Activists call for inclusive rights to education

By Elias Hakizimana.

As the literacy month concluded in Ngororero District in Nyange Sector at Nyange School on October 20, 2020, parents were reminded that all children with disabilities should be given equal access to education and reading materials.

The theme was “All children with disabilities can read, give everyone a chance to find a place to study.”

The event was held on October 20, 2020 at the end of the month dedicated to reading (literacy month) in collaboration with UWEZO Youth Empowerment (UWEZO), VSO, and Mureke Dusome in a program organized by the Ministry of Education to sensitize all parents to help children learn to read and write.

Omar Bahati Satir, the National Coordinator of UWEZO, the Rwanda Association for the Advancement of Children and Youth with Disabilities, said that children with disabilities need a lot of care, including special care and protection because they are also capable.

“Children with disabilities need a lot of things because they are not given time to participate in different activities because they are often excluded from families. “

“We have done a lot in partnership with Save the Children, but it is up to the authorities and the parents to ensure that children are given the right to education and training, and that they are helped to read by using different books according to the disability of a child,” he said.

He added that the literacy month was a special month because it faced some obstacles due to the coronavirus pandemic where reading for children with disabilities was very difficult as it was easier when they were at school with the teachers.

He explained that these obstacles were caused by the fact that some families do not give equal rights to children with disabilities to access the books, rather they exclude them.

Manirarora Esther is one of the parents who talked to the media. “I have to treat well my child as others, I put him on the world after 9 months of pregnancy as other parents, some parents could tell me to give up when the saw me taking him to school, but I did not want to hear from them and my child is studying and he likes it.”

“What I want is that all people be taught that people with disabilities are just like everyone else and stop being discriminated against because of their disability,” she said.

She advised other parents with the same attitude to let it go because every child has equal rights like others.

Donathile Nyiransengimana, an official of Ngororero distrct in charge of District’s Joint Action Forum said that they have a program to take care of children in perpetual education as there are some parents who feel that if a child has a kind of disability cannot not go in public as they find them as treats in their families.

During this month of reading and writing, there have been various programs for parents to help children read at home.

In Nyange sector, there are 52 children with disabilities, but there are also those who need prosthetic limbs due to the special nature of each child’s disability.