CHAPTER 4: Rapid Changes and Challenges in a South African Paradigm

In South Africa we had an education system that was content-based, inflexible, and oppressive and segregated in terms of disability and race. It was determined by time and calendar and by failing and passing at the end of the year. Learners had to fit into a particular kind of system or were integrated into an existing system. A shift is now taking place towards a new, liberating system of education that is outcomes-based education (OBE), inclusive in terms of disability and race, and with a flexible approach to time and progression. Special needs education is a sector where the ravages of apartheid remain most evident. Here, the segregation of learners on the basis of race was extended to incorporate segregation on the basis of disability. Our constitution (Act 108 of 1996) serves as the basis of our democratic state and common citizenship values and human dignity, the achievement of equality, and the advancement of human rights and freedom. The new Ministry of Education had to move away from apartheid education and introduce a new curriculum in the interests of all South Africans. According to the Revised National Curriculum Statements (RNCS), OBE forms the foundation of the curriculum in South Africa (Department of Education, 2002).