Dr Michele Meredith (right), contributing consultant from The Mico University College, explains the composition of donated educational resources to (from left) Dionne Gayle, assistant chief education officer, Ministry of Education and Youth (MOEY); Nadine Chambers Goss, executive director, RISE Life Management Services; Shawn McGregor, programme manager, RISE Life Management Services; Dr Rebecca Tortello, education specialist, UNICEF Jamaica; and Vivian Blake, education officer at the MOEY. Absent from the picture are Camille Budd-Hare, senior education officer, MOEY, and Dr Camille Reid-Brown, contributing consultant, who were both instrumental to the success of the project.

RISE, under the European Union-funded project Enabling Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, collaborated with the UNICEF Spotlight Initiative to develop resources for the Special Education Unit (SEU) of the MOEY. The resources featured tailored material, including digital and hard copies of books on gender-based violence for students with special needs.

The books were written over the past year and updated after two workshops — one at the MOEY on September 29, 2023, and the other at The Mico University College on November 16, 2023. Fifty teachers of special needs students participated in these workshops which focused on gender-based violence and on how to effectively use the developed material with their students. Their feedback helped to refine the documents before they were presented to the SEU on January 30.

The handover ceremony marked the culmination of a partnership among UNICEF Jamaica, RISE and the MOEY to enhance educational resources and support available to the SEU. It also emphasised the wider local commitment to creating inclusive and accessible learning environments for all students.

The MOEY will ensure the series of lessons developed will be available islandwide. These are entitled, ‘Child sexual abuse prevention: Sexual abuse prevention for students with disabilities in Jamaica’; and ‘Gender-based violence prevention in schools for children with disabilities’.