Activists push for more effort in promoting education rights for children with disability

The National Council for Persons with Disabilities made a call for the removal of barriers that still hamper access to education for children with disabilities. The policy of inclusive education is clear, yet the majority of children with disability are still struggling to make it to the available free and compulsory education due to a variety of special needs issues. Emmanuel Ndayisaba, the executive secretary of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities, said that a categorisation report done in 2016/2017 revealed that 60,000 disabled people did not attend school, including children and adults. To him, this high rate of illiteracy represents a big concern. “Normally education is a foundation for emancipation and welfare. Now with the number of people with disability without any form of professional training, it is really a big issue for them to move ahead. Yet education and training has proven to enable disabled people lead independent lives,” he said. To him, the main challenge behind this is the poor mindset with families who still consider disability as incapability, and never push their disabled children to get the right education. He said that it is high time families and communities changed their attitude and stigma regarding disability. He points out that for those who might be lucky to get a school, it’s hard to get the special scholastic materials needed, especially children with visual disability. For hearing impaired children, when given hearing aids, things can get better. According to the National Council of Persons with Disabilities, those who go to school, 90 per cent of them drop out after finishing primary because the higher they go, the more the barriers. In terms of school completion for disabled people, the categorisation report indicates that 37 percent completed primary school, 5.7 per cent - secondary 0.7% - university, and 0. 3 % - TVET. Ndayisaba mentioned that children with disabilities are hindered by issues of school infrastructure and not enough training staff assigned to the disabled. “Paths, playgrounds, classrooms, washrooms should be adjusted to suit the needs of disabled children. Teachers should also be trained to adapt to inclusive teaching so that they can help such students better,” he said. He called for religious organisations and other stakeholders to enable those who missed out on formal education to get included in adult literacy or vocational training. Mary Kobusingye, the in-charge of special needs education at the Ministry of Education, says even though they still have a long way to go, there have been improvements, and a good number are in school, compared to the past when parents kept them in hiding. She says that the issue of scholastic materials, trained teachers and school infrastructure is still a challenge, but the ministry is working on it. “We have regulations that require schools to have materials for children with disabilities, and they are respected. The issue of infrastructure will be adjusted progressively with the increase in budget.” She added that to provide a long term solution to the issue of trained teachers, the Ministry has incorporated a disability component in the curriculum taught at teacher training sessions to make sure that every teacher with basic skills knows how to take care of disabled children. For those already in the field, the Ministry continues to boost their skills through continuous trainings. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Activists push for more effort in promoting education rights for children with disability