Government continues to create an enabling environment for people living with disabilities (PLWD) to overcome life hurdles.
Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Mr Moiseraele Goya saidthis, on February 13, at the official handing over of equipment and materials for learners with special needs at Ramotswa Centre for the Deaf.
Mr Goya said government efforts were geared towards creating an enabling environment for people living with disabilities to nurture and grow their talents.
The assistant minister said that would ensure that they graduated from dependency to independent and to succeed in life as their peers do. “Clearly young people living with disabilities require appropriate knowledge and skills in order to achieve improved livelihoods,” Mr Goya said.
To improve the access to education for leaners with special needs, he said government has fully embraced the global agenda of education for all. In order to conform fully, he said government was in the process of changing the entire education and training landscape from pre-primary to university to enhance the principles of access, equity, relevance, quality and lifelong learning for all. Thus, Mr Goya said it was vital to ensure that schools had critical inputs such as adequate supply of teaching and learning materials.
“While it is the primary duty of the government to ensure that all schools are appropriately provided with the critical inputs needed for good learning, it would be unrealistic to expect government to shoulder this responsibility alone,” he added.
Assistant Minister Goya said government values the role of other stakeholders in provision of education and the necessary infrastructure, equipment and learning materials. Further, he added that the donation was to ensure that every child had access to relevant quality education.
The assistant minister added that the ministry procured equipment and materials for leaners with intellectual disabilities and hearing impairment at the amount of over P2million. He said the procured supplies were to be used to teach different skills such as pre-vocational skills, hospitality, leather works, gardening, basic cooking skills and activities of daily living.
Mr Goya said 36 schools with special units stand to benefit adding that a total of 1 796 leaners from both primary and secondary school level would benefit.
Earlier, Balete Kgosi Mosadi Seboko said it was the responsibility of every member of the community to contribute to the proper development of the people living with disabilities. She said the role of the society was to mould them to become better leaders in the future. Among the donated equipment’s were ICT equipment, education toys and other supporting materials.
Source : BOPA
Source : Botswana Daily News