The commission has last month released a report that raised concerns over the lack of safety and security measures in schools for children with disabilities. 

The commission highlighted that issues relating to inadequate resources and infrastructure at many schools urgently need to be attended to. 

In the report it was emphasised that the risks that learners at hostels are exposed to “pose a direct and imminent threat to the health and safety of learners with disabilities”.

At the beginning of the academic year, the province once again made headlines over a pupil who died at the Christiana School for the Blind following the 2010 incident where four Christiana pupils died when a hostel room they had been sleeping in caught fire.

The pupils, aged between eight and 13, tried to escape but died of smoke inhalation and their bodies were found near the door.

In August 2015, three female pupils, aged 16, 17 and 18, died in a fire that broke out at the North West School for the Deaf. In total, 23 other pupils were injured when they jumped from the first floor of the building to escape the fire.

The commission has in its report highlighted that the Provincial Education Department needs to improve the state of schools in the province, particularly those for children with special needs. They stated that more needs to be done urgently to improve inclusive education.

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