Thirty-four school-age children from Mdantsane who are “slow learners” have been betrayed by the education system.
The teens have been sitting at home – some for as long as three years – because the authorities could not come up with a school for them.
Some of these kids have now resorted to washing taxis at the local rank to earn some small change, but most of them just spend every day sitting at home, dreaming that one day they too will get to carry backpacks and head to school.
But they are running out of time to realise this before they are too old to attend school.
The department of education confirmed some schools had failed to follow procedures for identifying and referring pupils with learning difficulties, and that there were not enough schools or centres to accommodate all such children.
The province has 46 special needs schools with an enrolment of about 10,000 pupils.
But in November 29,000 pupils from mainstream schools were identified as having special needs.
The spokesman for the department, Malibongwe Mtima said the social support services department was trying to find a solution.
“The directors from social support services are meeting regarding this issue,” he said this week.
According to the youngsters’ parents, the pupils were identified as having learning difficulties when they were in the lower grades at their primary schools and were sent to Ebotwe Primary, a local public school that accommodates pupils with special needs.
After completing grade 7 they were enrolled at Erick Mtonga High, which is a mainstream high school that does not have special needs teachers. This meant the kids could not cope at the school.
Yintando Fukula, 16, told Dispatch that when he got to high school he was ridiculed and called “stupid” by his peers.
He only attended school for six months in grade 8 in 2017 before he dropped out.
With tears rolling down his cheeks, the small teenager said he could not take the verbal abuse from the other pupils.
“Other learners laughed at me because I could not read or write.
"Being called stupid and a retard made me feel sad and angry. I mean, I didn’t ask to be like this,” he said.
Sesethu Boyi, 16, was recently diagnosed by a psychologist as having an intellectual impairment.
The psychologist recommended that she go to a special needs school or skills development centre.
The Dispatch found the shy teenager cooking samp and beans on an open fire at 10am on Tuesday, instead of being in a classroom.
Sesethu’s left arm and leg appear slightly lame.
Like the other affected children, Sesethu last set foot in school in June 2017.
When asked how she felt about not attending school, the teenager started crying.
The parents claim attempts to enrol their children at high schools such as Baysville Special School in East London, which accommodates pupils with learning difficulties, had failed as they were either told the school was full or that their children were too old to go to grade 8.
Mtima said schools often failed to inform the department about pupils identified as having special needs and this resulted in them not getting the proper evaluation, diagnosis and referrals.
“The schools are supposed to identify the learners and send their names for further evaluation. However, in most instances this does not happen.
“Schools make their own diagnosis and own decisions, resulting in misdiagnosis and delay in the process of finding suitable placement,” he said...