Chronicle Editor
Uzile Mkwananzi, Sunday News Reporter
KING George VI Centre, a school for learners with various disabilities has appealed to stakeholders and well-wishers to assist in keeping the institution operational as it is facing a number of challenges.
The school which is located in Kumalo suburb, Bulawayo, is one of the country’s biggest facilities that accommodates people with disabilities, specifically those with hearing, visual, and speech impairments. They also house those with physical disabilities.
In an interview, the school’s deputy headmistress, Ms Sibonginkosi Dube, said the biggest challenge they have as a school was transportation. The school does not have a bus that can help ferry learners to and from the school.
“Transport is a huge issue as parents are struggling to pay and most of these children come from the western areas of town that are far from the school so they need to board from their homes to town and from town to school. This then becomes a strenuous process as most of the children need to be accompanied. If it is possible to get transport that can ferry our students from town to the school and back to town, it would be much appreciated,” said Ms Dube.
She said it would cushion parents who needed to bring their children to the special needs school but can’t afford the transport costs. Ms Dube said negative attitudes from some parents and the community towards differently abled children affect the learners and how they portray themselves.
“The challenges that we face as an organisation include negative attitudes from parents and the community. It also makes the children have those negative attitudes which in turn lowers their self-esteem and affects their results,” she said.
The deputy headmistress also lamented school fees challenges as most of the student’s tuition was paid for through government’s Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam).
“Since some parents have negative attitudes towards such children, fees is paid for the able-bodied ones in the home first, while those with disabilities are neglected and some genuinely cannot afford to pay for tuition fees. Our policy says every child with a disability is vulnerable, so if they are vulnerable they should have fees paid for by an organisation and in this case our learners are under Beam. In as much as the organisation tries to help, we face challenges because fees are paid late and in local currency while suppliers of school equipment require foreign currency. This becomes difficult for the school to be able to purchase and accomplish whatever we would be planning,” said Ms Dube.
In addition, schools that focus mainly on people with disabilities are limited and the ones that already exist are over-enrolled. According to Government policy, all schools should be able to cater for differently abled individuals. Schools have therefore been called to have ramps for those using wheelchairs and also have several staff members who can communicate with learners who have various impairments.
Director of Communication and Advocacy in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Mr Taungana Ndoro said all schools should be accommodative of people with disabilities as it was Government policy.
“Every school is supposed to be inclusive and cater for learners with disabilities. It is policy and yes, we are training and capacitating our teachers to learn how to teach and communicate with learners with various disabilities,” he said.
Bongani Ndlovu