Over 3000 blind children lack access to education
Prospects appear grim for the education of children with visual impairments
By Musa Barrow
Three thousand and two hundred (3200) blind children in the country do not attend school.This is according to a report recently issued by Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and Sight Savers International.
“There is an estimated population of 3200 incurable blind and partially sighted children who are not enrolled at school,” says the report.
It further says that only 222 blind Gambian children attend school.All of these children who go to school, come from Kanifing,Western and North Bank regions. .
Blind children in 3 regions forgotten
This means those visually impaired children in Lower River, Central River and Upper River regions, have no access to education.
“Children who are blind and low vision in the remaining regions of the country still do not have access to inclusive education,” the report highlights.
Money shortage blocks blind education
Lack of money is the reason why the 3200 children still idle at home, rather than go to school.The Special Needs Unit, government department responsible for blind education, does not have a budget allocated to the education of blind children.
Its ability to train enough teachers on blind education and provide braille machines and printers is limited. The Special Needs Unit often collaborates with organisations that provide some financial support.The unit’s latest collaboration was with Sight-Savers International.
Sight Savers saves some children
The international organisation provided over 7 million dalasis to kick start the Integrated Education Program from 2007 to 2011.The program which operated in only three regions of the country, was aimed at teaching blind and sighted children together in normal schools.
Most of those 222 blind school-going children were funded by the said program, while 40 children are being educated at the school run by the blind organisation.
The program which operated in only three regions of the country, was aimed at teaching blind and sighted children together in normal schools.
Sight Savers project ends
However, the Sight-Savers project ended on December 31st, 2011. It remains to be seen where funds to support the education of blind children will come from. The end of the Sight Savers’ project means the intervention of another organisation with more money is needed.
Government’s response not enough
Anna Nancy Mendy, Head of Special Needs Unit says government will sustain the Sight-Savers program, but acknowledges money will be hard to come by.
The Government is training 36 teachers. These teachers will teach and support blind children in the country. The 36 teachers will complete their training in September 2012.
However, this number is not enough, as there are 3200 blind children in the country who are not going to school.
Another donor comes to rescue blind children
Meanwhile, The Gambia Organisation of the Visually Impaired (GOVI) has recently secured a 4.2 million dalasi project.
“The project will make sure that every blind child in the country has access to primary education,” says Mr.Muhammad Kora, president of GOVI who sounded rather optimistic.
This latest project has been funded by the British Department of International Development. It will train 150 teachers on braille reading and writing. In addition, the project will also buy braille machines for blind children.
New project falls short
In reality, even this 4.2 million dalasi project is not enough to send every Gambian blind child to school.4.2 million dalasi will fall short to buy one braille machine for each of the 3200 blind children not attending school. The sum can only buy 210 braille machines. It is estimated that one braille machine costs 20 thousand dalasi.
The future looks rather grim for the 3200 blind children who languish at homes, their dream of getting education is slipping away at a lightening pace.
By Musa Barrow
Three thousand and two hundred (3200) blind children in the country do not attend school.This is according to a report recently issued by Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and Sight Savers International.
“There is an estimated population of 3200 incurable blind and partially sighted children who are not enrolled at school,” says the report.
It further says that only 222 blind Gambian children attend school.All of these children who go to school, come from Kanifing,Western and North Bank regions. .
Blind children in 3 regions forgotten
This means those visually impaired children in Lower River, Central River and Upper River regions, have no access to education.
“Children who are blind and low vision in the remaining regions of the country still do not have access to inclusive education,” the report highlights.
Money shortage blocks blind education
Lack of money is the reason why the 3200 children still idle at home, rather than go to school.The Special Needs Unit, government department responsible for blind education, does not have a budget allocated to the education of blind children.
Its ability to train enough teachers on blind education and provide braille machines and printers is limited. The Special Needs Unit often collaborates with organisations that provide some financial support.The unit’s latest collaboration was with Sight-Savers International.
Sight Savers saves some children
The international organisation provided over 7 million dalasis to kick start the Integrated Education Program from 2007 to 2011.The program which operated in only three regions of the country, was aimed at teaching blind and sighted children together in normal schools.
Most of those 222 blind school-going children were funded by the said program, while 40 children are being educated at the school run by the blind organisation.
The program which operated in only three regions of the country, was aimed at teaching blind and sighted children together in normal schools.
Sight Savers project ends
However, the Sight-Savers project ended on December 31st, 2011. It remains to be seen where funds to support the education of blind children will come from. The end of the Sight Savers’ project means the intervention of another organisation with more money is needed.
Government’s response not enough
Anna Nancy Mendy, Head of Special Needs Unit says government will sustain the Sight-Savers program, but acknowledges money will be hard to come by.
The Government is training 36 teachers. These teachers will teach and support blind children in the country. The 36 teachers will complete their training in September 2012.
However, this number is not enough, as there are 3200 blind children in the country who are not going to school.
Another donor comes to rescue blind children
Meanwhile, The Gambia Organisation of the Visually Impaired (GOVI) has recently secured a 4.2 million dalasi project.
“The project will make sure that every blind child in the country has access to primary education,” says Mr.Muhammad Kora, president of GOVI who sounded rather optimistic.
This latest project has been funded by the British Department of International Development. It will train 150 teachers on braille reading and writing. In addition, the project will also buy braille machines for blind children.
New project falls short
In reality, even this 4.2 million dalasi project is not enough to send every Gambian blind child to school.4.2 million dalasi will fall short to buy one braille machine for each of the 3200 blind children not attending school. The sum can only buy 210 braille machines. It is estimated that one braille machine costs 20 thousand dalasi.
The future looks rather grim for the 3200 blind children who languish at homes, their dream of getting education is slipping away at a lightening pace.
Inadequate trained teachers hinders blind education
Graduates from The Gambia College lack the knowledge to read or write with the Braille and as such struggle to teach blind children in integrated schools
Sang Mendy
Knowing how to write and read the Braille is crucial in teaching the blind. In The Gambia graduates from the Gambia College (a teacher training college) lack the knowledge to use the Braille machine. As such blind children in integrated schools are left behind because teachers lack the knowledge to guide them.
A report by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education indicates that inadequately trained teachers are a factor that hinders the education of the blind in normal schools.
The report states, “Teachers need to be equipped with skills such as screening, identification and management of children who are blind and low vision as well as using Braille. Teachers who go through the training college only have some basic information on special needs in general and as such are not really prepared to guide blind children in integrated schools.”
Some teachers are opportune to be trained on teaching the blind
Meanwhile, the report indicates that very few teachers teaching in schools had the opportunity to participate in 3-4 day workshops organized by the Special Needs Education Unit under the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education. The workshops are organized to help teachers to know how to use Braille and how to manage blind children.
So, teachers who are not trained on how to use Braille or how to manage a blind child do not understand the methodology of handling the blind and low vision.
The Gambia College, the only teacher college in The Gambia has done very little with its students on how to handle the blind. This is why blind education in The Gambia is a nightmare.
Confirming that graduates from the college aren’t well equipped to teach the blind, Mrs Madam Cardos, the then head of the guidance and counseling unit at the Gambia College said; “graduates from the teachers training college need a lot of training on how to use the Braille and most importantly how to manage the blind.”
Mrs. Madam Cardos: “It is true that graduates from the Gambia college lack the knowledge to handle the blind.”
The sixty-six year old said the Gambia College does not have a special course on blind education. “Therefore, we do not give special training on how to manage the blind child in school. We do not also have the requisite materials such as the Braille machines to teach the students how to write and read the Braille.”
She said, “The College only give brief knowledge on how to work with persons with special needs such as the blind
and low vision children, deaf and hard of hearing and other special needs.”
If this is done, we could attain inclusion objectives says Cardos
She opined that the Gambia College in collaboration with the special needs unit of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education should introduce a special course at the college. The course according to Cardos should focus on preparing teachers to teach persons with special needs in integrated schools.
“When that is done there will be positive change to cater for the blind children in integrated schools,” she says.
Mrs Madam Cardos states that the inclusion program will only be a slogan if there is no special course at the college for special needs which includes blind education.
She said Inclusion is not a matter of placing children who are blind or low vision in regular schools but providing adequate resources in the form of funds for teachers as well as teaching/ learning materials and making schools more accessible and inclusive to the blind.
Braille is a important educational tool for blind children – says Ali Sallah
Grades one and two do not have access to the Braille machine
Fatou Touray
The Braille machine is the appropriate writing device for every blind child as their entire life depends on it says Ali Sallah Headmaster of the School for the Visually Impaired Children.
The Braille machine helps children to study at home.
This is why every blind child needs a Braille machine starting from grade one up to university level. But unfortunately there is a shortage therefore obliging the school to prioritize the distribution of the Braille machines to students in grade 3 and above.
He noted that it is a difficult situation as they have students in other regions and communities.
Free education from nursery to secondary for GOVI pupils
The school, Sallah said, has an enrollment of 40 students out of which 26 are boys.
“In 2002, the school enrolled up to 60 students but from that year to-date we enroll only 40 students every year but with the intervention and help of the Integrated Education Program (IEP). Children are recruited in their own communities so that they can stay with their families,” Sallah explained.
He also disclosed that there are no costs as education for visually impaired children is totally free of charge and this really motivates parents to send their children to school.
Master Sallah said those in the Greater Banjul Area are the only ones enrolling at the Kanifing school. He said they have their own transport system that collects them to and from school.
Every year, he said, the students transit from grades 4 and 5 to the integrated education program. He said there are more than 100 students in that program and therefore serve as a grass-root for the students.
Thirteen teachers are currently teaching at the school but that is not sufficient at the moment because the student teacher ratio should be six students to one teacher. As this is not the case as at now, it is deemed necessary to address the gap for students to have quality education.
37 Braille machines for the whole country
The school is currently has 37 Braille machines but that is not just enough for the school let alone serve the other students in various communities.
“The Ministry of Health is solely responsible for providing the school with the required number of Braille machines but we must commend them for giving the school 10 machines last year,” said Master Sallah.
Apart from the ministry, they also receive assistance from some friends in the UK and the organization, Friends of GOVI helps with machines. The type of machines used by the students, he said, are called Perarkins Brailler which go with Braille papers. The machine costs D30, 000 whilst a packet of Braille paper costs D1, 380 per packet.
Every child in the school needs a Braille machine as the visually impaired children depend on the Braille machine and paper, which is part and parcel of their life. It is important to note that when they learn orally, they will tend to forget easily so the machines are very important like the pen and paper to the sighted ones people.
Fatou Touray
The Braille machine is the appropriate writing device for every blind child as their entire life depends on it says Ali Sallah Headmaster of the School for the Visually Impaired Children.
The Braille machine helps children to study at home.
This is why every blind child needs a Braille machine starting from grade one up to university level. But unfortunately there is a shortage therefore obliging the school to prioritize the distribution of the Braille machines to students in grade 3 and above.
He noted that it is a difficult situation as they have students in other regions and communities.
Free education from nursery to secondary for GOVI pupils
The school, Sallah said, has an enrollment of 40 students out of which 26 are boys.
“In 2002, the school enrolled up to 60 students but from that year to-date we enroll only 40 students every year but with the intervention and help of the Integrated Education Program (IEP). Children are recruited in their own communities so that they can stay with their families,” Sallah explained.
He also disclosed that there are no costs as education for visually impaired children is totally free of charge and this really motivates parents to send their children to school.
Master Sallah said those in the Greater Banjul Area are the only ones enrolling at the Kanifing school. He said they have their own transport system that collects them to and from school.
Every year, he said, the students transit from grades 4 and 5 to the integrated education program. He said there are more than 100 students in that program and therefore serve as a grass-root for the students.
Thirteen teachers are currently teaching at the school but that is not sufficient at the moment because the student teacher ratio should be six students to one teacher. As this is not the case as at now, it is deemed necessary to address the gap for students to have quality education.
37 Braille machines for the whole country
The school is currently has 37 Braille machines but that is not just enough for the school let alone serve the other students in various communities.
“The Ministry of Health is solely responsible for providing the school with the required number of Braille machines but we must commend them for giving the school 10 machines last year,” said Master Sallah.
Apart from the ministry, they also receive assistance from some friends in the UK and the organization, Friends of GOVI helps with machines. The type of machines used by the students, he said, are called Perarkins Brailler which go with Braille papers. The machine costs D30, 000 whilst a packet of Braille paper costs D1, 380 per packet.
Every child in the school needs a Braille machine as the visually impaired children depend on the Braille machine and paper, which is part and parcel of their life. It is important to note that when they learn orally, they will tend to forget easily so the machines are very important like the pen and paper to the sighted ones people.
Some parents deliberately refuse to send their blind children to school
Visually impaired denied the right to be educated
By: Fatou Touray
Fifty percent of visually impaired children are left at home lingering unnecessarily due to their parents’ refusal to send them to school to be educated. Those parents think that the visually impaired cannot excel in the school system or are affected by stigma.
Dr. Momodou Lamin Sidibeh, a psychologist and lecturer at the University of The Gambia (UTG), is dilating on the psychological impact of not giving visually impaired children the chance to be enrolled in schools.
Sidibeh calls for parents to take their kids to school and not banish them to the four corners of their houses
Dr. Sidibeh says the impaired child will be depressed because he will feel excluded seeing his peers coming from school and repeating what they have learnt.
“It is traumatizing and will give the child a feeling that she/he is useless,” says Dr. Sidibeh pointing out that it is not the child’s fault but despite all odds, the visually impaired can be productive members of society if given the chance.
He described the behavior of such parents as a criminal act and that such parents should be sensitized because a child is supposed to be at school learning some skills rather than staying at home which is very depressing.
The visually impaired could be productive citizens
“The child is faced with some form of isolation which is the greatest risk agent one can imagine,” said Sidibeh. He cited an example of two of his students who are visually impaired at the UTG and are performing better than the so-called normal students.
Those students, he says, are very good examples because they are self-fulfilling and more sensible with a high level of esteem than the sighted ones and at that level they are not discriminated. He therefore urged people to have empathy and sympathy for the visually impaired, because it can happen to anyone at any stage.
“The child is faced with some form of isolation which is the greatest risk agent one can imagine,” said Sidibeh. He cited an example of two of his students who are visually impaired at the UTG and are performing very well than the so-called normal students.
Those students, he says, are very good examples because they are self-fulfilling and more sensible with a high level of esteem than the sighted ones and at that level they are not discriminated. He therefore urged people to have empathy and sympathy for the visually impaired, because it can happen to anyone at any stage.
Society’s role towards these children, he said, should be providing special treatment as well as social and remedial education and they should also be accepted as citizens and encouraged to develop their capacities.
He observed that although government and NGOs are making provisions but argued that it should be increased.
Such parents need to be educated because superstition and taboos are preventing them from sending their visually impaired children to school. The perception should be changed because disability does not mean inability just as it does not mean that they cannot achieve their goals in life.
Please send your impaired children to school
“I regret not sending my impaired child to school,” a mother, Binta Jallow, said. She seriously regretted not sending he visually impaired child to school and blamed ignorance and negative advice of some neighbors that such child’s cannot do anything positive and are destined to be beggars.
Am moved by the success of my mate’s child
She was moved when she observed the success story of a mate’s visually impaired child excelled in school and is now a college graduate, currently working as a teacher while her child is a beggar.
She therefore called on all mothers of visually impaired children to do everything possible to ensure that their children are educated.
By: Fatou Touray
Fifty percent of visually impaired children are left at home lingering unnecessarily due to their parents’ refusal to send them to school to be educated. Those parents think that the visually impaired cannot excel in the school system or are affected by stigma.
Dr. Momodou Lamin Sidibeh, a psychologist and lecturer at the University of The Gambia (UTG), is dilating on the psychological impact of not giving visually impaired children the chance to be enrolled in schools.
Sidibeh calls for parents to take their kids to school and not banish them to the four corners of their houses
Dr. Sidibeh says the impaired child will be depressed because he will feel excluded seeing his peers coming from school and repeating what they have learnt.
“It is traumatizing and will give the child a feeling that she/he is useless,” says Dr. Sidibeh pointing out that it is not the child’s fault but despite all odds, the visually impaired can be productive members of society if given the chance.
He described the behavior of such parents as a criminal act and that such parents should be sensitized because a child is supposed to be at school learning some skills rather than staying at home which is very depressing.
The visually impaired could be productive citizens
“The child is faced with some form of isolation which is the greatest risk agent one can imagine,” said Sidibeh. He cited an example of two of his students who are visually impaired at the UTG and are performing better than the so-called normal students.
Those students, he says, are very good examples because they are self-fulfilling and more sensible with a high level of esteem than the sighted ones and at that level they are not discriminated. He therefore urged people to have empathy and sympathy for the visually impaired, because it can happen to anyone at any stage.
“The child is faced with some form of isolation which is the greatest risk agent one can imagine,” said Sidibeh. He cited an example of two of his students who are visually impaired at the UTG and are performing very well than the so-called normal students.
Those students, he says, are very good examples because they are self-fulfilling and more sensible with a high level of esteem than the sighted ones and at that level they are not discriminated. He therefore urged people to have empathy and sympathy for the visually impaired, because it can happen to anyone at any stage.
Society’s role towards these children, he said, should be providing special treatment as well as social and remedial education and they should also be accepted as citizens and encouraged to develop their capacities.
He observed that although government and NGOs are making provisions but argued that it should be increased.
Such parents need to be educated because superstition and taboos are preventing them from sending their visually impaired children to school. The perception should be changed because disability does not mean inability just as it does not mean that they cannot achieve their goals in life.
Please send your impaired children to school
“I regret not sending my impaired child to school,” a mother, Binta Jallow, said. She seriously regretted not sending he visually impaired child to school and blamed ignorance and negative advice of some neighbors that such child’s cannot do anything positive and are destined to be beggars.
Am moved by the success of my mate’s child
She was moved when she observed the success story of a mate’s visually impaired child excelled in school and is now a college graduate, currently working as a teacher while her child is a beggar.
She therefore called on all mothers of visually impaired children to do everything possible to ensure that their children are educated.
Gaira Lamin: Blind children are as important as sighted children
Investing in blind education could be expensive but gives the blind the chance to rub shoulders with sighted people in the society
Sang Mendy
Gaira Lamin one of the first blind people to attend the teacher training college is looking ahead to a bright future for the blindGoing through an integrated school system as a blind person is a nightmare in the Gambia. However, 39 year old Gaira Lamin, a Braille technician showed resilience, courage and determination to graduate from the Gambia college with a Higher Teachers Certificate.
His determination according to him was to show his fellow blind colleagues and the rest of the world that what sighted people can do, blind people can equally do if given the chance.
Gaira tells us more in this audio clip beginning with how it feels going through integrated schools.
Sang Mendy
Gaira Lamin one of the first blind people to attend the teacher training college is looking ahead to a bright future for the blindGoing through an integrated school system as a blind person is a nightmare in the Gambia. However, 39 year old Gaira Lamin, a Braille technician showed resilience, courage and determination to graduate from the Gambia college with a Higher Teachers Certificate.
His determination according to him was to show his fellow blind colleagues and the rest of the world that what sighted people can do, blind people can equally do if given the chance.
Gaira tells us more in this audio clip beginning with how it feels going through integrated schools.