The Universal Accessibility and Disability Services Unit (UADS) started an Initiative with the purpose of establishing community engagement partnerships with the special schools and enhancing access and success of students with disabilities in the institutions of higher learning.

The initiative was in response to the cry of the special schools which indicated that their learners do not benefit from the Institutional Open Days and have noticed that there are no Deaf and very few visually impaired students at Eastern Cape universities. The project team is made up of representatives from Nelson Mandela University’s Universal Accessibility & Disability Services (UADS), Access and Enrolment, Student Recruitment and recently was joined by the Nelson Mandela University Yebo Tutor programme. The latter is the programme that provides tutoring in Maths, Maths Literacy and Physical Sciences. UADS partnered with the Yebo Tutor to assist learners enrolled in special schools.

The project has the responsibility to ensure that learners are provided with integrated services which includes study programmes at Mandela University, assisted on online applications and services provided by UADS. This year, the project took a different approach whereby a workshop was conducted for Maths Literacy educators. The student from Yebo Tutor programme provided a vibrant workshop that stimulated educators. Afterwards, Maths Literacy educators received some recognition messages.