How fair have we promoted the rights of children with disabilities to education?

By Francis Njuguna, Researcher, ziziAfrique Foundation
International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated annually on December 3^rd. The day was proclaimed in 1992 by United Nations General Assembly to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities and increase awareness of persons with disabilities in every aspect of life. The theme for the year 2018 was Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality which ought to be interrogated within the Kenyan context.

In 2002, the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) party won a landslide victory to replace the Kenya African National Union (KANU) as the Government of Kenya. NARC ran a successful campaign on the platform of socioeconomic transformation which was documented in the party’s campaign manifesto.  The education sector benefitted significantly from NARC’s reform agenda. Upon assumption of office, the NARC government introduced free primary education and later subsidized the secondary education in Kenya. The government doubled and then tripled the intake of regular students in public universities from 10,000. The NARC government also introduced bursaries to needy students and extended HELB loan allocation to self-sponsored university students. The initiatives sought to ameliorate the educational challenges by enhancing the right of children to pursue education.

The introduction of free primary education in 2003 led to a tremendous increase in the number of children enrolled in schools. The cause-effect of enrolment manifested in an increasing need for infrastructural development in schools. The NARC government introduced the Constituency Development Funds (CDFs); a program that devolved government funds to leverage development initiatives at the constituency level. CDFs established new primary and secondary schools and expanded existing ones. It also offered bursary programs for needy students in pursuit of education. The promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya in 2010 led to the creation of devolved units (counties) where similar developments have been ongoing using devolved funds from the county governments. Despite the efforts to promote our children’s rights to education through funding, the transformation has not adequately accommodated learners with disabilities.

According to Uwezo Kenya 2015 Annual Learning Assessment (ALA) report, 2 percent of learners in primary schools have a visible form of disability. Only 18 percent of primary schools in Kenya have a special unit. Twenty-eight percent of primary schools do not have a teacher trained on special needs while 33 percent of schools have one teacher trained. 18 percent have two teachers trained and 21 percent of schools have three or more teachers trained on special needs. 79 percent of public primary schools do not have a girl’s disability accessible toilet while 80 percent lack a boy’s disability accessible toilet.

Quite a sizeable number of children with disabilities have been enrolled in public schools but are excluded from learning because facilities and infrastructure have not been adapted to their needs. The government has not equipped teachers with relevant capacities or assistive devices for learners with disabilities. However, the Uwezo report shows that 82 percent of primary schools in Kenya are implementing child-friendly schools program though 18 percent of all the schools do not have a teacher trained on child-friendly schools program.

The National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWDS) has been mandated to ensure that Persons with Disabilities are empowered socially, economically and politically to maximize their full potential, have access to regular services and opportunities and become active, contributing members to the process of Nation building. The Ministry of Education should ensure that the council is consulted when it comes to putting up certain infrastructural developments in schools so that it can give relevant advice on bare minimums that ought to be put in place. It would be a reasonable way to break the back of social inequity and promote the rights of children with disabilities to education. As Francis of Assisi observed, it is essential to start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly do the impossible.

In his essay, Attitudes About People with Disabilities, Benjamin Snow notes that “Disability is natural. We must stop believing that disabilities keep a person from doing something. Because that’s not true …. Having a disability doesn’t stop a person from doing anything”. This, in essence, shows that children with disability should be empowered to learn with dignity so they may solve problems, think creatively, and innovate.