The Provincial Office recently finalised its investigation into a fire at the North West School for the Deaf where it found that the Respondents (North West School for the Deaf, the Head of Department, North West Department of Education, the Member of Executive Council for Education, North West Department of Education, and the Minister of Basic Education) failed to comply with legislation and policy, including the National Building Standards, Regulations and National Norms and Standards, Regulations for Safety Measures at Public Schools and Uniform Norms and Standard the Department of Public Works Disability Policy Guidelines.

The Commission has also noted previous incidents in the North West Province where fires have broken out at special needs schools damaging property and resulting in the deaths and injuries of learners, including a fire in 2010 at the Christiana School for the Blind where three learners died and a fire in the male learners’ hostel at the Hoër Volkskool Potchefstroom on 31 August 2015. It is in this context that the Commission has determined that the lack of safety and security measures in schools for children with disabilities constitutes a systemic problem in the North West Province which requires further intervention in the form of a provincial hearing.

The Provincial Investigative Hearing on the Lack of Safety and Security Measures in Schools for Children with Disabilities is intended to constitute an urgent intervention which compels the responsible state bodies to present and provide information on what measures can be implemented to address these systemic ongoing safety and security concerns.

The objectives of the Commission in probing this matter are to:
(a)    Systematically monitor, provincially, the lack of safety and security measures in special needs schools in the North West Province;
(b)    Highlight potential risks caused by the lack of safety and security measures in special needs schools in the North West Province;
(c)    Raise awareness and promote advocacy of the human rights of learners with disabilities in the North West Province as well as the constitutional and international law obligations that require the human rights of everyone to be respected, protected and promoted; and
(d)    Produce recommendations that will be monitored and evaluated by the North West provincial office on an ongoing basis to ensure compliance.
Stakeholders expected to make submissions, include:

•    National Department of basic Education
•    Department of Education and Sports Development, North West Province
•    Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality
•    Rustenburg Local Municipality
•    Kutlwanong School for the Deaf
•    North West School for the Deaf
•    Inclusive Education South Africa
•    Equal Education Law Centre
•    Centre for Child Law
•    South African Council for Educators
•    North West University


Provincial Investigative Hearing on the Lack of Safety and Security Measures in Schools for Children with Disabilities
Dates:     19 – 20 March 2018
Venue:     Kutlwanong School for the Deaf, Rustenburg, North West Province
Time:        Monday 19 March 2018 – 10:30am – 5:00pm
Tuesday 20 March 2018 – 8:30am – 5.00pm

Media are welcome to attend.

Click here for the programme.
 
Media queries: Mpho Boikanyo, North West Provincial Head, SAHRC 073 429 6630