Rwanda’s Inclusive Education Policy, has been put in place to ensure that all children and youth, including those with disabilities, have access to equitable, inclusive, and quality education.
In line with effort to improve the standard among key actors in inclusive education, partners in the policy recommends enhanced capacity development among special teachers for children with disabilities.
“There is still insufficient number of teachers for needed special education. There is a need for Sustainable teachers’ trainings. Capacity development is needed to ensure inclusive child friendly approaches,” said Mary Kobusingye, Special Needs Education Expert at the Ministry of Education, during a consultation workshop for developed policy and guidelines for Inclusive education and access to information for Persons with Disabilities, under the theme ‘’Promoting Inclusive Education through Accessible Digital Learning Materials’.
The virtual meeting was held on March 31, 2022, bringing together different partners in inclusive education.
“Teachers have not enough skills to identify complicities of some disabilities, so more trainings are needed to help tackle that challenge. We need to know firstly what a child is able to do and get to know how to help that particular child with appropriate teaching methods,” added Kobusingye.
Speaking during the workshop, Nicodeme Hakizimana, Executive Director of OIPPA Rwanda said: “Some teachers don’t know that albinism is a disability. They just take it as a skin color. So, if teachers are not aware, it is very difficult for them to help the students”.
