Policy on Special Needs Education

POLICY ON SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION

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MOTION ON POLICY ON SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION

MOVED IN THE ZIMBABWE SENATE
28th January 2014

TEXT OF THE MOTION

Question proposed: That this House:

COGNISANT OF THE many challenges faced by learners with disabilities at all educational levels.

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT national curriculum and qualifications requirements,

ALSO COGNISANT OF the peculiar learning needs of specific disability groups, Drawing from the wealth of knowledge and experience from products and beneficiaries of inclusive education, mainstreaming and integration in Zimbabwe, the SADC region as well as other international best practices from elsewhere in the global village;

GUIDED BY the observations, comments and recommendations of The Nziramasanga Presidential Commission Report with particular regards to Special Education,

Now, therefore recommends that

i)Government crafts a National Policy on Special Needs Education to give general guidance and direction to the development of special education, to the learning environment, the training and responsibilities of Special Education practitioners, the role and responsibilities of institutions involved in such education and training of persons with disabilities.

ii)Government enacts legislation on Special Needs Education to enforce the National Policy on Special Needs Education, and to regularise the national response to the diverse educational requirements of variously disabled persons and to create a facilitatory environment wherein learners with disabilities can benefit fully.

SPEECHES BY PROPOSER AND SECONDER

SENATOR MASHAVAKURE: Thank you Madam Presidentthe issue before us that this motion tries to address is a bit of a junglethat needs taming and that can only be done courtesy of our Governmentthrough its responsible structures. When we speak about education, weare not just talking about the primary or secondary bit. We are actuallytalking about everything educational, including the training programmesthat this nation undertakes. In other words, it includes even those thatare run by the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science andTechnology Development and other ministries which may be involved intraining. The problem with learners with disability starts off as usual,with negative perceptions and negative attitudes that are bound in oursociety and it is always difficult for them to be placed on an equalfooting with other learners.

Generally, they are not considered to be very relevant to what isconsidered in the education system. Sometimes even the learnededucation classes who are even more dangerous to the disabled becausethey yield so much power in terms of their literacy that they can evenquote all sorts of authorities, written and otherwise to prove that maybeeducating a disabled person is as good as nothing. The problem can alsostart with the family, where you find that in a family it is not always thecase that a disabled child would be prioritised to attend school at theexpense of other non disabled children. Generally, societal logic saysthat, it is better to take this non disabled child to school than to put onewith disability through the education system. They think that it is notvery beneficial. Normally, some of these family units would rathertransfer some of these responsibilities – educating a child with disabilityto a Non Governmental Organisation or even to the State.

Of course, we should not forget that sometimes it is out of genuinepoverty that these families cannot do whatever they are required to dofor the benefit of the child and so the situation is a bit complicated andsophisticated. Furthermore, there is the issue of the availability ofschools; a lot of people think that it is better for all children, includingthose with disabilities, to learn at the local the nearest school to theirhome. You will always find that there are challenges associated withthis desire or their wish because most of these schools are ill-prepared toenroll persons with disabilities. Even the ordinary disability likephysicals that can move but sometimes need to assistance of crunchesand wheelchairs, the parents cannot afford to provide such things andagain the school obviously cannot be expected to be able to provide suchthings because in any case, it is not their role to be able to give suchthings.

Equipment and other items to be used say braille books andhearing aids and things like that are not always available in localcommunity schools and therefore it complicates the whole thing. Thebest scenario that arises is that learners must go to distant boardingschools or special schools or schools with resource units where they canlearn as a group and facilities provided. Even that brings its ownchallenges in bringing the child to school in the company of an aide orrelative and the high cost of the boarding fees, which all of us knowabout these days. If the parent cannot pay for the fees at a local schoolwhich is supposed to be cheaper, what about the fees at a boardingschool which most of it ranges from US$400 to US$600 per term.

Again, we find that there are other issues that come in there forinstance, what happens when they get to school, what do they learn andwho decides what they learn? A lot of people will agree that actuallylearners with disabilities, like everybody, will be taught whatever isprescribed by the national curriculum. I think for many years, we havebeen able to do that and I think in the recent past there has been somedisturbing developments, especially with regard to learners with visualimpairment whereby they have been discouraged or excluded fromstudying subjects like mathematics and science. That has its problemslater because, when you want to go to some of these training institutionslike universities and other tertiary vocational colleges, they want to seethat you did some mathematics at O level, at least up to A level. Thatcreates problems for them because they cannot enroll to some of thoseplaces because they will not have studied mathematics or science. Theresult is that they cannot be allowed to participate in the course that theywant to participate in.

You know what happens, it means in the world of visuallyimpaired, a lot of them end up being driven into the streets. They have todo a bit of singing which we are all familiar with. My worry is that in thepast, we were able to do some of those subjects. Visually handicappedstudents were able to do those subjects with no problem but, for somereason, these days; there are schools where children are being preventedfrom studying mathematics and science. I do not know why, because forinstance, in my learning days, my specialist teacher, who transcribed theBraille into print for my teachers to mark was a Standard 6 teacher whohad not gone to secondary.

He was able to translate those materials from Braille to print. Theteachers who taught me at secondary, marked those and they knew whatthose signs meant. But, for some reason, now some of the kind ofspecialist teachers that we have, who did O level or A level, cannot dothat now. They may end up encouraging learners to drop off from thoseparticular subjects. There is also the other possibility that, even theordinary teachers who will be teaching the subjects, may not becomfortable teaching a blind learner, because they are not trained tohandle such situations.

It could be that both scenarios, that is the specialist teacher as wellas the mainstream teacher, are being unable to handle the situation andthat results in trouble for the future of the particular blind learner. Forthose that are not in the know, when I say mainstream teacher andspecialist teacher, a specialist teacher is the one who is trained to dealwith the Braille. In Zimbabwe at the moment, it is done at the UnitedCollege of Education in Bulawayo. Long back, they used to do it in Mt.Mulanje College in Malawi. Later, it was done at Waddilove. It wasdone there for some years and later, they stopped it. I was taught bypeople who had come from Waddilove and Mt. Mulanje. I do not knowwhat could be happening with United College of Education orsomething in between. I think this is an issue which is very important. Itneeds urgent attention because people are being disadvantaged fromproceeding on certain courses because of this problem.

Another area which needs attention is that of the hearing impaired.They cannot comfortably access or be accommodated by the publicexamination system in Zimbabwe. Those students cannot hear and theycannot speak the way that we do.

So when they write, obviously the ordinary marker who does notknow that the person who has written that particular manuscript, is ahearing impaired, he thinks that the student was just joking and he markshim/her down. Now with this new Constitution that we have adopted inthe country, sign language has been made a national language. I hopethat this will help the situation of learners with hearing impairment.They are making sure that even ZIMSEC adapts its systems to cater forthis particular long standing need which has been around with us forquite some time. Attention should also be given to the couching classes.

A lot of us know them as special classes. In ordinary schoolswherever they find people, they refer them to special classes. But, thereare people who think that these are meant to provide remedial tuition tolearners who may be lagging behind in terms of spelling, reading ormathematical or numerous skills. Yet, a lot of parents find theseconvenient places where they can put their own disabled children,especially those with mental and intellectual challenges and hearingimpairments.

I think we cannot condemn them because that is what they canafford and that is convenient to them. It is closer to home but, onewonders whether they really get value in terms of the education thatthese particular groups receive. One wonders whether they really getvalue in whatever they receive in those circumstances. The teacher in thespecial class has to deal with all sorts of people starting from slowlearners. As I said earlier, they could be having problems with spelling,reading and mathematics, and then this particular one hearing impairedand another one intellectual mental challenges.

I think Government has to step in and start ordering the situation sothat it is possible for some of these special classes to be turned into crossdisability facilities. Whoever joins them, can meaningfully benefit fromwhatever is being provided or whatever can be provided by theparticular teacher or else, strengthen advisory services relevant andappropriate divertive services that could be used by parents to see wheretheir children really fit.

The other big problem is that when we come to training at thetraining institutions, that is why I said, when we talk about the educationof the disabled learner, we look at every aspect including the higher andtertiary, whatever ministry may be training a sweeper or a cleaner to dowhatever they do. The institutions responsible for this are not alwaysprepared for the eventuality that one of the days; they might get adisabled student or learner in their systems. So, there are alwaysproblems and the result in most cases is that, the learner is rejected andthe college cannot accept that particular student.

I was talking to somebody called Andrew Mutambisa and SisterCatherine who are in charge of this Dorothy Duncan Braille Libraryalong Five Avenue, between Third Street and Fourth Street. They weretelling me that they received a lot of people who got blind in their teensor in adulthood.

After providing them with self help skills like beingable to read Braille, walk alone, cook and maybe assert themselves interms of whatever, learning computers and so forth, they then want togo back to the education system toaccess training in some course. They get rejected by some of thecolleges even if they have passed all these other subjects becausesometimes, they will have passed them before losing their sight. I do notknow Madam President, if I am allowed to give names, just in case Imay not be allowed, there is an institution which used to train visuallyimpaired people who would become rehabilitation technicians, what youwould generally call physiotherapy.

These days they are refusing to take people into that course and peopleare just wondering why? Some of those people that I am talking about, Ihave been told that at Dorothy Duncan Braille Library, they are allowedto go and train there but they could not and it involves several others inother parts of the country who have tried it and they have not beensuccessful. I think I heard rumours of others who have tried but theywere disqualified on the grounds that maybe they did not domathematics or science. All these are issues that need a special needseducation framework to sort them out or to tame the jungle.

You alsofind thatPeoplewill also get all sorts of claims and allegations. For instance, some ofthese people who pay school fees, at not just one but many boardingschools in the country, for disabled learners, somehow find out that theyare paying school fees, for example for Mashavakure and maybe SenatorCarter and Senator Chief Charumbira are also paying for Mashavakure,but at the end of the year, when the new year comes around, the sameschool is not willing to say that this child’s school fees was paid forthree times last year by three different people. They will still claim thatyou must pay fees and yet they already have, maybe, school fees forthree years.

So, some of those things are things which need the State’s attentionby way of intervention through coming up with a special needseducation policy, to sort of tame the jungle as I said, to make sure thateverything is done above board and the special needs education area isproperly run and administered. It is in light of these things that I wouldlike to call upon this august Senate to recommend to Government thaturgent attention be taken to put in place the National Special NeedsPolicy as well as a Special Needs Education and Training Act or Bill toadminister affairs in the special needs education sector. That will set theparameters and guidelines for how special needs education needs to bepracticed and experienced in this country. As well as to provide theframework for the professional and ethical conduct of special needseducation practitioners and the institutions that train them, as well asthose institutions and their staff who offer educational and trainingfacilities to learners with disabilities at all levels. And lastly, to combatand confront negative attitudes and societal prejudices against disabilityby law. Thank you Madam President.

*SENATOR SHIRI: Thank you Madam President, may I pleasebe allowed to make my contribution while seated. I will start bycongratulating and thanking Hon. Mashavakure for raising this pertinentmotion, which is very constructive and very educative especially to thepeople of Zimbabwe. This motion also encourages that disabledchildren should be educated in a core curriculum programme, wherebythey will share facilities with other children who are not disabled.

Thismotion also calls for children living with disabilities to learn and playwith children who are not disabled.Madam President, I say so because in our day to day living,disability is something which is very unusual. To other people it is afrightful situation and to some, living with a disability seems to becontagious. The problem with being disabled is that people view peopleliving with disability as people who are down trodden, they aredemonised and this is really painful. I say so because there are differentforms of disability. As one of the people living with disability, weusually want to correct the language used against us. It is very painfulwhen we hear adults or children talking to people saying that disabledperson, that blind person. You find that, according to the language used,it is equivalent to talking as if you are referring the person to a baboon,spook, that nonsense. Let us use polite language. Let us talk of awoman living with a man with a disability, how would you feel hearingpeople talking to him as if he is a creature with some inhuman elements?Living with a disability is not of our liking.

I will now turn to the living conditions of people living withdisabilities. You will find that as soon as a child is born with a disabilityin a family, there is chaos in that family because that child is seen as adisgrace to the family. That child is hidden behind closed doors, so thathe does not share the same facilities and play with other children. Thatchild is not catered for in the rightful manner as is done to other childrenwithout disability. We find that the child with disability is not treated asa human being but as a thing. The child is deprived of the right toeducation. The whole of that child’s life is also delegated to the dustbins. Even if he was capable of going to school, that right is denied.

We also call upon the Ministry of Education that children livingwith disabilities which can be compatible to education, should be giventhat chance to access education in neighborhood education facilities butyou find that when the child with disability comes to look for a place atthat school, the Head of the school or whoever is responsible for offeringplaces will tell you that your child will have problems coming to school.We even heard some educationists with foul mouths, referring to thechild, saying the child is going to scare other children and they are notallowed to share facilities with your child because the other children feardisability.