Georgetown: While immense focus is being directed to the mainstream education system, there is still yet much attention being channelled towards Special Needs Education. According to Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, “this is a big issue for me and we are presently examining this area very closely.” She disclosed in an invited comment that there are currently plans to ensure that special needs children receive quality education that is on par with that obtained by other children within the public education sector.
According to the Minister, addressing this need will also entail looking at how “we treat our special needs educators and this is something that we are addressing,” the Minister assured.
It was during the latter part of last year that Head of the Open Doors Center, Mr. Arthur Lewis, named the introduction of Continuous Vocation Education and Training (CVET) as a strategic move to gaining the support of the Education Ministry in order to secure trained staffers and other assistance to aid the delivery of education to disabled trainees. It is Lewis’s belief that once the operation of the entity, which is designed to cater to the educational needs of persons with disability, is on par with the requirements of the Ministry of Education much needed assistance will be forthcoming.
He shared his optimism that the officials in the Ministry will recognize that the organization is in dire need of persons with a passion for education and development to help solve its existing staffing problem. “We need persons who have a passion for training and education to get on board with us. At the moment most of our staffers are on part-time employment. We need persons to come on board as full time instructors…” he insisted.
The Open Doors Centre got on stream in 2001 as a project and three years later it was handed over to the Ministry of Health after which it was transformed to a full-fledged educational institution. The entity has as its aim the need to promote and help improve the lives of young persons with disability. Other local entities tasked with educating persons with varying disabilities include the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre and the David Rose School for the Handicapped.
Chief Education Officer, Olato Sam, has insisted that inclusive education is being given a great deal of prominence in the Ministry of Education as part of its intent to foster improvement and expansion of the educational services offered in Guyana. However, he asserted that this area demands greater focus largely because of the paucity of available options for various under-served groups within the society. As a result, Special Needs Education in particular is seen as one of the main points of focus for the Ministry’s Strategic Plan.
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