International Day of Persons with Disabilities

EU funded Teacher Empowerment for Disability Inclusion (TEDI) project in South Africa empowers teachers through training that is focused on inclusivity, diversity and addressing learners’ disability-specific needs. The project has developed online courses that are available on Coursera, reaching out to teachers all around the world.

Disability is one of the primary causes of educational disadvantage and exclusion, creating a large group of girls and boys who remain out of school. Children with disabilities are less likely to attend school and complete primary education. Available data reveals that, on average, 1 in 3 children with disabilities of primary school age is out of school, compared with 1 in 7 children without disabilities.

Even when children with disabilities are enrolled in school, they are often excluded from learning as the curriculum has not been adapted to their needs or teachers do not have the time or capacity to provide individualized support and learning assistance.

EU support to education in partner countries focuses on learning environments are inclusive, so all children can learn and participate. A key strategy for inclusion is ensuring that teachers are aware of different needs in the classroom and they have the necessary knowledge and skills to support students with disabilities.

Teacher Empowerment for Disability Inclusion (TEDI) project in South Africa, co-funded by the European Union and Christoffel-Blinden Mission (CBM), is based on this strategy: empowering teachers to provide quality education to learners with disabilities.

TEDI project supports the South African government’s efforts to effectively implement the constitutional right to education for children with disabilities. The project partners, University of Capte Town (UCT) and CBM also conducted studies to understand the difficulties faced by teachers and learners with disabilities in poorly resourced schools and what is needed to empower them.

Funding by the EU has also allowed the UCT to developed short, face-to-face courses and accompanying online courses (MOOCs) for educators. Three online courses Disability Inclusion in Education: Building Systems of Support, Educating Deaf Children: Becoming an Empowered Teacher and Severe to Profound Intellectual Disability: Circles of Care and Education are available on Coursera.