Garcia: More emphasis on special-needs children

More emphasis will be paid to children with special needs to ensure they have access to the kind of education which is their right, says Education Minister Anthony Garcia.

In an interview, Garcia said after discussions with Ryan Reed, the father of 11-year-old Rihanna Reed, who has autism, he was told her older brother is also autistic and the two were never enrolled in primary schools.

He said the ministry is working on a plan to have teachers trained properly to deal with special-needs children.

“We are going to pay special emphasis to the children who experience a wide range of disabilities. Apart from the delivery of quality education, one of the pillars we are building the education system this year is on access.”

Rihanna Reed is now hospitalised at the Eric Williams Medical Complex Paediatric Ward, Mt Hope, after she fell from the third-floor balcony of her mother's Maloney Gardens apartment on Monday, while trying to climb out to get to her friend's apartment.

Garcia said Reed told him the two children attended pre-school and teachers at primary school did their best to accommodate one of the children. According to the father, Garcia said, teachers could not deal with the children and they were homeschooled.

“I was told by the father that the 13-year-old son is also autistic. They both attended pre-school and the teachers were challenged in dealing with the 13-year-old. He was later homeschooled by the father.

“They made efforts to enrol the children at special schools which had the facilities, but the cost was too high for the father to pay. It was costing $3,500 a term and the family could not afford the bill. The father took the responsibility to homeschool the children, which was successful, because the children could read and write."

Garcia said the Student Support Services Division (SSSD) will contact the parents this week to see what assistance the ministry can provide.

He said the SSSD will be headed by Prof Dennis Conrad who is mapping out a plan so that what happened in Reed’s case will not happen again in the near future.

“Our teachers will be more equipped and trained to deal with children with special-needs children. I know it is a challenge, because in many of our schools these are some of the difficulties teachers experience in dealing with these children. The teachers will be adequately trained and would be able to work and confirmed with the parents to help the needs of special-needs children."

Ryan Reed said Rihanna remains under heavy sedation but is resting comfortably.

"The doctors are waiting for the swelling on her head to go down before they wake her up. Once it is satisfactory to them, they will do further tests to see if there is any brain injury.

"Right now she don't know what is happening around her, but God is good all the time. She will be fine."