Sub-Theme: Disability and Literacy Topic: Why most children and - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

A PAPER PRESENTATION AT THE 2 ND NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LITERACY HELD AT SILVER SPRING- BUGOLOBI ON 12 TH MARCH 2014. Sub-Theme: Disability and Literacy Topic: Why most children and young people with disabilitjes are not able to acquire literacy skills and the efgect this has on their lives. By Kazinda Generous 2014

Purpose • To create awareness as to why most children and young people with disabilitjes are not able to acquire literacy skills. • To highlight the efgect this has on the life of children and young people with disabilitjes.

Disability • Persons with disabilitjes include those with long term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interactjon with various barriers may hinder their full and efgectjve partjcipatjon in society on equal basis with others(UN Conventjon for Rights for Persons with Disabilitjes (2006). • Natjonal Council for Disability Act (2003) and Natjonal Policy on Disability in Uganda(2006), defjne Disability as a permanent and substantjal functjonal limitatjon in the performance of daily life actjvitjes caused by physical, mental or sensory impairments and environmental barriers resultjng in limited partjcipatjon by the individuals.

Literacy • Is one’s ability to read and write any piece of writjng. • Literacy constjtutes the four major skills namely; listening, speaking, reading and writjng where listening and reading are referred to as receptjve while speaking and writjng as expressive/productjve skills. • For persons with disabilitjes, however, this ability is always hampered by various existjng impairments , which call for suitable and appropriate adaptatjons.

Background • World Bank, estjmated that 10% world’s populatjon live with a physical, sensory (blindness, deafness), intellectual or mental health disability. • The 2009/10 Uganda Natjonal Household Survey estjmates 16% of the populatjon, equivalent to 5.2million, have a disability. • UNESCO(1990) estjmated that perhaps 97% of people with disabilitjes had either never seen the inside of a classroom or had lefu school too early to have mastered basic literacy skills • In developing countries, there is low literacy rate for adults with disabilitjes possibly as low as 3% overall and 1% women with disabilitjes UNESCO(1990). • In Uganda, people with disability are living in poverty because they have encountered so many problems in completjng their basic primary educatjon, which is further compounded by the lack of ability in securing long-term and sustainable employment.(The Disability Scoping Study,2009)

Government Initjatjves The Uganda Government did not posses any legislatjon as regards to the educatjon of persons with disability untjl 1980s. Since then, some initjatjves have been put in place to advocate for the educatjon opportunitjes of learners with disabilitjes. For example,

For example:  Introductjon of UPE in 1997 and USE  SNE desk at Directorate of in 2007 Educatjon Standards (DES)  Educatjon Act of 2008 making  SNE desk at Uganda educatjon compulsory for all primary school age going children Natjonal Examinatjons  Development of the Thematjc Board (UNEB) Curriculum for P1 – P3  District Inspector of  Development of Pre-service and In- Schools (DIS) responsible service training for SNE teachers at Kyambogo University(KYU) for SNE  Creatjon of department of SNE/C  Recognitjon of special and G at MoES schools and provision of  SNE desks at Natjonal Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) some SNE teachers

Initjatjves contjnued  SNE units within mainstream  Guidelines for teachers to adapt curriculum to meet SEN have been schools for children with developed and disseminated. sensory impairments or ( Thematjc Curriculum) severe disabilitjes  SNE Policy has been developed.  Numbers of disabled children  Provision of additjonal tjme in the monitored through Educatjon Natjonal exams for children with Management Informatjon special needs  Provision of interpreters, System (EMIS). instructors and guides in the  Module developed on SNE for Natjonal Exams. Pre-service training in Primary  Constructjon of disability friendly Training Colleges (PTCs) and structures under School Facilitatjon being delivered in 7 colleges Grant (SFG).

Challenges  Despite all the above interventjons, people with disabilitjes have contjnued to exhibit low performance with regard to literacy skills. There are several reasons why most children and adults with disabilitjes are far less likely than non-disabled peers, to have developed literacy skills; they include:  Attjtudes: Negatjve attjtudes are a major obstacle to the educatjon of children with disabilitjes. • There has been an assumptjon that a child with disability does not need an educatjon but be supported by family members. • At school, some teachers and head teachers believe that learners with disabilitjes may be a distractjon to other children. • Parents of non-disabled classmates fear that such children with disabilitjes can slow the pace of educatjon for their children.  Poverty : Poor parents who cannot afgord to educate both able/ non- disabled children ofuen choose to educate their non-disabled children.

Challenges cont.…  Accessibility: Actually gettjng into a classroom and being able to learn can be diffjcult for children and young people with disabilitjes. For example: • Children with mobility impairments ofuen cannot physically walk to school or up stairways into a classroom. • Children who are deaf fjnd it diffjcult to communicate without sign language interpretatjon. • Children who are blind or with low vision may not follow lessons appropriately without large print or Braille. • Children with intellectual disabilitjes are ofuen unable to keep up in classes if no atuentjon is given to their special learning needs or if educatjon is focused on passing standardised natjonal exams that have litule relevance to their educatjonal needs.  Policy implementatjon gap: where government is not implementjng what it states in policy and law. For example:

Policy cont.…. • Policy on disabilitjes (2006) states that PWDs be given equal opportunitjes to improve their literacy level but nothing has been implemented to-date. • PWDs Act 2006 also emphasizes literacy of PWDs but no accommodatjve adjustment done to benefjt PWDS in literacy programmes. At school level: • The UPE and USE policies do not clearly indicate how the learners will be supported. • Exam oriented teaching/tutoring excludes some children from the ideal teaching/learning process. • School policy which encourages academic screening of learners basing on ability and having the less able discarded.

Challenges cont.….  Inadequate skilled personnel to handle learners with disabilitjes.  Inadequate facilitjes to match the increased enrolment.  Inadequate or/lack of a variety of specialised reading materials prevent learners from gettjng enough reading practjce (braille, large print, assistjve devices etc.)  The level of disability . Learners with multjple and/or severe disabilitjes have limited opportunitjes to acquire literacy skills. For example; learners with Cerebral Palsy, deaf blind etc. may not be able to acquire literacy skills.  Learners may not be fmuent in or understand the language of instructjon. Such learners include those who are deaf and not fmuent in sign language.  Having no or litule experience handling and looking at the reading and writjng materials (children’s books). They need materials and motjvatjon for wantjng to read and write.  Large number of learners in a class especially when children start learning to read may at tjmes hinder the teachers from seeing their needs.

The consequences/efgects Such people may:  End up dropping out of school without much achievement.  Not get any employment since they lack the required literacy skills. They remain dependents in everything including reading and understanding of instructjons and sign posts etc.  Become social misfjts because of the limited knowledge and skills to share.  Develop bad behaviours because of inferiority complex.  Arrive at adulthood without having mastered basic literacy or numeracy skills.  Fail to empower, advocate and engage in meaningful civic and politjcal life because of their limited literacy skills.

Suggestjons/Recommendatjons  People with disabilitjes who have achieved literacy competences should take the lead community sensitjsatjon  In additjon to UPE/USE funds a special fund should be given to schools to put in place adequate provisions for learners with Disabilitjes.  Policy makers need to increasingly demonstrate how policies and practjce lead to greater inclusion of children with disabilitjes and improved literacy skills.  Educatjon systems such as the curriculum content, methodology, instructjonal materials, environment and assessment should be adapted, modifjed and /or adjusted accordingly.  Learners with disabilitjes should be exposed to a variety of appropriate literacy materials.  Publishers should produce reading and writjng materials that are friendly to learners with disabilitjes. E.g. large print, brailed materials, sign language dictjonary etc.