Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi says learners with special needs must not be treated as third class citizens.
Lesufi is at the Autism Awareness commemorative day event held at Ecaleni School in Tembisa east of Johannesburg.
Ecaleni is the first Autism school to be established in the township. Parents and guardians of children living with Autism will receive information on how to raise and support their children.
Today, we were opening a new Autism School in Tembisa. When we came in in 2014, there were only two public schools attending to autistic learners. We increased this to 27 new sites. We’ve now cut the waiting list from 5 years to less than 6 months. This will forever warm my heart pic.twitter.com/Ykm0EqEubI
— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) April 26, 2019
Gauteng Education Department spokesperson Steve Mabona explains:
“MEC Lesufi is passionate about learners with special needs as such; he played a significant role in advocating for them to be prioritised by the department. This event is intended for empowering parents with knowledge on Autism and how to raise and support children suffering from same.”
MEC @Lesufi on first Autism school in the Township @EducationGP @Lesufi #AutismAwareness pic.twitter.com/l7uK2bBkiL
— Steve Mabona (@Steve_Mabona) April 26, 2019
