Malawi Council for the Handicapped (Macoha) has asked the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) to implement inclusive education where all children, regardless of their physical disabilities, should be learning together.
Speaking in an interview on Wednesday, Macoha rehabilitation officer David Banda said children with and without disabilities should be given equal opportunities and access to education, a dream he said can be realised by avoiding isolating disabled children from others.
He said some children with disabilities are being separated from other children because of laxity by government in not fully implementing its disability-friendly policies.
Said Banda: “Government does not give a lot of attention to disability issues. Look at the Disability Act, it is good but there is no implementation so far.
“It is the mandate of MoEST to implement government policies pertaining to education.”
“The Act stipulates that all government ministries need to mainstream disability issues in their plans, but that is not happening.”
He asked the ministry to deploy more specialist teachers to Ntchisi, saying there are only three specialist teachers to cater for all schools in the district.
In his response, Ntchisi district education manager Votie Mboweni said low intake for training of specialist teachers remains a challenge; hence, there are few available. He expressed optimism that the ministry will increase the intake.
