Changing lives one student at a time
Our College of Orientation and Mobility is a tertiary facility accredited with the Education, Training and Development Practices Sector Education and Training (ETDP SETA). It provides training for one specific qualification: the National Diploma in Orientation and Mobility Practice. This diploma spans over two years and includes theoretical, practical and workplace training.
Qualified students gain the knowledge and skills to assist the visually impaired by providing rehabilitation services. These include white cane training as well as skills that are vital to daily functioning (skills relating to personal hygiene, cooking and cleaning). Once qualified, the Orientation & Mobility (O&M) Practitioners can be employed by other NGOs to provide much-needed services to the visually impaired community.
Our current class of eight students spent term four of 2024 and term one of 2025 working with children. They have mastered the theory of their work, and the next phase of their diploma involves implementing what they’ve learnt in a real-life situation.
Workplace training takes place at schools for the visually impaired that can provide adequate accommodation and are willing to take students. All our current students reside in Gauteng, which meant they could not all be accommodated at local schools, so we had to send the students to schools located outside the province. During practical training, our O&M students live at these schools, far away from their families. During this time, the students provide training to low vision and blind primary school learners. Each student works with eight to 10 children. Training starts with teaching the children basic guiding techniques to ensure that those with some sight can guide the others safely. Children with low vision are encouraged to use their remaining sight effectively. For example, to scan from left to right in a systematic way to locate objects.
When working with children, concepts are taught as well. When directing a child to walk from the tree to the bush against the wall, for example, it is essential that the child understands the difference between a bush and a tree. They also need to be able to grasp what behind, next to, under and near mean without being able to see examples of these relationships of one thing to another. Once these concepts are understood, learners can be taught white cane skills to walk from the tree to the bush.
We divided our students between three schools for the visually impaired, namely Siloe School near Polokwane, Bartimea School near Bloemfontein and Khanyisa School in Gqeberha. All these schools have boarding facilities and accommodate children from across the province in which they are located. Only Khanyisa School has a fulltime Orientation and Mobility Practitioner who works there. Our three students at Khanyisa School were thrilled to have the opportunity to visit the ocean for the first time!
O&M skills training is often conducted after school in the afternoons or over the weekends because the school timetable does not allow for it. To ensure that our students remain on track, they are required to submit weekly written assignments to their supervisors who mark and return the work with feedback. The supervisors also travel to the schools to visit and observe the training as it happens. This is a wonderful time for the students to learn how to correctly apply the theory and practical skills they have learnt to ensure that they graduate as confident, competent O&M Practitioners.
We are immensely proud of our students, and we wish them well for the academic year ahead.
If you are interested in the National Diploma in Orientation and Mobility Practice, please contact Elizabeth Louw at ElizabethL@guidedog.org.za or visit our website.
Written by Elizabeth Louw, Head of Orientation and Mobility