The Ministry of Education is consulting with partners such as UNICEF to draft a five-year plan that ensures that the needs of differently-abled children are met.
Speaking at an Inclusive Education Expo last week, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand said she hoped the action plan can be completed by the end of the year.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release, the ministry highlighted its accomplishments in early childhood education and the services it provides to further its inclusive education agenda,while noting that it has partnered with UNICEF and several other private and public sector entities to bring them to fruition.
Manickchand told the gathering that government recognises that all children must be served, particularly in the education sector.
She noted that while in many parts of the world there is a struggle to ensure that girls, indigenous and ethnic groups are educated, “In Guyana when we speak of inclusive education we speak mostly of including our children with special needs.”
Meanwhile, Chief Education Officer Olato Sam said the expo would help the ministry to display the wide range of services it currently has available to further the broader agenda of inclusive education. “Students with disabilities and teachers with same are clearly brought into focus with regards [to] the role everyone can play to improve the quality of their lives and ensure they have equal rights that we all enjoy within the structures of this society,” he emphasised.
Sam expressed hope that stakeholders would have left the expo enlightened and empowered to reach out to the vulnerable groups within society. “If we are to attain our broader objective of having a Nation of One People, One Nation, and One Destiny we must not fail in our efforts to ensure that this broader objective of transforming this nation is attained,” he said.
UNICEF Programme Officer (Learning and Development) Audrey Michele Rodrigues in presenting the UNICEF/UNESCO Regional Report on Out of School Children to the ministry noted that as duty bearers everyone must acknowledge the fundamental right of every child to reach his/her potential through basic education and to take the appropriate action to fulfil this right.
She emphasised that UNICEF is concerned about the state of children who are out of school across the globe. In this regard, she highlighted that 22.1 million children and adolescents in Latin America and Caribbean are not in school or are at serious risk of dropping out.
Of that number, 6.5 million do not attend school while 15.6 million carry the burden of failure and inequality.
These are either due to starting school late or having a record of grade repetition. Additionally, 1.7 million children of pre-school age are not in school.
Rodrigues commended the ministry for its efforts in ensuring an over 80 per cent access rate at the nursery level and for its record keeping on the number of school drop outs and strides made towards reintegrating and keeping them in school.
According to GINA, the ministry’s current Strategic Plan states as one of its core objectives that it is committed to ensuring that all citizens regardless of race, age or creed, physical or mental disability and socio-economic status are given the best possible opportunity to achieve their full potential through equal access to quality education.
