The special needs school in Israel where pupils learn to be teachers

“I asked myself: ‘Why can’t we do this for kids with special needs?’ I don’t consider special needs to be a barrier but an opportunity to flourish.”

Besides the impressive dance sessions, another group of students have learnt how to play the darbuka – a traditional hand drum – and are showcasing their skills as we arrive at the school.

In a classroom, pupils are being shown how to use a 3D printer; out in the courtyard, another group has been gardening, and Shriki shows me a video of a student teaching karate to other pupils.

For parents of children with special educational needs, it can be difficult to find extracurricular classes – and even if they exist, for many, they are unaffordable, so the school brings the activities to them.

A darbuka performance by Dekalim B pupils (Photo: JNF UK)[Missing Credit]

Once they discover what it is they enjoy, the school helps the pupils develop their talent. “The idea is that they take this knowledge and pass it onto someone else,” says Shriki.

Having opened in the 80s, Dekalim B was designed to accommodate around 75 pupils, but by 2021, it had 110. The number of students, which includes Arab and Bedouin children, is now pushing 130.

Over the years, the profile of the pupils has changed from being a school predominantly for children with learning disabilities to one which now has a large proportion of autistic students. “Running the school went from being complicated to super complicated,” says Shriki, adding that it used to educate 15 to 21-year-olds and now takes in pupils from the age of 13.

The increasing numbers and diversity of needs has led to the construction of an 850 m squared multi-functional hub, funded by JNF UK donors and the Be’er Sheva municipality.

Once completed, it will house a huge sports hall, as well as a series of therapy rooms for physio, art and music – and will also mean that the room in the original building, which is currently being used for many of these activities, “can go back to being a bomb shelter”, says Shriki.

The overriding aim of Dekalim B is to give pupils the tools to become independent and contributing members of society, she says, arguing that nurturing talent goes a long way towards this.

To this end, the walls of the school are lined with photographs of people who have excelled in their field, despite the odds seemingly being stacked against them. These include the Israeli Paralympic basketball player and rower Moran Samuel, Jessica Cox, the first person to fly a plane using only her feet, and Nick Vujicic, a motivational speaker, who was born without arms or legs.

The young man who was leading the dance class only discovered dancing three years ago, when he was 15, says Shriki. “We gave him extra knowledge, so he was able to dance even better, and now he does his own choreography, which he teaches to all the kids in the school.

“I believe in equal rights for everyone, whether someone is autistic, has special needs or no educational disability. All people should have the same opportunities to be exposed to different things.”

Recalling growing up in the 1980s, Dan Shapira, the JNF UK project manager in Israel, says: “When I was a kid, in public places, we didn’t see anyone with disabilities. Now, society has learnt that people with special needs are also human, and we don’t need to hide them.

“But there is still a huge gap between not hiding someone and being inspired by them. Dekalim B is trying to close that gap. It’s not about people feeling sorry for [their students] but about people trying to challenge them, and if others can see one of the pupils being a role model, that is amazing.”

Click here to read more about JNF UK’s involvement with the Dekalim B High School in Be’er Sheva