Educator calls for policy to address challenges of children with special needs

By Kimone Witter    

 

A university educator believes the absence of a Special Education Policy has resulted in the perpetuation of inequity for people with disabilities in the formal education system.

 

Dr. Michele Meredith, head of the Department for Special Education at the Mico University College, says a policy that addresses the day-to-day challenges of children with special needs must be developed.

 

Speaking at the 12th Annual Special Education Conference and Workshops at the Church Teachers' College in Mandeville recently, Dr. Meredith said while the Disabilities Act speaks to special education, the provisions are not enough.

 

But she is also not in support of a Special Education Act. 

 

"I did hear the reference to let us have a Special Education Act. But the thing about an Act is that the Act will just dictate certain things that ought to happen in a broad sense. A policy pulls out of the Act with specifics for the day-to-day functioning and day-to-day operations and day-to-day treatment of what is stated to be done. Out of that also, we would require standards or a code of practice, which gets down to the nitty-gritty and dissects those particular policy directives into the day-to-day implementation and the day-to-day treatment and application of what ought to be changed," she suggested. 

 

In the meantime, Dr. Meredith, citing published statistics from the Ministry of Education, believes data on the number of children in Jamaica with special needs is under-represented.

 

She noted that, according to data for the period 2023-2024, there are 5,465 children with diagnosed documented disabilities. 

 

Some 3,365 of those are in special education facilities, while 2,624 are in the general education context. 

 

"Within approximate enrolment across our schools of 400,000 children and the reality of every Jamaican classroom, I would say this is under-representation of the Act. And it is so because we do not necessarily have the wherewithal to identify early, to diagnose conclusively and to prepare our response once the diagnosis comes before us. In addition to that, we do not have certain skillsets, certainly not in the Ministry of Education, those skillsets that are required to create that kind of support and intervention," she argued. 

 

Dr. Meredith emphasised that a colloborative approach is needed to address the concerns.