Abstract
M.Ed.
South African education is transforming in line with the Constitution and the mandates contained in the
South African Schools Act of 1996. One of the mandates that education has got to carry out is providing
equal quality education for all learners of school-going age, including learners with barriers to learning
and development. The high percentage of learners with barriers to learning and development who are in
centres of learning and are not receiving the appropriate support pose a challenge to the Education
Support Services to adopt measures that will ensure access for all learners to support services.
Education Support Services personnel in some districts have embarked on a process of implementing the
policy of inclusive education as a way of enabling access to centres of learners for learners with barriers
to learning and development.
This inquiry focused on the role of the Education Support Service professionals in the implementation of
inclusive education. The research question addresses a sample of Education Support Service
professionals' personal views of their role. After a comprehensive literature review, a field study was
launched making use of qualitative research methods. The data was collated and interpreted per data
category.
The themes that emerged from the study suggest that the participants were at the early stages of
implementation. The approach adopted was that of facilitating admission of learners with barriers to
learning and development to centres of learning and providing professional support to educators to
enable them to cope with the additional professional demands made on them by these admissions.
Education Support Services personnel gave reports of providing direct intervention to learners with
barriers to learning and development where educators could not provide the support. Training educators
and parents on inclusive education and how to identify learners with barriers to learning and development
and attempting to forge interdepartmental collaborations in order to address barriers to learning and
development at the centres of learning were some of the activities of the sample group. As the
implementation of inclusive education is still at its initial stages, the study attempted to determine the
views of these participants on the roles they were undertaking as well as the roles that they envisage.
The study suggests that all stakeholders at the district need to be involved in devising a district strategy
for implementing inclusive education that goes beyond catering only for learners with disabilities.