Education Ministry Provides Wheelchairs for Special Needs Students

Twenty retrofitted wheelchairs have been procured by the Ministry of Education for the 2013/14 academic year, to assist physically challenged students in special education facilities island-wide.

This disclosure was made by Chief Education Officer in the Ministry, Grace McLean, at a Think Tank held recently, at the Jamaica Information Service’s (JIS) head office in Kingston.

Mrs. McLean said there has been an incremental increase in the Ministry’s budget for special education students.

“We are trying to provide the support that is required for our special needs students, because the Ministry believes that every child should be given equal opportunity to reach their fullest potential, whether they are disabled or able-bodied,” she stated.

She informed of plans to purchase additional assistive aids to support other special needs students, as the new school year progresses.

Mrs. McLean explained that the Ministry caters for students with mild, moderate, and severe disabilities and seeks to ensure that the basic facilities are in place to meet their needs.

Students with moderate and severe disabilities are placed in schools where there are ramps and there are also instances where classrooms have been relocated to the ground floor, to facilitate these pupils. “This provides ease of access to bathrooms, cafeterias, and libraries, depending on how the school is built,” she said.

Mrs. McLean said having seen and heard the challenges encountered by some physically challenged students daily, the Ministry is endeavouring to improve the facilities in a number of schools, to make them more accessible, in due course.

“We have a number of schools that we have been working with to improve their facilities, island-wide. All the new schools that we have built in the last 10 years are retrofitted with the kind of access that would be needed for our special needs students,” the Chief Education Officer said.

She said there is greater need for a more inclusive society for persons with special needs, and the Ministry is committed to providing adequate support to this group, to facilitate their education.

Other plans include: the provision of additional furniture, and the training of special education teachers to assist students at the primary level.