The Guyana Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities held its third Schools Disability Symposium among 19 schools last week, as part of observances for National Disability Week 2010.
At the St Joseph High School, students from primary, secondary and special schools made presentations relative to the theme for National Disability Week: ‘Keeping the Promise: Include persons with disabilities in the Millennium Development Goals’.
According to the Chairman of the Guyana Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities Leon Walcott, the purpose was to raise awareness about disability among young people using the “child-teach-child” concept. He said the concept is very effective.
At the symposium, participating schools had to make presentations on a topic related to the theme of National Disability Week. Leonora Primary won first place for its presentation on the topic, ‘The ultimate goal of inclusive quality education is to end all forms of discrimination and assist in improving the lives of persons living with disabilities’. It was presented by Narissa Persaud. Grove Primary and Stewartville Primary took the second and third places, respectively.
In the secondary category, Elson Lowe won first place for Queen’s College for his presentation on the topic ‘Do you think that if parents and teachers cooperate, persons living with disabilities would enjoy a better quality of life?’ Fort Wellington and Apex Academy took the second and third places, respectively, in the category.
And in the special needs schools’ presentation, Open Doors Vocational Training Centre for persons with Disabilities took first place for its presentation on the topic ‘In what ways can young people provide support for persons living with disabilities’. New Amsterdam Special Needs School and David Rose Special Needs School took second and third place, respectively.
The one day meeting was a collaborative effort between the council, VSO, the European Union and the National Commission on Disability.
