Resource info for parents
IT is my hope that issues surrounding children with special needs will be advanced this year.
I want to commence this year by listing useful resource information for persons seeking schools and programmes where children can access the necessary intervention strategies that will enable the full maximisation of their potential. I received the following information from the Special Education Unit of the Ministry of Education. As outlined in their brochure the objectives of the unit include:
* To secure teaching/learning opportunities for students with special needs throughout the education system.
* To plan, implement, monitor special education programmes.
* To secure access, equity and quality education for students with special needs.
The core mandate of the unit is to offer islandwide supervision of all schools, units and programmes that fall under the special education category. The special education schools are categorised as Government-owned, Government-aided or private community-based facilities. According to the brochure, “There is at least one special education facility in each parish. Over 3,400 students are enrolled in these schools with 300 teachers. The teacher-pupil ratio varies from 1:5 to 1:16 depending on the type and severity of learning problems”. The unit also “offers support, curriculum supervision, monitoring services and facilitates training, networking, assessment and programme planning”.
The educational needs of students ages three to 20 are catered for and include the following categories
* Hearing impairment (HI)
*Visual impairment (VI)
* Physical impairment (PI)
* Mental retardation (MR)
* Giftedness
* Learning disabilities (LD)
The Special Education Unit lists the following schools in their brochure:
Government-aided:
Hope Valley Experimental
Carberry Court
Salvation Army School for the Blind
Randolph Lopez School of Hope
Woodlawn School of Special Education
Edgehill School of Special Education
Windsor School of Special Education
Llandilo School of Special Education
St Christopher’s School for the Deaf
Danny Williams Primary and Pre-school
Lister Mair Gilby High
Government owned
Catherine Hall Primary
Hazard Primary
Duncans All-Age
Lyssons Primary
Ocho Rios Primary
Mico Practising Primary and Junior High
Non-Government organisations
Alpha Boys’ Home
Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf (three centres)
Jamaica Association for Children with Learning Disabilities
Maranatha School for the Deaf
McCam Child Care and Development Centre
3D Projects — community-based
Rural Services for the Disabled
St John Bosco Boys’ Home
Clarendon Group for the Disabled
Jamaica Association on Mental Retardation
Jamaica Association for the Deaf
Promise Learning Centre
Gateway Academy
Best Care Lodge
Holy Childhood Academy
Genesis Academy
Liberty Academy
The STEP Centre
There are also referral agencies that are listed in the unit’s brochure that can be found on my Facebook page address, www.facebook.com/childrenspecialneedsja
The aforementioned is what the Special Education Unit has outlined as their official mandate. Whether this unit under the Ministry of Education is meeting its stated objectives is questionable as I reflect on previous articles where I discussed the unavailability of sufficient programmes and funding to enable access to programmes. We must applaud the unit, however, for the current strides, as unavailability of resources is one of the stumbling blocks experienced by them. It is my self-given responsibility, therefore, to raise awareness so that special education can become a priority action to receive funding. So I continue to lobby.
Lastly, as with the support the Digicel Foundation corporate run received in aid of special education programmes, I am encouraging you to support the Sagicor/Sigma Corporate Run on February 16. There are three organisations that will benefit this year, all equally important, but there is one that is close to my heart and that is the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies. This is where my son spent the first three and a half months of his life. This unit has saved the lives of many babies born prematurely, or full-term babies born with complications, but they cannot do so without the requisite resources. Come out and support all three ventures.
Sara, mom to four year old Amari, is an advocate for children with developmental delays. Amari was born three months early at one pound, and was hospitalised for three and a half months after birth. Check this space every couple of weeks as Sara tackles the issue of children with special needs. Email her at francis.m.sara@gmail.com
