Innovation for special-needs children

On March 21, to mark World Down Syndrome Day, the Digicel Foundation launched Innovation Labs at five special-needs schools with an emphasis on assistive technologies.

The five schools, the Lady Hochoy School in Gasparillo, the Princess Elizabeth Primary School, Palmeras Learning Centre, the School for the Blind and the National Centre for Persons with Disabilities were equipped with desktop computers, laptops and printers, large print keyboards and monitors, virtual reality technologies, smart-boards, smart TVs and other assistive technologies.

The five innovation labs will be connected to the internet using the company's broadband technology for a year.

There are now 15 innovation labs installed by the foundation at special-needs schools in TT.

It's an exemplary effort by a private-sector company, but there remains much to be done to address the shortfall in opportunities for children with special needs in TT.

The Ministry of Education lists 13 public and 13 private schools registered with the ministry that specialise in special-needs education in a PDF dedicated to the subject on its website.

While the ministry does have systems to accommodate students who can attend schools with a general education focus, it is a simple fact that while the students of schools are keen to wear mismatched socks every March 21, their schools are often unable to accept students with disabilities because they don't have support systems.

In February, Bobby Andrews, planning coordinator in the THA's Office of the Chief Secretary noted that a 2021 assessment of special-needs capacity had left more than 74 children out of any education opportunities.

Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly and the late Lisa Morris-Julian visited three public special-needs schools in August 2020 to "get a first hand view of the challenges they face," but they were looking at empty buildings.

What's needed is comprehensive evaluation by subject matter experts of the capacity of existing schools and more compellingly, the gaps between available seats in both public and private education and the children in need of targeted support.

What is the experience of children with disabilities in the general education sector?

How many children go unplaced and uneducated because there isn't room or capacity in schools or real-world support available to their families to educate them?

The Ministry of Education talks positively about its intent to accommodate students with disabilities, but its website offers no policy that articulates any strategy, initiative or tactics to get this done.

Much of the responsibility falls on the understaffed, overworked Student Support Services division, which has its hands full responding to unruly behaviour in public schools. This is work for specialists.

A modern, technology-assisted, properly supported effort is needed, not just promises to do better. As the innovation labs prove, doing something beats talking about it.