admin
Auxilia Katongomara Chronicle Reporter
THE United College of Education has intensified the enrolment of minority languages students including TjiKalanga and Tonga as well as Special Needs Education students to promote cultural diversity and empower people living with disabilities, the college principal, Adam Luthuli, has said.
Addressing guests and 422 graduates at the college’s 47th graduation ceremony on Friday, Luthuli said the college was now offering six languages including ChiShona, IsiNdebele and Sign language.
“We make a deliberate effort to make sure that diverse students — those with disabilities, different languages and cultures, different homes and family lives, different interests and ways of learning — are exposed to teacher education.
“In our teaching, we use strategies that reach them as individuals. In terms of catering for different languages and cultures, we’ve on offer IsiNdebele, ChiShona, English, TjiKalanga, Tonga and of course our niche ‘Sign Language’.
“I believe we’re one of the few colleges who can boast of offering six languages at this level,” said Luthuli.
There has been an outcry over the failure to recognise minority languages in the country and the failure by certain sections of society to recognise and accommodate children or people living with disabilities.
In the Matabeleland region, parents have complained about the deployment of non-Ndebele teachers to their schools.
Luthuli said his college was working towards championing the rights of people living with disabilities and the marginalised through teacher education.
“As an institution, we uphold the fact that college education is not a preserve of the “able” individuals but for all Zimbabwean citizens, including the disabled and marginalised.
“We’ve on record 26 disabled students enrolled in this institution. In the coming intake we’ve since offered places to 25 people with disabilities some of whom use wheelchairs,” said Luthuli.
He said his institution had since established an Inclusive Education Empowerment Resource Centre which offers services to all students with disabilities.
Luthuli thanked the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development for a $40,000 grant for the acquisition of assistive devices for students with disabilities.
Guest of honour, Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Godfrey Gandawa said there was a need to increase the enrolment of teachers who cater for pupils with special needs.
“The sanctity of the teaching process demands that all pupils including children with special needs must receive an education that enables them to achieve to their potential.
All our graduates need to practise an inclusive education system that enables all children to have access to available educational support in line with their needs,” said Gandawa.
The deputy minister said in line with Zim-Asset, teacher training institutions must not only focus on human capital but quality teachers who can adapt to the ever changing technological environment.
“It’s my ministry’s vision to have both highly effective and versatile teachers in the system because a teacher can be highly qualified but not be effective.
“Therefore, I challenge you to ensure not just the production of human capital but adaptable products that can fit into the general society,” said Gandawa.
A total of 422 teachers graduated and these were made up of 102 ECD teachers, 278 general course teachers and 43 special needs teachers.
UCE has a deliberate policy that is pro-women as 76 percent of the graduates were females.
The college’s 47th graduation ceremony was held under the theme, “Towards a Versatile 21st Century Teacher”.
Online Reporter