Education stakeholders in Tanga region and elsewhere in the country have been urged to put more efforts in establishing the necessary infrastructure to cater for children with disabilities.
The plea was made by the Assistant Director for Disabled Children from the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, Mr Kulwa Benjamin, noting that the infrastructure will enable disabled children to get access to education easily.
Mr Kulwa said here yesterday when he was opening a three day workshop on inclusive education organized by Come Together Organization which is based in Sweden.
He said according government policy, education is offered through the inclusive or special needs system to cater for disabled children in the country. However, he said that he inclusive faces various challenges, the major one being that of infrastructure for disabled children and called on stakeholders to consider those with disabilities when building new schools or renovating old ones.
“Let us create a friendly environment in our schools to enable disabled children access education without any obstacles, though we have special schools but the emphasis is on inclusive education so that children can mingle and be able to live and cope with one another,” he said.
He also challenged communities to contribute in the development of disabled children’s education sector because some of the equipment needed by disabled children in schools are expensive.
Come Together Organisation Manager, Ms Johanna Bergsten, who organised the event in collaboration with Tanga based Youth with Disability Community Programme (YDCP), said that her organization was assisting in inclusive education in two countries another being Rwanda.
“Our goal is to make sure that disabled children of Tanzania and Rwanda get education through inclusive education, we will continue facilitating the aid, this is our focus, we want other stakeholders to work with us in addressing challenges facing disabled children,” she said. The workshop drew participants from Tanzania and Rwanda, mainly from organizations dealing with disabled children.
By NESTORY NGWEGA, Tanzania Daily News