Sending children with disabilities to school vital

Disability Issues

Dr Christine Peta

A CHILD without education is like a building without a foundation.

Education is a means to personal growth and development, as well as the road to the development of every community.

Some parents and guardians of children with disabilities do not send them to school as they wrongly believe their lives will amount to nothing on the basis of disability.

However, the reality is that every child, regardless of disability, has a right to education, and failure by parents and guardians to facilitate the enrolment of children with disabilities in schools is a serious violation of the children’s human rights.

In instances where some parents and guardians of children with disabilities enrol them in learning institutions, they may always be late for class or may often be absent due to lack of support with regard to travelling to and from school.  Children with disabilities must, along with others, be at school on time and attend class on a regular basis.

This will not only help children with disabilities to fit in but also feel comfortable with others.

It also helps children without disabilities to embrace those with disabilities, thus catching all of them young, especially in relation to teaching them to embrace bodily differences.

The result is elimination of stigma and discrimination on the basis of disability.

Some parents and guardians of children with disabilities, particularly in rural areas, may prefer to take their young ones to the fields, instead of school, arguing that there is no one at home to take care of them.

 But schooling helps children with disabilities to develop their minds, learn about the world around them and become useful members of the community.

A child with some types of disabilities may not be able to learn to read, write or count like other children.

However, the bottom line is that every child — regardless of disability — has a right to education.

As such, parents and guardians should facilitate the enrolment of children with disabilities in school for the following reasons:

• Schooling develops the abilities that children with disabilities have
• Schooling helps children with disabilities to have the feeling of belonging to a group
• Schooling teaches children with disabilities to get along with others, work with others and how to behave in the company of others
• Schooling teaches children with disabilities to accept rules
• Schooling teaches children with disabilities to take responsibility
• Schooling helps children with disabilities to become independent adults
• Schooling prepares children with disabilities to be able to earn money for themselves
• Schooling teaches children with disabilities about the activities that help them undertake certain activities that represent their own contribution in the family and community

Depending on the type of disability, some children are able to go to school and come back on their own.

If the child is unable to do this, parents and guardians should try as much as they can to train the young one by going the same way several times when walking together.

For sighted children, parents and guardians must point out what is happening on the way, showing the child landmarks such as trees and houses.

In some instances, point out sounds such as those of rivers.

But aides are required in some circumstances.

There is a need for parents and guardians to teach children with disabilities how to cross roads and what to do when there is traffic.

Children with disabilities must watch and listen for any vehicles and cross only when the road is clear or the vehicles have stopped.

Depending on the type of disability of the child and if they can walk, there is need to walk with them to school and back several times, as this is how they will learn to find their own way.

The child may not be able to learn to walk to school by himself or herself.

Some parents and guardians may also not want their children with disabilities to walk to school alone.

In such instances, they must ensure they take them to school and back.

We all need to realise that lack of appropriate inclusive education perpetuates poverty, particularly in situations where children with disabilities would later have limited opportunities to enter the formal labour market or to establish income-generating projects that enable them to fend for themselves, pull their families out of poverty and contribute towards the development of the nation.

Let us ensure they are enrolled in appropriate schools.

* Dr Christine Peta is a disability, policy, international development and research expert. She is the national director of disability affairs in Zimbabwe. She can be contacted on: [email protected]