Policy on disability still not implemented in most schools
MBABANE – Most schools have challenges in implementing the inclusive education policy, which would allow children with certain disabilities to learn with able-bodied peers.
The Ministry of Education and Training says while the Education Sector Policy provides that all public schools should adhere and adopt the inclusive education policy, and all staff hired by schools properly trained, most schools have not been able to fully implement it. Principal Secretary (PS) Bhekithemba Gama said even though they had teachers on the ground ready to cater for all children in all kinds of schools, it sometimes proved difficult to implement the inclusive education.
“Implementing inclusive education is one of the major challenges facing the educational system. One of the main difficulties in implementing this is that general education teachers receive insufficient training to work in complex teaching contexts and to respond to the unique needs of all the pupils in their classrooms,” he said in an interview.
Well-trained
Gama said there was a need for many well-trained and motivated teachers who could help ensure that every child learnt to their full potential from an early age and entered adulthood well-equipped to be an active citizen and support the development of their community and country. He said many countries did not have enough teachers, let alone teachers who received sufficiently high quality pre and inservice training and access to continuing professional development.
“I plead with parents who feel like they are not accommodated enough and their children’s disability needs are not catered for to report this to their Regional Education Officer. There are always steps to follow in a system when seeking help and they should get the help they need,” he said.
Shiselweni Regional Education Officer (REO) Siboniso Gumbi said every child deserved to be in school despite their disability.
“If a child is partially disabled they should be afforded the same opportunity as others. Schools that have not adopted the policy are in breach because it was said that every school should adopt the policy,” said Gumbi. During a parents’meeting held recently at Mbabane Central High School, parents raised that schools should improve the inclusive programme to accommodate pupils with disabilities.
Concerns
Some parents raised concerns regarding the inclusive education, stating that their children were not included or accommodated by many schools.
“Inclusive education mandates that schools can and should accommodate all children, yet I feel like this school does not fully accommodate our children. Even us as parents are not accommodated enough by the school during meetings,” said the parent. Another parent shared that the school needed to go back to the drawing board to ensure they accommodated them.
“It would be good to have someone here and interpret things to us. This is very hard because we have disabilities and some of our children are partially disabled,” said the parent.
Inclusive education means all children in the same classrooms, in the same schools. It means real learning opportunities for groups who have traditionally been excluded – not only children with disabilities, but speakers of minority languages too. Inclusive systems require changes at all levels of society.