Pretoria - The Department of Social Development has taken a school for children with disabilities under its wing to ensure learners receive the best education government can offer.
During a visit to the Filadelfia Secondary School in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, Deputy Minister for Social Development Maria Ntuli said the learners should have access to opportunities such as bursary schemes and institutions of higher learning.
"Learners in this school are the same as other learners. We want to adopt the school to know the challenges they are facing and assist where we can. Most of the learners come from poor backgrounds and we want teachers to identify them so that we can also assist their families," Ntuli said.
The deputy minister also checked the school's readiness for the 2011 academic year.
Despite the challenges faced by the school, last year's matrics achieved an 88 percent pass rate and it was placed in the top three schools in Gauteng.
Funanani Munzhelele, a 2010 matriculant at the school, was also named a top learner in the Tshwane West district after obtaining five distinctions, including 90 percent in Maths. Munzhelele was awarded a bursary by the Department of Public Works. He will be studying Mechanical Engineering at Wits University.
An impressed Ntuli said she was amazed that learners with disabilities were able to achieve such a high pass rate with distinctions.
She encouraged learners to walk tall and remind themselves that they are able to one day become anything they so desired.
School principal Willem van der Merwe welcomed the partnership with the department, calling it the "biggest thing to happen for the school."
"We are happy about the partnership. We work with children with disabilities and often need their assistance, like a social worker, as we currently have one social worker for 500 learners," van der Merwe said.
Meanwhile, Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini, who visited the Adelaide Tambo School in Soweto - which also caters for children with disabilities - encouraged learners to know and understand their rights.
She said learners must learn about the Children's Act, which aims to afford children the necessary care and protection so that they can develop to their full potential.
"One of the rights that you have is the right to education, which comes with the responsibility to attend school. In schools, children must be taught about their rights so that they don't allow anyone to abuse them, be it in schools, households, communities or among themselves," Dlamini said.
