Principal of Likoni School for the Visually Impaired, Elizabeth Ngare, has called on the government to hire more teachers to handle special needs learners.
Ngare disclosed that there was a serious shortage of teachers with the expertise to handle special learners’ problems, which worsened their access to education.
She said that the distribution of qualified special needs teachers across the country remained poor with most special schools being understaffed.
The Principal noted that the problem was worse in schools for the blind, which had insufficient infrastructure and inadequate learning materials.
She lamented that materials such as the braille are still expensive for most learners, leaving most of them unequipped.
“Most materials needed for teaching and learning are substandard and the few available are received as donations by international organizations or imported by those who can afford them,” she said.
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Further, Ngare pointed out that there was still confusion and unresolved issues regarding the standards of various examinations and curriculums in the special needs education system.
She thus called on the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) and Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) to consolidate efforts to solve the various issues ailing the sector.
The Principal said that efforts to restructure the sector should be hastened to ensure special learners do not lose access to education.
By Robert Nyagah
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