Why inclusive education is more than just school

For the past four years, we have been working on a project in partnership with Tanzania Cheshire Foundation and funded by Comic Relief. Together we’ve been working in Tanzania to support 1,000 children with disabilities across twenty schools in Dodoma and Chamwino districts. The project aimed to help children access education. And also improve their learning experience while at school. 

The impact of inclusive education

One child we have been supporting is Vicres. Vicres has a learning disability. This means she can only focus and listen attentively for short periods of time. When she was younger, a school turned her away. A lack of understanding about disability meant they didn’t think they could include her in class. But now, since being involved in our inclusive education project, she enjoys learning at school and playing with friends. 

Before she was able to go to school, Vicres spent a lot of time alone. She didn’t have many friends outside of her family and wasn’t very independent. Myths and misconceptions about disability also meant that her mother, Veronica wasn’t confident that she would be successful at school. However, when Vicres was six, Veronica decided to try and enrol her at Ng’ong’onah Primary School. But the school was not willing to teach her and thought that Vicres would be better off at a specialist school.

Getting the right support

So Vicres spent a year at a centre that ran education programmes specifically for children with developmental disabilities. But Veronica felt that the learning environment wasn’t appropriate for Vicres. She wasn’t getting the support she needed and was unable to progress. So she took her out of the centre. At this point, she was worried for Vicres future. She desperately wanted her to be able to go to school and interact with other children. 

Around the time that her mother took her out of the centre, Leonard Cheshire’s inclusive education programme was just getting started in the local area. One of the schools chosen to be part of the project happened to be Ng’ong’onah Primary School. 

Veronica was reluctant to enrol Vicres again after they had rejected her before. But she soon gained confidence after being elected by the local village government to be one of the volunteers for the project. Veronica already had a passion for helping children with disabilities, so the volunteering role was perfect for her. And since the local schoolteachers had already been trained on inclusive education as part of the project, Vicres was welcomed at the school. 

Talking about the importance of the training, Veronica said: “The trainings were crucial because they changed the mindset of the teachers towards inclusive education.”

Why child-to-child clubs are important

Vicres started at school at the age of nine. She quickly made friends through the child-to-child clubs facilitated by the project. She was enjoying school because she not only got to engage in class but also had time to play with her friends. Since being at school, her communication and independence improved. She can communicate with others and also walks to and from school on her own. She is often found playing outside with friends and singing a lot while at school.

She’s also progressed through the school years. She will soon be sitting her national examination. Her teachers have been working closely with her to prepare her. And spend time both in and outside of class to make sure she is on track with lessons. Her mother hopes that she will continue to progress if she has support from her teachers.

Working with parents

The project has also supported Veronica through the Parent Support Groups (PGS). The group offers parents advice on how best to support their children with disabilities and provide essential items like uniforms and exercise books.

The group also work together to sell things like soaps, cooking oil, rice and salt. The money earned from the sales goes towards more supplies for children with disabilities. This included food for a whole month for the children with disabilities at the school.

Hopes for the future

Through the project, Vicres’ mother has got to understand her disability more. She recognises that Vicres likes the chance to contribute and say what she thinks. She wants to be independent and will always try to do things on her own at first. Seeing other girls with disabilities in the local community progress into secondary school has given Vicres’ mother hopes for her daughter’s future too. 

Reflecting on the impact of the project, Veronica said, “The project has transformed the lives of our children and our families. We can take care of our children with disabilities.”