What Next: Vision

We aim to cater for learners with physically disabilities from Grade 1 to Grade 9 (Std 7).

As only 3% of the disabled are employed in the open job market, we would like to establish an adult training workshop. The aim is to empower our school leavers and community with employable skills. These skills could include wood work, welding, brick laying, agriculture, permaculture, etc., incorporating entrepreneurial/commercial skills to help the learners to become employable in the local industries and the open job market at large.

Aims & Barriers

Phase 1: The building of a new girls’ hostel will partially free the workshops (old girl’s hostel). This phase is completed, due to generous sponsorship from  The Victor Daitz Foundation.

Phase 2 & 3: Building of a multipurpose hall with attached kitchen and laundry: Building of the core structure (administration, therapy, computer and library/multimedia centre) This will ultimately open up the original school building (affectionately known as “The train”) for development as a training workshop/s.

Phase 4: Equipping and staffing of the training workshops.

Phase 5—Phase 10: Building of classrooms, hostels, offices, etc to cater for the educational, housing and administrative needs of the growing school and training centre.

Concurrent phases: Our permaculture gardens have been vital for our survival (financially), yet are a key skill in job creation and self-employability for the disabled. We are looking for the following to develop the project.

• Farming equipment and expertise.

• Tunnels (greenhouse) and hydroponics expertise .

• Labour, training, funding.

• Solar panels or similar.

Practical considerations for the training workshops (primary aim: Employability)

As training workshops do not easily interface with the NCS/RNCS (Curriculum), contrary to the Special Education of the past, the easiest and most practical solution would be:

• Management: Management, staffing, funding and control would need to originate from  FET (Further Education and Training), Department of Labour with SETA’s and/or private sources.
• Benefit: Direct benefit to Harding Special School could consist of :
  • preferential placement of our learners in the FET training programmes.
  • financial spin-off of rental of premises.
  • co-ordination with Training Workshop for job placement of our learners, post training.
• Finances: The following would need to be budgeted for (will be directed by the direction the courses take) :
  • salaries (trainers, lecturers, administration, assistants and cleaners) including all levies, taxes, etc.
  • overheads (Administration, utility bills, rentals, telephone, insurance, cleaning materials, etc).
  • equipment and tools: depends on courses needed  (by prospective employers)
  • course materials: printed matter, raw materials, protective-ware, etc.
  • development: PR activity, advertising, course research and development.

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