There’s a need for the government to record data and information about learners with special needs, a lobby has said.
A report by Pal Network on special needs education learners shows that the populations of persons with disabilities vary.
“The population may vary from 400,000 to 2.3 million according to the Education Ministry, 2020,” the report reads.
This is attributed to a lack of standardised methodology and tools of inquiry into the wide range of disabilities.
“There is a need for the government to emphasise systematic data collection, analysis and disability mainstreaming in all government reports,” the report reads.
This, the lobby said would allow for assessment of performance and policies over time.
In terms of government capitation, the lobby said the institutions need to be adequately funded.
This is because the stipulated capitation for primary and secondary education is similar for all students.
However, the report shows the ministry of education has been addressing the funding gap for special needs education learners (SNEs).
“The rate may fluctuate from year to year according to budgetary allocation and the enrollment of SNE learners,” the report reads.
The lobby found out that currently, the top-up rate for SNE learners is Sh2,300 per learner annually and another Sh12, 000 for boarding subsidy.
For secondary school students, the Free Secondary Education policy provides an additional Sh35, 730 (boarding and tuition) for this category.
“The policy guidelines do not spell out an alternative capitation rate for learners who have posed challenges with disabilities,” the report reads.
In the financial year 2021/2022 some 3,084 SNE schools with an enrolment of 139,732 received Sh321 million tuition subsidy.
“For the year 2021/2022 some 349 SNE schools with an enrollment of 37,576 received Sh455 million,” the report reads.
The study shows exam administration in SNEs faces resource challenges.
The specialists however decried lack of support from the county government.
“There were notable shortages of speech therapists and nutritionists and most specialists have specified,” the report reads
The study shows there were hardly any specialised officers in the assessment of deaf-blind learners.
Out of the Sh759.9 million allocated for infrastructure in the special needs education sector, 180(primary) and 30(secondary) schools benefited.
The lobby decried the shortage of trainee teachers across the country.
The ministry has technical training institutions which had 2,500 learners by 2020.
The institutions are Machakos TTI(blind), Karen TTI(deaf), Sikri TTI(deaf and blind), and NNyangóma TTI for the deaf.
There were 3,084 special primary schools and 38 special secondary schools in 2021/2022.
At the secondary level, there were 5,511, and another 139,732 in primary schools.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
