Navigating Learning for Learners with Special Educational Needs (LSEN) in South Africa: Barriers and Recommendations

Shandré Kim Jansen van Rensburg ORCID iD, Mahlogonolo Thobane ORCID iD, Sarika Kader ORCID iD, Mmabatho Portia Aphane ORCID iD, Lebogang Mpuru ORCID iD, Matshilane Mokotong ORCID iD, Tinyiku David Ngoveni ORCID iD, Matome. M. RatibaORCID iD & Liezel Tredoux ORCID iD

Issue: Vol.5  No.3 Issue Article 14 pp.328-342
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245314 |   Published online 22nd March, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Approximately 3.5 million Persons With Disabilities (PWD), comprising 6.6% of the population live in South Africa. In South Africa, PWDs are confronted with challenges rooted in historical power imbalances and amplified by social and economic inequalities. Among these issues, the barriers to learning for learners with special educational needs (LSEN) are of particular concern. The purpose of the paper is to provide mitigation strategies for learning barriers encountered by LSEN in South Africa. The paper was guided by a qualitative integrative review (IR) research methodology.  The findings highlighted various obstacles identified in research conducted at both global and national levels, including insufficient educator training, resource deficiencies, limited policy implementation, and challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, South Africa’s educational framework, adapted from similar contexts, presents unique hurdles. By elucidating these findings, recommendations are made to mitigate these challenges through special educational needs, social context, and technology training, transformed curriculum and the introduction of class assistants. Moreover, specialised support from the Department of Basic Education (DBE) is advocated for and increased psychosocial and parental support is encouraged. The findings also propose the reinstatement of vocational-related school subjects for LSEN. This paper makes a meaningful contribution to the field of special education in South Africa by identifying the challenges encountered by LSEN and proposing viable solutions to address them.

Keywords: Learners with Special Educational Needs (LSEN), Persons with Disabilities (PWD), Learning Barriers, Learners, COVID-19

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Shandré Kim Jansen van Rensburg is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology and Security Science at the University of South Africa. She holds a Master of Arts (Criminology) degree (cum laude) and a DLitt et Phil (Criminology) qualification. Her research focuses on victimology, security science, and contemporary criminology. In 2018, she was honoured as the youngest female doctoral graduate by Elsvier and received a Women in Research (WiR) grant.

Mahlogonolo Thobane is an Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of South Africa, Department of Criminology and Security Science. She holds a Doctor of Literature and Philosophy (DLitt et Phil) degree in Criminology. She is the first black President of the Criminological Society of South Africa (CRIMSA), serving from 2021 to 2023. Her research aims to centralise the African voice and “ways of knowing” in criminology ideologies. Her research interests are gender-based violence, gender and crime, female criminality, critical criminology, indigenous research methods, corrections-related research and bank-related violent crimes (i.e. cash-in-transit heists).

Sarika Kader is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Criminology and Security Science at the University of South Africa. She holds a BA and a BA Honours in Criminology and an MTech in Security Management. Ms Kader is currently a PhD (criminal justice) candidate, and the focus of her thesis is a victimological analysis of robbery at residential premises in South Africa. In her role as a lecturer, Ms Kader embraces student-centeredness and applies innovative methods to teaching.

Mmabatho Portia Aphane is a Senior Lecturer at the University of South Africa’s Department of Police Practice in the School of Criminal Justice. She holds a Doctor of Policing degree. She has published articles in accredited journals and focused her research inquiries on cybercrime, cyber security, and South African Police Service (SAPS) knowledge management.

Lebogang Mpuru is a Lecturer in the Department of Criminology and Security Science at the University of South Africa. She is also a PhD candidate, and the focus of her thesis is on womanhood and victimology. Her research interests include cybercrime, victimology, criminal behaviour, profiling, and gendered crime.

Matshilane Mokotong is an Associate Professor in the Department of Private Law at the University of South Africa. Her fields of interest include family law, the law of damages and the law of delict. She also has interdisciplinary interests in customary law and community development, with a special interest in differently abled learners. She served as the Chair of the Department of Private Law and was awarded the degrees of B.Proc and LLB by the University of Limpopo, LLM and LLD by the University of South Africa. She is admitted as an Attorney, a Convayencer, and a Notary of the High Court of South Africa.

Tinyiku David Ngoveni is a Senior Lecturer and Chair of Department in the Department of Criminology and Security Science at the University of South Africa. He holds a Master of Arts (Policing) and is currently a PhD candidate. His research interests include community policing and crime prevention.

Matome. M. Ratiba is a Senior Lecturer in property law at the University of South Africa. He holds a BA (Law) LLB from the University of the Witwatersrand and a LLM (cum laude) from the University of South Africa. He has over the years read and presented papers at both international and South African conferences and colloquiums. He has also published extensively in both peer-reviewed scholarly international and South African accredited journals.

Liezel Tredoux is an Associate Professor and the Head of Tax Law at the University of South Africa, Department of Mercantile Law. She regularly presents at national and international conferences, has published in several academic journals and is a former deputy editor of the South African Mercantile Law Journal. In 2019 she obtained an LLD for her thesis titled “The taxation of company distributions in South Africa” from the University of Johannesburg. Her previous experience includes civil litigation as an admitted attorney and later as an advocate and member of the Pretoria Society of Advocates. Her research interests include the law of income tax, tax and emigration, international tax, corporate tax, tax-effective estate planning and education.

 Jansen van Rensburg,Shandré Kim, Mahlogonolo Thobane, Sarika Kader, Mmabatho Portia Aphane, Lebogang Mpuru, Matshilane Mokotong, Tinyiku David Ngoveni, Matome. M. Ratiba & Liezel Tredoux.“Navigating Learning for Learners with Special Educational Needs (LSEN) in South Africa: Barriers and Recommendations,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.3 (2024): 328-342. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245314

© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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