Inclusive classroom opens at Bethabara Infant School
PERMANENT Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Youth, Maureen Dwyer, has welcomed the retrofitted inclusive classroom at Bethabara Infant School, in Manchester, which was handed over on July 6.
“Given the ministry’s transformation in education focus at this time, we welcome the project,” said Dwyer, in a message read by Education Officer for Region Five Janet Shaw Gooden.
Dwyer noted that several special education classes have been established in the region, and the addition of an inclusive infant classroom is phenomenal and groundbreaking.
She said that the classroom will address a demand that is expanding dramatically and for which services are needed in different parts of the island.
“The ministry salutes the effort of the Digicel Foundation and the Early Childhood Commission (ECC). We could not ask for more. Special education services for our children is one of our policy directives through the child and youth development initiative. It is our hope that through continued partnerships like this, we will continue to provide for our children in a meaningful way,” Dwyer said.
For her part, Senior Operations Manager for Digicel Foundation Jodi-Ann McFarlane said they have a long-standing relationship with the ECC, and with one of their pillars being education they are deeply invested in seeing that children have access to primary education in Jamaica.
“We are also very invested in special needs education and this project was brought to us by the ECC as their Jamaica 60 Legacy Project to bring inclusive classrooms to Jamaica. So we did a major investment in this space.
“We renovated the entire classroom space and created a specialised stimulation sensory space for children who have mild to moderate intellectual and physical disabilities,” McFarlane said.
She said they also built a ramp and gave them additional storage, so that they are able to integrate their teaching and learning activities in the space without being too disruptive, and this will give children with different abilities and skills a chance to interact with each other.
