Opinion - COVID-19 has us hiding fearfully in lockdown tunnels, counting heavily on our medics and scientists to lead us safely into the light again.
Re-entry into normality will take intense foresight and planning. Education has put out recovery plans which are solely for ordinary (aka mainstream) schools and grades therein, seemingly marginalising special schools.
Special schools vary in the nature of disabilities they cater to and the programmes offered.
The focus here is on the schools catering for pupils with a range of physical or intellectual disabilities requiring intensive levels of educational care and support.
The objective lies in supporting the pupils to use their remaining abilities maximally.
The methodology of choice involves curriculum adaptation, training, repetition and consolidation to gradually mould pupils into at least some measure of independent living.
Routine is what gives the pupils meaningful orderliness and fosters learning, albeit in micro-steps.
Limited memory span is one of the learning barriers of the group. Even minor breaks like weekends necessitate a kind of catch-up programme.
A major break in routine such as this lockdown will promote anxiety, acting up and regression in these pupils, for whom a school is usually a place of constancy, learning
and happiness.
The post-lockdown programme for this sector will have to take several factors into consideration:
* Staff should return at least a week, if not a fortnight, in advance of the pupils. The first priority for both groups would be screening and, where indicated, testing and isolation.
* The earlier arrival of staff is not only to oversee sanitising of buildings and whatever seating and other arrangements have to be made but for their own training in all the finer points of safety measures and use of protective wear. The Department of Health personnel would make ideal trainers.
* Subsequently, it would be best for pupils to return to schools in batches, starting with the highest grades/phases first. Instruction should advisedly commence with Covid-19-related safety precautions rather than the formal curriculum.
* Techniques such as masking, sanitising, washing, the protocols relevant to coughing and sneezing and social distancing could be taught via fun activities such as singing, drama and choral counting - all of which could link to aspects of the curriculum.
* Teaching this cohort of pupils physical distancing, however, would be a particular challenge. They are naturally gregarious, quick to hug or touch and it would take a great deal of repetition and consolidation for physical distancing to become a habit.
* Given the real challenges regarding moulding the severe to profoundly intellectually disabled pupil into a new sequence of behaviours, there is the real fear that having the entire complement of pupils present at school at any stage could easily catapult the school into a new infection hot spot. It might be worthwhile to allow only the return of the pupils closest to the exit age of 18. This, at least, relieves the burden of physical distancing.
* However, with a full complement of teachers on board, many can be involved in writing up simple home programmes for the other children and distributing these at convenient collection points.
* Special schools are generally understaffed and funding issues are an ever-present reality. Even at the best of times they barely cope. The added burden of costs related to staffing regarding school and hostel sanitisation; acquiring materials and and reorganising spacing to comply with social distancing norms, will be monumental.
Maintaining prescribed distances in hostels will be almost impossible unless new premises are found or the horrendous decision taken to exclude some pupils. If the state does not support special schools now in material, financial and practical ways, they may just collapse.
* Given the learning limitations of this group, when the curriculum delivery does recommence, it ought to be a complete restart, while keeping tuition in Covid-19 safety precautions on the go until they gradually become a habit.
* In order to ensure safety measures are implemented at home, parent education becomes vital.
* One way of maintaining social distancing in school buses would be to make more trips to and from pick-up points and school with fewer pupils on board.
* Providing special school education and training is, even in the best of times, a tough call.
The men and women who serve in these schools are arguably our greatest but unrecognised heroes. In this, perhaps, the most difficult of times, these heroes will, again, strive to rise to the occasion. But without the active and sustained support of all relevant education district officials, these schools will more than likely fail.
Now is the time for curriculum advisers and circuit managers, who, generally, for some or other reason can’t find the time to support special schools, to do so in earnest.
* In order for the district to ensure accountable and proper service delivery to special schools now and going forward, it would be best to allocate one circuit manager and one curriculum adviser to the special schools in that area. This will swing the situation from what seems to be neglect of these schools, to meaningful and accountable service.
The “can’t find the time” trend and the other of leaving the support of special schools just to the district office therapists and psychologists should be a thing of the past.
This is an unexplored journey that we are taking, calling for extraordinary co-operation and support. The hard lessons we shall learn should form a route map for the future.