Over 120 teachers from seven districts countrywide sponsored by ADRA yesterday graduated after receiving a ten-week training on Special Needs Education (SNE). The training that saw graduates receive certificates at Nyamata in Bugesera District was jointly organised by the Ministry of Education, ADRA Rwanda and UNICEF. Pierre Claver Rwaka, the president of the Federation of Disabled Persons in Rwanda said it was good to see over 100 teachers graduate in such a course, expressing optimism that students with disabilities from seven districts would benefit greatly. “With a big number of teachers skilled in Special Needs Education, our disabled children will now have an advantage of getting the education that they are entitled to,” said, Rwaka who also represents persons with disabilities in the Parliament. He urged parents not to give up on their children because they are disabled but to find ways of helping them learn. ADRA Programme Manager Esther Nandudu said their main objective is to ensure that a good number of teachers graduate in the special needs education programme. “Having these teachers graduate is our main goal because this means that children with disabilities will have a chance to get education as their right,” Nandudu said. She also thanked the teachers for their dedication to learn, saying that without their input, it would be hard for ADRA to achieve this dream. The SNE policy recognizes that children with disabilities and those with other special educational needs have traditionally experienced exclusion, discrimination and segregation from the mainstream education and their peers. “Stakeholders and partners in education should employ collaborative effort in support of all activities related to special needs education to include the excluded children” she added. The government of Rwanda has recognized that education for all is an important strategy in the achievement of the millennium goals. In the Education Sector Strategic plan Framework (2006-10) the government of Rwanda is committed to basic education of all citizens through Universal Primary Education (UPE). Ends
