The Government has been challenged to hasten campaigns to ensure all children with disabilities are integrated into normal education institutions to fully enjoy their right to inclusive education.
Leading researchers on education issues Nancy Marangu and Jackline Lidubwi argue that embedding special education into normal schools and environments like had happened in most developed Countries, education analysts would highly minimize the presently apparent barriers to education.
They described that the pace at which the ministry of education was mainstreaming learners with disabilities in normal schools remained slow and worrying.
A survey by the Education News in Embu County revealed that some schools specifically hosting children with various disabilities continue to operate complete with signboards indicating they are only for the handicapped.
In instances where children with disabilities learn in normal schools special classrooms have been set aside and some learners who at times failure to perform well are forced to repeat while they are stigmatized frequently by being openly called special learners by fellow pupils, students and teachers.
In a report, the researchers advised that Kenya as a signatory of the 2030 Agenda For Sustainable Development [SDG] need to hasten work on systems for all inclusive education, a package which called for significant structural changes at all education levels.
The ministry of education, they suggested needed to form an all-inclusive education unit to lead the country policies’ and plans transition towards progress in all inclusive education to ensure all children enjoyed their right to education irrespective of their disabilities.
Such a unit would aid in formulation of legislation bench-marked through successful Countries and education institution, said the scholars.
They advised that in creating the required policies the children with disabilities and their representatives’ would work with experts in designing, implementation and monitoring of all inclusive education methods as well as curriculum formulation for teachers.
The scholars suggested that programs be launched to ensure that all teachers and their support teams underwent compulsory pre-service and in service on all inclusive education methods as an integral part of the teacher training curriculum.
They noted the need for policies which allowed parents, guardians and learners had charnels to raise complaints in all inclusive education access adding that all education stakeholders in the country needed to proactive in supporting children with disabilities access education.
Persons with disabilities, the scholars said remained in the periphery of systems to monitor and evaluate implementation of the SDGs in education yet they remained a pillar to successful formation of conducive policies on all inclusive education and their implementation.
By Robert Nyagah
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