Disability principles and SAE4D commitment
Table of Contents
Statement of Principles: Education and Children with Disabilities
Ratified and Adopted by the SAE4D, August 2014
The education system is the bedrock of any sophisticated and developing economy. The successful integration of persons with disabilities in the workplace cannot magically happen without considering whether our education system allows for the equal treatment of all children, able or not.
It is SAE4D’s belief that our education system ignores the plight of children with disabilities and this is the single biggest hindrance to enabling the successful integration of persons with disabilities both in the workplace and in society at large.
Our education system:
- Fails to recognise the equality of all children, able and disabled;
- does not consider the inherent worth of children with disabilities nor their innate ability to be positive contributors to society;
- is still a legacy of discrimination which is too easily accepted and too quickly ignored;
- does not take into account the needs of children with disabilities;
- fails to provide reasonable accommodation for the specific needs of children with disabilities;
- is a manifestation of wider society’s blinkered approach to dealing with persons with disabilities;
- has failed and continues to fail children with disabilities.
The SAE4D:
- recognises the inherent worth of all children, able or disabled;
- calls for an inclusive education system where able and disabled learn, play and grow side by side and where reasonable accommodation is an accepted doctrine underlying the principles of equality, dignity and fairness;
- calls on government, school boards, civil society and parents to create an enabling environment that allows for the successful integration of children with disabilities, and for the development of a policy framework that recognizes the physical and mental impediments children with disabilities have but does not see them as insurmountable obstacles and instead as challenges which together can be overcome;
- respects the need for special needs schools but that this should not be the default option or automatic choice for children with disabilities; special needs schools should be reserved only for those children with disabilities who, after careful medical, psychological and educational evaluation, cannot be placed in mainstream schools;
- recognizes that the biggest disability society faces is its own mental blockages when dealing with children and persons with disabilities;
- believes that children who grow up with children with disabilities will also grow up recognizing the value, the equality and the abilities of children with disabilities and that this recognition will translate into benefits for the workplace when they are adults;
- believes the equal and inclusive education system will create the pipeline for young adults with disabilities to enter colleges, technikons and universities which will then lead them to become positive, active and equal contributors in the workplace and in society.
Statement of Principles: Transportation challenges for persons with disabilities
Ratified and Adopted by the SAE4D, August 2014
The SAE4D is committed to the creation of inclusive workplaces for persons with disabilities. All employees require access to transportation and for many South Africans this is often a logistical and financial challenge. This is an even bigger challenge for persons with disabilities when the transportation system itself either does not adequately cater for their needs or is prohibitively more expensive to use compared to what able-bodied employees face.
Able-bodied employees can, with little thought, walk to a bus terminal or a train station or use a mini-bus taxi, or a combination of these. How does a blind person walk a kilometre or two or more to access the transport, or a person in a wheelchair? What if, as is so often the case, the taxi is not wheelchair friendly or will not permit a wheelchair into the vehicle or will charge double for the extra space taken? What if there is a flight of stairs to get to the train or a step-up to get on to the train? When a person with a disability gets dropped off using a mode of public transport how does she manage the final distance to the workplace? Does the person with a disability have to make special transport arrangements which result in more costs than would be incurred had he used normal modes of public transport? Are the pavements level, unobstructed with on and off-ramps on either side of the road? Do pavements even exist?
The SAE4D believes in an integrated and inclusive public transportation system that is based on the following broad principles:
- Access for persons with disabilities to all modes of public transport: taxis, buses, trains, seacraft and airlines;
- Pavements on both sides of the road need to be level, unobstructed, safe and with proper on and off ramps;
- A public policy framework, and if need be legislation, to create affirmative obligations on all public transport providers to enable access to public transport for the range of disabilities which persons with disabilities have;
- The prohibition of any barrier and discrimination to using public transport and the affirmative commitment of all public transport employees to ensure access to the system;
- The creation of access to public utilities such as restrooms at all central points or nodes of the transportation system for persons with disability;
- Consideration of how employees with disability get from the final public transportation drop-off to their final destination, whether going to and from the workplace or their homes;
- Tax allowances for employees with disability who have to make additional arrangements at additional cost to access the public transport systems;
- Tax allowances for employers who provide additional benefits to employees to ease their burden when accessing public transport to get to and from workplaces and their homes. Such additional benefits may be in terms of additional compensation/stipend or other types of benefits designed to assist the employees with transportation challenges;
- Sensitisation awareness for public transport employees so they become proficient in dealing with disability access issues.
The obliteration of obstacles (financial, logistical and physical) to accessing the public transportation system is a central tenet of ensuring persons with disabilities take their rightful and equal place in society and the workplace. The principles espoused herein have the additional benefit of assisting the aged, children and parents/carers with babies and small children.