The Covid-19 pandemic is keeping young special needs pupils out of the classroom as many of their parents who lost their jobs are now unable to pay school fees.
This has subsequently resulted in the retrenchment of staff members at The L.U.C.C.A Support and Care Centre in Randburg, Johannesburg, as the facility struggles to keep its doors open.
The Johannesburg special needs school has started a public fundraising campaign in order to remain sustainable and operational.
“L.U.C.C.A does not receive any grants or subsidisations from the government,” the centre’s founder Alison Moschetta said.
“Due to Covid, our current income will not allow for our school to remain sustainable, and many children are not getting the intervention they require.”
Moschetta, who started the school back in 2014 after her own personal struggles to find a school for her son, Lucca, who has a rare genetic terminal deletion of a chromosome, hopes to raise up to half a million rand which she says will go towards funding some of the pupil’s education at the centre as well as towards their operation costs.
“We are hoping to raise enough funds to keep our doors open until the end of this year, around R500 000, but help does not need to be in the form of cash, it can be donations of consumables and even stationery.”
Prior to the eruption of the deadly virus, The L.U.C.C.A Support and Care Centre was home to 67 children who suffered from conditions ranging from autism, down syndrome, undiagnosed syndromes, cerebral palsy, blindness, sensory integration difficulties and developmental delays.
“But 34 of them couldn’t return after their parents were financially affected by the pandemic. The school had to lay off 18 staff members and hasn’t been able to pay its rent.”
If the school is continuously unable to operate functionally and even more special needs pupils are forced to drop out, Moschetta believes it will be an injustice to the years of progress they have made over the past seven years, which has been home for about 100 children since they opened their doors.
“L.U.C.C.A has managed to open its doors to children who would not necessarily be accepted into other environments and we have managed to create a loving, safe and flexible environment for many children that have attended the school over the years.”
But those who are unable to attend because their parents simply cannot afford it are now not only without a school but are also unable to get adequate care.
“The daily challenges faced by parents of special needs children vary as every single child is different, even if they have the same diagnosis. The challenges can be from simply trying to have bath time, a toilet routine, feeding, swallowing, suctioning tracheostomies, peg feeding and behavioural management never mind the massive financial strain on these parents to pay for therapy, school fees and everything else that their child might need on a daily basis.”
Each task and daily routine that these special needs children require need to be thoughtfully broken up, modelled and facilitated for them children to promote independence while preserving and expanding on their self-confidence.
“These skills need to be supported by visual, auditory and concrete resources to facilitate each step of the skill until completion as many of the children are non-verbal.”
Moshetta said that this is exactly what the centre provides and is a huge gap in these children’s lives when they don’t receive it.
“Time and patience, a secure and adapted environment as well as many hands are needed for the teaching of even the most basic of skills as well as academics, using the abled parts of the child and accommodating their disabilities.”
Now, in order for the 34 pupils to return to school, the L.U.C.C.A centre launched the See the ABLE, not the LABEL campaign, to raise funds.
“‘Although the campaign has generated just over R13 000 in two months, it still falls short of covering the annual fee for a single child’s education and therapy, which costs R120 000.”
The centre, has however been fortunate enough to secure the services of local internet fibre company Vuma, which provides digital connectivity to the school.
"We're blown away by the work the L.U.C.C.A school is doing, and the number of young lives impacted by Alison’s vision,” Taylor Kwong, CSI Manager at Vuma said.
“By providing abundant and seamless connectivity to the school, we’re making an important difference to the daily experiences of the learners and their dedicated teachers - not only enabling the children with uninterrupted learning, but we’re also empowering them and their families by creating opportunities that give them a place in the world, like any other child.”
Visit luccaspecialkids.co.za to sponsor a child, volunteer, or donate essential goods and resources to help contribute to the school’s running expenses and give every child an opportunity to reach for the extraordinary.