Support for special needs students

THE EDITOR: As a former teacher who taught special needs students for over a decade, I must express my support for the Ministry of Education’s proposal to specifically develop schools in the country for these students. The suggestion, put forward by Chief Education Officer Harrilal Seecharan at a recent Parliamentary Committee meeting, can only assist our special needs students by providing them with a comfortable, conducive learning environment with required staff and resources.

Despite the many challenges faced by the ministry, our special needs students still have access to modern, educational equipment such as Braille reading materials and hearing aides, as well as trained sign language teachers to enhance the teaching process in these proposed special schools. The training of sign language teachers is also an ongoing exercise conducted by the Ministry.

This is more than I could say for many special needs students who do not have these facilities available to them in other countries in the wider region. There are also more than a dozen private schools in the education system, which assist in educating special needs students and which have, working collaboratively with the Ministry of Education, moulded many of their students into exemplary adults in society.

Robert Gillian, Sangre Grande