DR RADICA MAHASE

“Education is a human right, a public good and a public responsibility” (UN). Tomorrow is International Day of Education, a day that is meant to invest in people and to prioritise education.

In the words of the UN, “Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries will not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind.”

Here in Trinidad and Tobago, we have been faced with many serious issues affecting our education system. Covid19 highlighted the disparity in access to an education and since the physical reopening of schools we have recurring incidents of student bullying and violent behaviour. Additionally, there are low levels of performance and drop outs. Place all these together and the education system appears to be in crisis.

An underlying area of education that has always been neglected and continues to be neglected in TT is special-needs education. This, despite the fact that we have the Education Act, an Inclusive Education Policy a National Policy on Persons with Disabilities, an Equal Opportunity Act, amongst others. Children with special needs/disabilities have struggled to access public schools or have been forced to drop out of school for various reasons.

One parent said she was told to home-school her eight-year-old son because he "couldn’t learn."

[caption id="attachment_997295" align="alignnone" width="768"] Our education system continues to neglect children with special needs. Photo courtesy Rahul Clubhouse[/caption]

She said, “My son was in standard one and he had trouble sitting still for long. The teacher said that he was disruptive and she would put him to stand outside of the class. A few times he walked out in the schoolyard because no one was supervising him.

"At the end of the term, the principal said that school wasn’t the place for him and I should home-school him. I didn’t have a say in that decision. Since then, he has been home.”

Another major shortcoming in relation to children with special educational needs in TT is the difficulties in getting support by the Ministry of Education. A good example of this is seen in the allocation of teachers' aides. Hiring, training and allocating teachers' aides to children enrolled in public schools have not been treated with urgency by the Ministry of Education, despite the fact that there is a high demand and that some children have been waiting for aides for a very long time, in some cases, for years.

One parent noted, “I applied for an aide for my child when she was in standard one. She is now in standard four and we are still waiting and hoping that she would get an aide.

"I have followed up with Student Support Services many times and, for years now, they have been telling me that they don’t have anyone available. My child is supposed to be preparing for SEA and the work is getting more challenging for her. She is having difficulties keeping up with the pace the teacher is g