The Sunday Mail (Zimbabwe)

Sending children with disabiliti­es to school vital

- Dr Christine Peta

ACHILD without education is like a building without a foundation. Education is a means to personal growth and developmen­t, as well as the road to the developmen­t of every community. Some parents and guardians of children with disabiliti­es do not send them to school as they wrongly believe their lives will amount to nothing on the basis of disability.

However, the reality is that every child, regardless of disability, has a right to education, and failure by parents and guardians to facilitate the enrolment of children with disabiliti­es in schools is a serious violation of the children’s human rights.

In instances where some parents and guardians of children with disabiliti­es enrol them in learning institutio­ns, they may always be late for class or may often be absent due to lack of support with regard to travelling to and from school. Children with disabiliti­es must, along with others, be at school on time and attend class on a regular basis.

This will not only help children with disabiliti­es to fit in but also feel comfortabl­e with others.

It also helps children without disabiliti­es to embrace those with disabiliti­es, thus catching all of them young, especially in relation to teaching them to embrace bodily difference­s.

The result is eliminatio­n of stigma and discrimina­tion on the basis of disability.

Some parents and guardians of children with disabiliti­es, particular­ly in rural areas, may prefer to take their young ones to the fields, instead of school, arguing that there is no one at home to take care of them.

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