On 21 October 2020 the Including Disability in Education in Africa (IDEA) Research Unit together with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) hosted a webinar titled “Disability Inclusion in Teacher Education and Development in South Africa”.
The Human Rights Watch estimates that 600 000 South African children with disabilities were not at school last year, an indictment on our society which needs every child to participate in nation building, University of Cape Town (UCT) Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng said.
A desire to learn more about disability in education inspired mother-of-four Sarah Oosthuizen to immerse herself in online courses and sign up for the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Postgraduate Diploma in Disability Studies. The course introduced her to a new way of thinking and instilled in her a deep interest in the rights and education of the differently abled.
Delivering the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) 20th Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is certainly cause for celebration. In just four years, the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teachingʼs (CILT) previous 19 free online courses, covering topics ranging from social innovation to fintech, climate change and clinical research, have reached over 250 000 self-motivated students.