To ensure access for children with disabilities, five special schools for children with autism and other severe intellectual challenges will be constructed across all provinces, The New Times has learned. ALSO READ: Parents decry shortage of ‘special schools’ for autistic children According to the Ministry of Education, at least 65 per cent of students with disabilities have been enrolled in school. Despite progress in basic education, pre-primary enrollment is low at 39 per cent, and children with disabilities have only 65 per cent access to primary education. The government recognises the need sustain efforts to increase enrollment and to make schools more inclusive. Nelson Mbarushimana, the Director General of the Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB), told The New Times that the government has committed to build more special schools within the next five years to enable learning for children diagnosed with autism and related disorders. Autism, also called autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by challenges in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and often repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. ALSO READ: Activists push for subsidised education for autistic children Some of the autism symptoms include delayed language skills, delayed movement skills, delayed cognitive or learning skills, hyperactivity, and impulsive and/or inattentive behavior. Other symptoms include epilepsy or seizure disorder, unusual eating and sleeping habits, unusual mood or emotional reactions, anxiety, stress, or excessive worry, and lack of fear or more fear than expected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Our education must be fully inclusive. Children with autism must be considered by developing a curriculum for them. Classrooms, too, should meet such special needs in education, starting from the nursery level,” Mbarushimana said. “The government is considering the construction of classrooms to cater to such children. ALSO READ: Understanding Autism in kids 11,000 inclusive classrooms by 2029 Key interventions to address persistent access issues within the education sector include the construction of 11,340 new, resilient, and more inclusive classrooms by 2029. ALSO READ: Activists call for schools for children living with multiple disabilities The number of children with disabilities enrolled in primary schools is expected to increase from 40,324 to 80,323 by 2029. From 2017 to 2024, over 27,000 classrooms were constructed, and technical and vocational schools were scaled up from 200 in 2017 to 396 sectors (out of 416) nationwide. According to the education sector strategic plan from 2024 to 2029, Rwanda will increase pre-primary net enrollment from 39 per cent to 65 per cent, including children with disabilities. REB has made the case for research to gather data on children with autism for better planning. Globally, one in 160 children has autism, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Capacity building for teachers Mbarushimana said that teachers are being trained in emotional development to ensure full inclusion for autistic children. We have partners such as Autism Rwanda helping us in training teachers, he noted. ALSO READ: ‘The struggles of raising an autistic child’- a mother’s experience Rosine Duquesne Kamagaju, Founder and Executive Director of Autism Rwanda, said that the government should scale up training for teachers in all schools across the country. She highlighted that teachers from nine-year basic education schools have been trained. However, there was a need to scale this. ALSO READ: Kamagaju on helping autistic children cope with education The capacity building should be extended to all teachers nationwide. Didactic materials suitable for autistic children will be developed more easily after the training, she said. Isae Mihigo, the head of Bright Horizon School (BHS) which has an inclusive education system that caters for children with special needs, reiterated that training for teachers and schools should be priotitised. We have five children with disabilities, but the demand is high demand. This requires training more teachers. We can develop didactic materials using available resources that are not expensive, he noted. ALSO READ: School curriculum for autistic children in the offing He also called for such skills in special needs education to be incorporated into teacher training schools. David Schneider, the CEO of SalZH Foundation, a Swiss foundation that works with partners in Rwanda to promote special and inclusive education, said that the capacity building could range fromdidactic support and practical guidance in the area of active learning to support children in special and remedial education. This, he added, specifically target preschool, kindergarten, primary school, and, in some cases, upper school. Rwanda is ranked 62nd in the world with an autism rate of 394.77 per 100,000 people, according to UNDP. Rwanda is also ranked 78th globally with an autism population of 50,089 people. Rwanda's child autism rate is 432.57 per 100,000, ranking it 65th in the world. It is estimated that there are 19,898 children with autism.
