusive setting.

This support pathway for behaviour is guided by the principles of Inclusive Education (WP6, 2001, p 6):

• Acknowledging that all children and youth can learn and that all children and youth need support.
• 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.

Every district has positive behaviour support programme which capacitates our teachers in dealing with disruptive behaviours in the classroom, and other strategies including anti-bullying, classroom management, building a restorative code of conduct, peace discipline and diversity programmes.

Psycho-social support programmes

                                    Psycho-social support and wellness has been identified as a priority area for the WCED.

                   The prevalent issues for learners are as follows:

• Bereavement counselling – with someone close to them having died
• Physical or sexual abuse
• Neglect at home
• Mood disorders including anxiety and depression, suicidality e.g. suicidal ideation, suicidal intent
• Behavioural issues
• Witnesses to a traumatic incident
• Inappropriate sexual behaviour
• Sexual identity issues
• Substance abuse
• Teenage pregnancy

The WCED has a three-tiered approach to dealing with psycho-social/mental health challenges of learners.

High level support is provided by psychologists or social workers in circuits/districts. This may include individual or group counselling. At this level the psycho-social support staff may also refer to the Department of Health for e.g. psychiatric support or to the Department of Social Development in case of child abuse or neglect.

Moderate level support is provided at school level in the form of case discussions with the school-based support team or with individual teachers; referral to community services.

Low level support/early intervention/prevention/pro-active support is provided at classroom/school/community level and may include the following:

• Life Skills/Life Orientation lessons on well-being/mental health
• Trauma-sensitive/ trauma-informed classrooms and schools
• Wellness workshops
• Positive discipline, anger management and resilience -building workshops
• Growth mindset & Change mindset workshops
• Classroom emotional /sensory regulation/body-based support strategies
• Online psycho-social support
• School Enrichment activities
• Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport after-school projects
• Department of the Premier Violence Prevention Initiative

A provincial inter-departmental task team on well-being has been established under the leadership of Department of Health, Dr Keith Cloete. The Western Cape Education Department is represented on the team.

The WCED liaises within with Safe Schools to supplement the services from department-employed psychologists and social workers by working with the Department of Health, Department of Social Development, and NGOs (such as CASE in Hanover Park/Manenberg).

Safe Schools conducts home visits, where parents and learner(s) are interviewed with the purpose of determining a reason for absence of learners from school with the attempt to re-integrate the learner into the school set-up. Where required, learners are referred to social workers, if necessary, who will provide counselling/ debriefing/ or relevant behavioural “adjustment” programmes.

1. 1. 1. 2. There has been an increase in anti-social and ill-discipline at schools over the past two years. The number of had incidents dropped significantly in 2020, because of learners not attending school full-time due to Covid-19. 

But reported cases are now either more or only slightly less, depending on the category, than pre-Covid-19 levels, which is a cause for concern.

1. 1. 1. 3. The WCED ensures schools have access to a District/Circuit-Based Support Team (DBST). This team includes a Learning Support Advisor (LSA), a School Social Worker, and a Psychologist.

We have 8 Education Districts (i.e., Metro Central, Metro East, Metro North, Metro South, Cape Winelands, West Coast, Overberg, and Eden/Central Karoo) and 64 circuits which infers that 64 psychology posts, 64 LSAs and 64 School Social Workers, have been made available.

Although our WCED DBST is tasked with support to schools and learners within the education context, some concerns e.g., trauma, mental health, and support for neurodiversity in schools requires a more direct approach which can only be conducted by individuals registered with the Health Profession Council (HPCSA). Psychologists, as duly HPCSA registered practitioners, are one of the custodians for referrals regulated by the Health Professions Act (Act No. 56 Of 1974) and the Mental Health Care Act of 2002.

Psychosocial support includes services rendered by social workers and psychologists. 

In addition to psychologists and social workers, there are also 160 school-based Care and Support Assistants funded by the HIV Lifeskills Conditional Grant. These Care and Support Assistants are at schools where there are high numbers of vulnerable learners. They are trained in, inter alia, lay counselling and link with circuit-based social workers.

A provincial inter-departmental well-being and psycho-social task team has been established which includes the departments of Health, Social Development, Education, Cultural Affairs and Sport. A mapping process of all well-being and psycho-social initiatives is underway in the Klipfontein (metro) and Witzenberg (rural) health districts. This will shortly be replicated across the province. This process should contribute to optimal utilisation of existing psycho-social services and reveal overlaps and gaps to be addressed.