Integrating inclusive practices at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges in Limpopo Province

Abstract

Access and support for students with disabilities remain limited despite strong legislative and policy framework for addressing inclusivity in the education sector. Presently, TVET colleges encounter severe obstacles and hiccups in that they must improve the quality of education provided together with other compulsory obligations. As a result, TVET col-leges continue to encounter challenges as and when they try to improve the quality of education. In South Africa, the integration of people with disabilities has been an ongoing process since the advent of the democratic government. The study investigated the inte-gration of inclusive practices for students with disabilities at Technical and Vocational Edu-cation and Training (TVET) colleges. The study followed the qualitative research ap-proach. The purposive sampling technique was used to select participants. Twenty-seven participants took part in the study. Participants comprised campus man-agers, HoDs, student support officers, lecturers and students with disabilities. Two differ-ent methods to analyse data were used, namely, thematic categorisation (for interviews and observations) and content analysis (for documents). The study is premised on the social model of disability and Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological system theory to understand participants’ views and how they carry out inclusive practices in their lecture rooms. Data was collected using three techniques, namely, interviews, observations and document analysis. The findings of the study revealed the following: lecturers at TVET colleges are struggling to support students with disabilities due to lack of training on different types of disabilities; students with disabilities are given access to certain types of training based on the nature of their disability; students who experience mobility disabilities are faced with challenges of inaccessible of physical environments; the curriculum at TVET col-leges does not fully cater for a range of diverse needs of and students with impairments. The study recommends that: lecturers require training on different types of disabilities in order to support students with diverse learning needs; the involvement of disabled stu-dents in the planning of their support programmes; all stakeholders be encouraged to appreciate change and to contribute towards meaningful inclusive practices.