Leah Makundi: About the importancy of education for childrens with disabilities

I am Leah Makundi, 32 years old. I have been working at Patandi Teachers College of Special needs Education (PTC) in Arusha Tanzania for six years now. I am also a volunteer worker in this project, aiming at improvement of the life quality of children with special needs through practice implementation of UN rights in Norway and Tanzania. The specific aims of this NOREC project are to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which comprise e.g. right to education, health, work and employment, protection and security.

The existence of this project is a comfort and delight to me. It gives me useful experience and add new skills and knowledge in my career, on how to improve quality life to children with special needs in my country, where the awareness of people with disability is very low. For example, some parents hide their children at home because of shame or fear of being mocked by the community around them. Thus, the children with disabilities lose the right to education, experience discrimination, harassment and isolation. Some of these children are even being killed, because they are seen as a curse in the family. Strong efforts are needed in order to make people see that these children are human beings, like everybody else. 

So, in my working place, since we are familiar with children with special needs and we understand how education is very important to them, and since I am an agent of change, I have made a plan on how to contribute to a change in the society. I will talk with my staff colleagues and ask them to volunteer to the nearby school due to the shortage of teachers and classes overcrowded by pupils. I understand that it will be hard to work extra, in addition to the work as a teacher at PTC, and not all PTC staff will agree. Therefore, for the few who will agree, we will prepare a plan of what we want to do, what aims we want to achieve. For example, how many schools we are planning to visit, how long will it take, and how will we do it. When we have started volunteering, we will also arrange meetings for the parents who already bring their children with disabilities to school. The purpose of the meetings is to create awareness about how their children are important and valuable, to them and to us, and how they need schooling and support from us. 

Therefore, instead of bringing the children to school, go home and then come back to pick them up after school, we will ask the parents of children with disabilities, to volunteer as assistants in the class. I am sure that some of the parents will agree, and we will then teach them, based on our knowledge, including different techniques and methods to deals with the children. I believe that some of them will be interested in acquiring vocational skills, and we will teach them. Step by step, this may help to improve the situation that we now have, of too few and unqualified teachers. Hence, this effort will help to include more and more children with disabilities in school. Because many parents will become knowledgeable and will be aware of children’s  rights they will help us spread awareness to others. When we have achieved our aims at one school, we will move to another school and do the same. In order to reach as many schools as possible, we will continue to move from one school to another, when we have achieved our aims at one school.