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Webber Wentzel, one of South Africa's leading law firms, has invested in IESA's advocacy programme which seeks to ensure the effective implementation of an inclusive education policy at national and provincial levels. Webber Wentzel is committed to improving the lives of all South Africans by encouraging participation of disadvantaged individuals and communities and by protecting and promoting human rights.  Webber Wentzel assists IESA in advocating for the right of all children to have access to meaningful education. Our advocacy programme will continue to work towards ensuring that stakeholders in education have an improved understanding of what inclusive education means in South Africa and their role in its realisation.

[caption id="attachment_726" align="alignleft" width="300"] Committee members visiting learners at Liwa Primary School in Nyanga[/caption] When we invited the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education to visit IESA on 29 May, we hoped that the information session, discussion and visit to two Full Service Schools would promote awareness about inclusive education and escalate the effective and co-ordinated implementation of White Paper 6 and its associated guidelines and policies.in South Africa. Subsequently, when DBE presented its Report on the Implementation of the Strategy to monitor Curriculum Delivery and Support to Schools on 9 June, Committee members asked questions around ‘progressed learners’ and co-ordinated ‘support’. These questions drew attention to the school drop-out rate; the need for teacher development in the identification of barriers to learning and curriculum differentiation to address learner diversity; the…

As part of IESA`s strategy to strengthen Inclusive practice in ECD centres, we have run a number of Play workshops with Parents and Staff. To date, we have worked with over 100 ECD centres and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Comments such as “We need more of these!”, “We didn’t realise that playing, in the way that we used to when we were young, was so important”, “We see that learning happens all the time when children are allowed to explore, be curious, investigate, manipulate and experiment.” Trainers at IESA return from these workshops consistently inspired by the positive effects of Play. Very little `play theory ` is covered in these workshops, as the strength of the message is in the active participation, experience and involvement of the participants,…