Fakkel is a school in Sasolburg for learners with moderate intellectual disabilities. Together with the limited intellectual ability of the learners, many also have multiple special needs. Ninety percent (90%) of the learners do not have medical aids and approximately thirty-two percent (32%) do not pay school fees. Sixty percent (60%) of the learners in Fakkel School is black and forty percent (40%) is Caucasian. Thirty percent (30%) of learners (110 children) in Fakkel School receive food at school on a daily basis during breaks and often that is the learner's only food for the day. Sometimes, on weekends and holidays, they send food parcels home. They also have a clothing bank at the school and try where possible to help the neediest learners in school with clothing and something warm like a sweater or pair of shoes.
Since most of the learners are so needy, their meager income is spent on basic needs and their medical care is seen as a luxury which they cannot afford.
 
SPECIAL NEEDS:

VISION

It has come to the school’s attention that some learners struggle to see on the blackboard. The Department of Education does not grant more aid to schools with eye examinations and hearing tests as in the old days, so a simple screening test was done on all the learners.  109 of the learners in the school need a more complete and in-depth eye examination.

HEARING TESTS
There are currently only two learners in the school who are supposed to use hearing aids. The devices are not used daily, as the learners say that they are mocked and teased. The apparatus are not the newest on the market and technology changes so quickly.  Without the hearing aids in a class with lots of background noises, the learner miss out on very valuable information.

Because hearing problems are not as clearly visible as visual problems, we want all learners in the school exposed to a hearing screening test. The school has not trained people to do these tests and the nearest assistance from the Department of Education is in Kroonstad (and she has to serve the whole region).

SPEECH/COMMUNICATION
Two of our learners have severe speech and communication problems. One learner with cerebral palsy has very indistinct speech. The other learner had meningitis in 2009 when he was in grade 10 in a mainstream school. At this moment he can understand, but has severe aphasia.  He cannot write or express himself or his needs. He wants to finish his schooling and joined Fakkel School for help.
He can only recall certain words to write. They try to accommodate him by adaptation of his exam papers and schoolwork.

PSYCHIATRIC NEEDS

In Fakkel school they accommodate learners with the following disabilities:
• Autistic spectrum
• Cerebral palsy
• Physically Disabled
• Epilepsy
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
• Learners with behavioral Disorders

Many of our learners are on medication and many of the learners are supposed to use medication. Their problem is that the learners must go to the Provincial psychiatric team in Kroonstad for help. Consequently, transport and finances are a problem. For younger learners there is a child psychiatric team from Bloemfontein visiting Kroonstad once every 5 weeks to consult the learners in the whole region. Valuable input from the help desk team (consisting of an Occupational Therapist, Psychologist and Social Worker exists) and their psychiatric team get lost in the process. The schools do not always know the date of appointments of the learners and get no feedback from the psychiatric team in Kroonstad. The learners' medication is often stopped just because it's so far away and difficult to find a doctor to arrive. The provincial transportation to Kroonstad sometimes leaves at 2 o’ clock in the morning, an impossible time for the learners.
Especially for the learners with behavioral disorders and learners with concentration problems a psychiatric team approach is vital to help them reach their full potential.