STEM and children with disabilities

THOSE affected by disabilities have always struggled with assimilating into everyday society. However, in developing societies such as ours, the effects are often compounded. Like other developing countries, persons living with disabilities in Guyana struggle with accessibility and grapple with challenges in most aspects of their lives; such challenges are: accessing appropriate healthcare, employment, transportation and education.

There are already a number of schools and facilities for persons with disabilities; however, there needs to be much more available in the way of developing this particular demographic in alignment with the nation’s strategies and developmental goals. Facilities for disabled people are usually an afterthought, with the main focus being to provide for the general population of able-bodied people. However, we cannot all move forward to build this nation if those who are willing and able to contribute are not nurtured in a manner suited to them, so that they are able to make meaningful contributions to society.

Whilst the present administration must be commended for increased public spending to tackle vital infrastructural works and development in all areas of Guyanese’ lives, there is still a long way to go to address the needs of this particular demographic. Public Telecommunications Minister Cathy Hughes, asserted the present administration’s commitment to enhancing the lives of persons with disabilities. She noted that the government has set up a website which serves as a hub for information for disabled persons; trained IT professionals to make government websites more accessible; provided house lots and initiated tax-exemption policies for disabled people purchasing vehicles and smart phones.

Recognising that disabled students and young people require more opportunities, especially in the way of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), the Guyana Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities (GCOPD) created a Robotics project which aims to enhance the knowledge and skills of disabled students in the above mentioned subject areas. However, funding to implement the project was not immediately available and it remained on the backburner for over a year. GCOPD subsequently approached ExxonMobil who funded the project outright.

Consequently, ExxonMobil, in collaboration with GCOPD recently launched a STEM Robotics programme which is set to benefit 60 students who have disabilities. The pilot project has been implemented in four of the nation’s schools for disabled or differently abled students: namely, the David Rose School, the Diamond Special Needs School, the Saint Barnabas Special School, and the Open Doors Vocational Training Centre.

GCOPD has also partnered with the University of Guyana’s Computer Science Department, Robotics Club, which will attend the four schools participating in the project in order to provide training assistance. The Robotics Club also provided assistance to aid in development of the curriculum for the project. It is hoped that success of the project could be replicated, so that other schools for disabled students throughout the country are able to benefit as well.

STEM is being promoted by the government as a way to create future innovators the country desperately needs; however, with limited resources, specialised programmes targeting key demographics such as disabled young people, are often overlooked and underfunded. Had it not been for ExxonMobil’s corporate social responsibility goals and objectives, this project might not have been able to be launched in the required timeframe. There has to be more impetus from local government bodies and other private sector organisations to propel projects such as these. The onus is on them to ensure that all members of society are adequately serviced by provisions which central government might not be able to adequately fund. As the importance of STEM continues to be realised in this developing nation, young people, particularly disabled children and young people, must know that they live in a world where there should be no limits on what they are able to achieve.

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