Mwanza — PARENTS and guardians here in Mwanza Region have been urged to take their children with special needs to school so that they can access education.
The reminder was issued on Monday by Mwanza City Council Education Officer for Special, Early and Primary Education, Ms Zakiah Ahmed during the celebration of the African Child Day.
She said the government has put in place a good strategy for the identification of children with special needs.
However, she urged that identifying them is key step in enabling education stakeholders, especially in supporting and placing them where they deserve to be.
"Parents should not hide their children, because we as stakeholders in education and in the government in general can reach them and identify challenges they face ...so that proper assistance could be given accordingly," she pointed out. Influencing- Advocacy and Communications Manager of the Plan International Tanzania, Ms Cecilia Bosco, said that their organisation has been promoting a discussion on the issue of inclusive education.
She said the organisation ensures that the projects it implements there should be special and focused on children with the special needs.
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"In schools where we implement projects, we make sure that there is a friendly infrastructure for children with special needs, our focus is not only for children with physical disabilities, but also those with mental challenges," she said.
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Mwanza Regional Administrative Secretary (RAS), Mr Balandya Elikana, said that parents and guardians in the community in general should not discriminate children because of their conditions. He stressed that every child should go to school and they deserve access to education.
"The government has introduced free education up to Form Six level to enable all children get education. So, we have to congratulate the government for that," he said.
He added that the first step in developing knowledge and working skills for Tanzania started with the review of the Education and Training Policy of 2014, the 2023 edition.
He said the education policy ensures the provision of education meets the current needs of Tanzanians and provides equal learning opportunities for all students.
The policy emphasises on various issues including work skills that is compatible with the growth of Science and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
"The next step is to improve the curricula of primary and secondary education and the corrective curriculum of primary education for deaf, blind students," he said.
He noted that in order to ensure that the curricula are implemented effectively; the government has issued educational document number 5 of 2023 that provides guidelines for the implementation of improved curricula to facilitate its implementation.
