Organisations Taking Action for Inclusion

Down Syndrome South Africa together with Autism SA, Equal Education Law Centre and Lidia Pretorius, is collaborating on a campaign during Human Rights Month (March) and Freedom Month (April), coinciding with World Down Syndrome Day (21 March) and World Autism Awareness and Acceptance Day (2 April). The education campaign focuses on reinforcing messaging that encourages families, schools, communities and leaders to do more to advance the rights of children with disabilities to quality inclusive education for all. The campaign will mainly be waged through social media.

We are appealing to you based on your track record of advocating for the rights of children with disabilities to quality education, hoping that you will be able to solicit support from within government (short videos, press statements, inclusion in speeches from Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MECs, DGs, HODs of Education, Social Development, Health, Transport and Cooperative Governance in particular).

Is it possible to forward the request to the respective Communication Heads in these national and provincial departments?

Our Ask from them – How can you show solidarity in action?

· MECs of Education – commit to more action faster to enrol children with disabilities who are out of school, and to retain and ensure learning for learners with disabilities who are enrolled in school

· MECs of Social Development – commit to more action faster to support parents organisations of children with disabilities, and to equip early childhood development centres with skills and knowledge to impactfully include children with disabilities in community-based ECD and stimulation centres

· MECs for Health – commit to more action faster to ensure that children with disabilities have access to community-based early identification and therapeutic support, inclusive of essential assistive technology such as wheelchairs and other mobility devices, hearing aids etc.

· MECs for Transport – commit to more action faster to make learner transport safe and accessible to learners with disabilities

· MECs for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs – commit to more action faster to work with municipal leadership and ward committees to ensure that all children with disabilities are enrolled and families supported through accessible street infrastructure

We are requesting that they use their agency (institution, designation, reputation, influence) to:

· Record and post weekly 60-180 second videos or voice notes on your organisational and/or personal social media platforms, using the thematic areas set out below as a cue for message content and Calls to Action (please keep in mind access for Deaf and blind viewers/listeners and make use of closed captions/subtitles/transcripts as far as possible. I can assist with these if you forward your short videos/voice notes to me)

· Release a weekly media statement and/or requesting timeslots on radio/television, using the weekly thematic areas, over the next two months that advocates for solidarity in action, and which educates members of the public with a clear Call to Action

· Visit schools and early childhood development centres and encourage them to take small steps within their reach towards welcoming and accommodating children with disabilities

· Lobby the private sector for more meaningful partnership with organisations advocating for, and providing education support services to children with disabilities and their families

· Lobby other influencers in your network to join the campaign by taking similar action

• Retweet social media campaign posts

#QualityInclusive EducationForAll CAMPAIGN

1. Week 1 (7-13 March) – Education is Key to setting Children with Disabilities Free

• Children with disabilities are never better off staying at home without an education

• The law says all children between the ages of 7 -15 years – also children with disabilities, must be in school, learning.

• All children, including children with disabilities, benefit from early childhood development from an early age.

2. Week 2 (14-20 March) – Inclusion Benefits All Children

Children benefit from being taught in inclusive environments in their local neighbourhood schools

• All children benefit from learning together – inclusion teaches teamwork, empathy, solidarity and builds emotional intelligence.

• Bringing together children with different religions, cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations, genders, socio-economic groups, and disabilities in the same classroom, therefore, benefits children with and without disabilities and offers educators with opportunities to innovate and grow.

• Helping families build a vision for inclusive education

3. Week 3 (21-27 March) – Families Taking Action for Inclusion

• Parents have the right to have their wishes taken into account when it comes to placing their child in local neighbourhood schools

• Ordinary neighbourhood schools cannot discriminate against a child by refusing to enrol them on the basis oftheir disability

• Tagline for World Down Syndrome Day: Learners are more than chromosomes

4. Week 4 (28 March – 03 April) – Schools Taking Actionfor Inclusion

• Creating inclusive school environments requires that we take measures to remove barriers to learning

• It is the responsibility primarily of the school management, the school-based support teams, teachers and the SGBs to ensure that we remove barriers to learning for all children, also children with disabilities

• We must create a welcoming and accepting school environment by stopping bullying in the classroom, on the school premises and on learner transport

• Tagline for World Autism Awareness and Acceptance Day:

Week 5 (4 – 10 April) – Communities Taking Action for Inclusion

• It is every parent’s responsibility to teach their children to respect others, regardless of differences

• We are in this together – we call on solidarity in our communities to embrace children with disabilities and their families

• Our children with disabilities and their families will thrive with the support of neighbours, business owners, places of worship, employers and recreation clubs

5. Week 6 (11-17 April) – Families making Inclusion Happen (Practical tips and measures)

6. Week 7 (18-24 April) – Schools making Inclusion Happen (Practical tips and measures)

7. Week 8 (25 – 30 April) – Communities making Inclusion Happen (Practical tips and measures)

Hashtags for all Campaign posts

Please use the following 3 hashtags with all your posts to enable the team to track and retweet

#QualityEducationForAll

#EveryChildMatters

#InclusionMatters

Additional #Hashtags for Campaign posts

#Inclusion

#InclusiveEducation

#Diversity