Since 2019, the office of the MEC has initiated an Outreach Programme themed "Bonke Ngabethu", whereby various activities are hosted to advocate for the rights of learners who experience barriers to learning. This initiative aims to identify and address learning challenges, promoting equal access to education for all learners that have special needs.

The Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDoE) through the Inclusive Education Directorate collaborated with the Disability Economic Empowerment Trust (DEET) to host a successful outreach program in Fort Beaufort and Buffalo City Municipality (BCM) districts, targeting learners from various special schools. This outreach aims to reduce the backlog of learners experiencing barriers to learning through screening and assessment by various specialists such as Psychologists, Occupational Therapists, Audiologists, Speech Language Therapists, and Physiotherapists as well as stakeholders from DEET and KYC dental studio, offering dental and oral services.

One of the mandates of the Inclusive Education Directorate is to ensure that all learners, including those with disabilities and special needs, have access to quality education. To strengthen our support services, specialists such as audiologists have enhanced their referral protocol with hospitals serving our learners. Clinical audiologists prescribe hearing devices like hearing aids and cochlear implants, then refer learners to our educational audiologists for: Recommending suitable school placements and providing Learning and Teaching Support Materials (LTSM), including FM systems.

The department boasts schools catering to learners with hearing impairments, both as primary and secondary categories. Additionally, our Early Childhood Development (ECD) center, Carel du Toit, excels in preparing these learners academically before formal schooling.