MONA High School in upper St Andrew is one of several high schools in the Corporate Area equipped to handle the special needs of disabled students.

Principal Earl Smith told the Observer that the school has in fact been accepting disabled students since 1990.

Currently, the school has six disabled students between the ages of 14 and 18 on its register.

“At Mona, we can accommodate them because our school is built in such a way that the students can move around easily. There are no upstairs sections that would pose a threat to their safety,” he explained.

“Our disabled students are integrated into the school very well because persons who visit us here marvel whenever they realise that a student is disabled. They cannot distinguish them,” Smith continued.

“If the need arose, we would be willing to enroll more disabled students,” he added.

Five of the six disabled students at Mona High are wheelchair-bound, while the other, who has to be in and out of school for therapy due to his bone-condition, is able to use his legs. However, Smith said that this does not prevent them from doing well academically, or from participating in art and craft sessions.

“Their academic performance is a little above average. They do the same curriculum as their classmates,” he said.

“We even have two Grade 11 students, Jason Forbes and Shaunelle Headley, who are currently preparing for the next CXC exams.”

However, Smith said that special provisions have been put in place for the disabled students. For example, he said that gradient rungs have been placed beside steps to allow the students to move around with ease. Also, he said that special braces had to be put in the bathrooms for the students to get from the wheelchairs to use the toilets.

The physical education department is also organising a special wheelchair race for the schools sports day next January. This initiative, Smith believes, will motivate the disabled students to become more involved in school activities. Smith told the Observer Friday that the idea was born after a female student was selected to participate in the next Paraplegic games as a shot put thrower.

“The children are very caring to them, and the bond that exists between able-bodied and disabled students is amazing to watch,” Smith continued.

Added guidance counsellor Paul Messam: “Sometimes we forget about their special attention needs because they blend in so well with the other students.”

Meanwhile, Smith welcomed recent moves by the government to improve school facilities for disabled students.

“I think it is a worthwhile move.

It will make the country accept disabled persons more and desist from discriminating,” he said, adding that “when we have both able-bodied and disabled persons working together, the country will get better”.

The government, in keeping with recommendations from the Education Task Force, intends to make a primary and secondary school in every parish fully accessible to disabled students. The programmes has already started in some schools.