Special education unit opens at Nansenga Primary School

–The Ministry of Education Science, Vocational Training and Early Education has opened a Special Education unit at Nansenga Primary School in Chikankata district.

Speaking in an interview with ZANIS today, Chikankata District Education Board Secretary (DEBS) Collard Chilala said every child has a right to education and therefore even those children with special needs should receive an education.

Mr Chilala said the unit will accord an opportunity to children with special needs to learn and uplift their livelihood in future.

He emphasized on the need for parents to desist from the culture of hiding children with special needs but to bring them out in order for them to be educated.

In a separate interview with the Standards Officer for Special Education, Sianungu Siamujaya, explained that the unit comprises six (6) pupils namely five hearing impaired pupils and one with learning disabled.

He noted that one pupil is equivalent to ten normal children, saying such a child already makes a full class.

Mr Sianungu said because the children have different needs the teacher has to plan carefully for each child.

He said the pupils have already started learning as a teacher for special education is already available.

He noted that the revised curriculum for sign language and braille frames and other basic requirements are available.

Mr Sianungu appealed to parents in Chikankata who have children with severe and profound special education needs and those who cannot benefit from the ordinary classroom arrangement to bring them forward so they too could learn.