DISABILITY rights advocate Ganesh Singh is calling for a strong disability unit presence in several regions across the country, and for implementation of disability schools for those children who have special needs and live in regions where such schools do not exist.This newspaper understands that no special school or disability unit exists in Regions One, Two, Three, Five, and Eight, although there are physically disabled children with special needs residing in those regions. For this reason, Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Council of Organisation for Persons with Disabilities, disability rights advocate Ganesh Singh, is calling on the relevant authorities to plug services, particularly educational services, geared at enhancing the lives of those children and persons living with disabilities in those regions.

“I know of children with disabilities residing in Region 5, (Mahaica-Berbice) and have the ability but cannot go to school because of the lack of systems and infrastructure,” Singh said.
Though some of those children are accepted in the nursery and primary levels, Singh pointed out, teachers do not have the necessary resources to carry out the curriculum for the rest of their schooling.

Singh said the Ministry of Education is currently doing a lot for special education at the central ministry level, but the problem lies in those mentioned regions.

“The Regional Education Officers (REdOs) in some regions are not as supportive to special education as others,” Singh added, while pointing out that the REdOs of Regions Six and Seven must be complimented since they have taken it upon themselves to establish a special needs unit for children with disabilities.

Singh, who is also the Project Coordinator of the Guyana Society for the Blind Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) programme, is urging the new administration to take a hands-on approach in dealing with this issue. Visually impaired, the disability rights advocate holds a Diploma in Social Work obtained from the University of Guyana.
There are presently special schools and disability units for children with disabilities in a few regions in Guyana. In Region 4 (Demerara-Mahaica), the Diamond Special School, the David Rose Special School, Harold B. Davis Special School, the Ministry of Education Resource Unit for the Blind, and the Guyana Society for the Blind CSEC Programme support the disabled.

There are three special needs private schools nestled in Region Four: the Gifted Hands School for Special Children, the Step By Step School and the Greenheart Autistic Society.

As for Region 6, (East Berbice-Corentyne) the New Amsterdam Special School, the CBR Special School in Rose Hall Town, the Corriverton Deaf Academy and the Region 6 Disability Unit comprise the disability entities in that region.

Region 7 (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) has only one disability unit — the Region 7 Disability Unit; while Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) has two special needs units: the Linden Special Needs School and the Wismar Hill Primary School Unit for the Blind.
(Shivanie Sugrim)