Gov’t to sponsor over 30,000 school children living with disabilities

The government, through the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, has pledged support for 30,170 children with disabilities studying in different schools across the country.

Addressing the press yesterday, the Minister of General Education and Instruction, Awut Deng Acuil, said the government would support children with disabilities in both primary and secondary schools to pursue their studies.

“We will also work hard to ensure that the many out-of-school children with disabilities can enrol or return to school to complete their education,” Acuil, told journalists yesterday.

She made the statement ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which is always commemorated on December 3.

This year’s theme is ‘‘leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible, and sustainable post–COVID-19 world”.

 “We believe that it’s only through education that every girl and boy with a disability can realise their potential to improve their chances of living a meaningful life as a dignified citizen of our country,” Awut said.

The minister called on the local communities, government and development partners to make the dream of the government a reality.

This year, 2021, the government, through the concerned ministry [general education and instruction], launched what they term as a “national policy on inclusive education”, that calls for quality inclusive education for all children, including those with disabilities.

Awut stressed that over the next five years, the implementation of the policy will help to systematically address the issues facing children with disabilities.

Training initiated

 She revealed that the ministry has already started with a large-scale national teacher’ training program and several complementary measures to strengthen services for children with disabilities.

“While the process of building the capacity of educators and other key stakeholders is taking place, schools must accept and welcome children with disabilities and other children at risk of exclusion from the beginning of this policy are being approved and communicated,” said the minister.

Despite the fact that combating discrimination against people with disabilities is enshrined in the constitution, she stated that the government recognizes that many children with disabilities face barriers to enrolling in school and completing their education.

In October 2021, the union of visually impaired people in Central Equatoria State graduated 28 visually impaired students who attended computer training in Juba.

The students were divided into two categories: basic and advanced, which entails the use of the internet for those who attended the basic training.

Among them were five women and 23 men who completed the training successfully, and were awarded the certificate of merit.

In the same month of October, legislators at the Juba City Council announced the plan to start registering all persons with disabilities, including children, to ease service delivery to them.

The decision came after the members of the Disability Forum Club raised concerns about the lack of data on people with disabilities in Juba City.

The Chairperson of the Juba City Legislative Assembly, Peter Loro Paulino, stated that with readily available data, the government will easily address the plights of the aforementioned group.