How the Enjabulweni Learning Centre came to be

Over a decade ago, a family found itself in a predicament following the discovery that their son had a learning disability. Unfortunately, as he grew up, no-one had brought their attention to it and by the time they realised it because the pre-school that he went to just pushed him along.

When it was time for him to go to school, the Paivas realised that their son, who we will call Ben, was not really ready for that. They decided to investigate, and that was the beginning of their grueling journey to accord their child a chance to get an education like any other child.  “We spent a lot of our time to research to see how best we could help our son, which resulted in us being told by one of the people we went to see that with children like our son, the most important thing that you can give them is stability in their life and their home environment,” said Sonia Paiva, the child’s mother.  But they wanted their child to learn, and an advisor recommended that he be put in a school that would accommodate him, with children of his level of functioning, and at the same time let him go to meet the children in the mainstream.

“When we came back to Swaziland there was absolutely [no school] like that in both the government and private institutions.” The Paivas then approached Enjabulweni, and realised that the need for a special needs class was there but there were no facilities for that. They then came to an agreement with the school to build the Paiva Remedial Centre while the school provided the professionals. And that’s how what is known as the Learning Centre started.  That staunch determination by desperate parents has resulted into a huge blessing for children who would also have had nowhere to go.

Enjabulweni Head of School, Kathy Thompson said there has always been a huge demand for special needs education and a remedial class. The Learning Centre accommodates children with autism, Down syndrome, ADHD, dyslexia, the physically disabled, and those that just need a boost to settle in the mainstream. Owing to the fact that there aren’t many options in the country, there is a long waiting list for people hoping to secure a place for their children with learning disabilities. “We no longer put people on the waiting list, we are forced to turn them away,” said Thompson.

More than a decade since the Paivas’ struggle, there sadly hasn’t been much improvement. One parent facing a similar struggle is Setsabile* from Mvutjini. She is unemployed and her husband does not make enough to send their autistic 7-year-old son to a private school and cater for their other needs at home.

 “When my son was four years old, I took him to pre-school with hopes that when he mingled with mainstream kids, his speech and behaviour would improve but I was very disappointed when the teachers told me that they couldn’t handle him. He only lasted one term and one day I found him locked alone in a separate class and they said he’s causing chaos and disturbing the normal kids,” said Setsabile. After that she could not find placement anywhere else, and was forced to stay with him at home for two years until she found a place at a special school.

Setsabile is still keen to send her child to a mainstream school with a special needs class so that he can learn proper social skills from the typical children. Presently  she has to hire a taxi to pick him from a bus stop a kilometer away from home to the special school and back, to a school about 8 km away. She pays E1 700 per term in taxi fare. Although she is thankful that her child is in school, she is not entirely happy with the standards at the school. “The ministry of education must hire therapists so that our kids get speech and occupational therapy at school,” she said. Getting therapy at hospitals is challenging because of the expense of taxi fare to go there and managing the child’s behaviour in public transport.

The presence of resident therapists is one of Enjabulweni’s biggest strengths. Thompson said Enjabulweni was focused on inclusivity. “When a child improves, even for one lesson, we try to include them in the mainstream. Learning difficulties such as dyslexia, ADD, ADHD are barely residential and are good candidates for inclusivity,” she added.  This process, however, does not come cheap and Thompson highlighted that the children at the learning centre don’t have enough teaching assistants. She said the children needed to have much more therapy, but the Speech and Occupational Therapists at the school had a huge workload as they also work with children in the mainstream who might need their assistance. They also have to be paid medical rates, which is one of the challenging aspects of retaining their services in the school.

With regards to how other children in the school relate to those with intellectual disabilities, Thompson said, “We try to create a sense of family and children with special needs are included wherever possible in order to look for, and find their strengths. All these people can perform. Society has to give them the opportunity.” She said her school was pushing towards vocational opportunities in order to find a skill appropriate for their capability. The Learning Centre currently has an agricultural project they are running.

Inclusive education has been seen to help improve the condition of children with learning disabilities. Affected children will learn how to relate with others, while typical kids will grow up with “different” people among them, minimizing the possibility of them growing up to discriminate against those with disabilities. 

Published in Swazi Observer on Sunday

*Names changed on request