SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland – As some schools grapple with the challenge to accommodate students with disabilities, a handful of Westmoreland administrators are preaching inclusiveness and have extended open invitations to students with physical challenges.

Principal of Belmont Academy Rayon Simpson is among those ready to welcome them. He told the Jamaica Observer that the school was structured to accommodate students with physical disabilities.

“We’re happy to accommodate students with whatever physical challenges they have if they can’t access the other schools,” Simpson revealed.

He said they have been catering to students with physical disabilities over the years, and that one of their past students, Jamar Fraser, who had a prosthetic leg during his tenure was one of their top performers.

“He went through the entire system from first to fifth form and returned for sixth form and maintained the highest average,” Simpson said, noting that Fraser’s average was in the 90s.

He said there are individuals who opt to attend Belmont Academy because of its ability to accommodate students with special needs.

“The school is fairly new and it was built this way and we’re happy for it. Parents and teachers often do tours before selecting schools for the Primary Exit Profile [PEP]. There are times when we’d ensure that students who have a physical challenge would be homeroomed closer to where the ramps are,” Simpson said.

He added that other students often rally around those with disabilities and make them feel comfortable.

“From my observation and leadership, the student body is helpful to other students with those challenges. We’ve never had an instance where a child with a disability was ridiculed or mistreated, so that is a good thing,” the educator said.

Belmont Academy was built in 2009 as Jamaica’s first centre of excellence.

As for Manning’s School, that was built in the 1700s, Acting Principal Sharon Thorpe told the Observer that although the school does not have the facilities for special needs children, other students are very helpful and often ensure their peers are comfortable.

“Manning’s is an inclusive institution. Any student who comes to this institution it is our responsibility to take care of them. The institution was founded in 1738 so it doesn’t have some of the amenities that other newly built schools have. We don’t have ramps for students who are not mobile. Our students will assist those students, if it means to carry their bags, if it means to [let them] hold on to their shoulders, they will facilitate such. They will even go as far as to take notes for them,” Thorpe said, obviously proud of her students.

She also spoke of the role her team and supporting organisations play, as needed.

“In the event there is a student that needs additional help that we can’t provide, then we will refer them to the guidance counsellor, through the parent, for additional help to be sought externally and the parents do their fair share,” she explained.

“The ministry is aware of what Manning’s looks like. We have an educational officer who visits and knows the infrastructure. We have lobbied for general improvement of the school, but it takes time. We have had students with a part of a limb broken. We have had a student with stroke, but the students help out by holding him up. The students who assisted him were awarded at prize giving for being supportive of their schoolmate,” she said.

At present, Manning’s School does not have any students with disabilities.

There are also none currently at Savanna-la-Mar Primary School, which has a ramp at its entrance as well as bathrooms that have been retrofitted with ramps and rails to accommodate students with disabilities. Principal Meghan Berry said more work is needed and she vowed to continue the work that began with the previous administration.

As for Principal Emily Lawrence-Ricketts of the Godfrey Stewart High School, she thinks it is early stages yet for the school to be retrofitted with the amenities to facilitate students with physical challenges as she has never had one. There has been a student who had an intellectual disability and needed a shadow.

“We’ve had a student who was physically well but had other challenges. The ministry provided [support]. The individual was there to assist the student as there were times when the student could not cope in their environment,” she explained.

The Disabilities Act, which came into effect on February 14, 2022, makes provisions to safeguard and enhance the welfare of people with disabilities across Jamaica. Among the areas it covers is the right to education and training.

The Act prohibits any educational or training institution from preventing a person from enrolling at or attending an institution because of his or her disability. Additionally, such institutions are required to provide the support necessary to ensure that those with disabilities who attend the institution have unrestricted access to its facilities according to their individual needs.