Inclusive training on Special Needs Education in support of Free Education For All
11 December 2020
In November 2020 OneFamilyPeople started phase one of our Six months training program for Primary and Secondary school teachers in support of the government’s agenda for free quality education for all. After 2 weeks of intensive training on Special Needs Education (specifically the American Sign Language), we conducted a field trip for them to have a practical knowledge on how to interact with children with speech and hearing impairment.
Monday 7th December 2020 was a landmark event in our drive to achieve Inclusive Education and support the sustainable development goals. This event, for the first time, created a platform for teachers in other schools to interact with children who are students in the school for the speech and hearing impaired. It was such a colorful event as the children and the teachers interacted positively and they were all in high spirits. At the conclusion of the visit to the school for the speech and hearing impaired, the children recited a poem and performed a song for us as we departed.
In continuation of this colorful field trip, we visited the WAM Collegiate School where the speech and hearing impaired children normally transition to their quest for secondary education. We were warmly welcomed by the principal, her staff and the pupils. At WAM Collegiate the teachers experienced first-hand how to navigate an inclusive classroom (as there were children with disabilities as well as other children in the classroom). This experience was so emotional as the teachers got to understand the serious challenges children with disabilities face in the classroom. By the end of the visit and with the help of our expert tutors, the Executive Director Edward and the Director of Operations Hady, the teachers are now partially equipped on how to navigate an inclusive classroom and in subsequent sessions their skills will continue to get better.
To climax this landmark event, we all converged at the WAM Collegiate School hall to have some refreshments and conduct interviews with members of the forth estate.
