Differently abled children to finally get govt attention – Hon. Walwyn
The current system of education does not cater for the effective response to the needs of differently abled children and as such many parents are usually forced to send or take their children to other countries to be given a fair deal on life. However, Minister for Education and Culture Hon. Myron V. Walwyn announced at the Sixth Sitting of the Second Session of the Second House of Assembly on February 12, 2013 that measures are afoot to have this problem addressed.
“Madame Speaker, I am particularly elated that we were able to discuss a short-term consultancy to review the current Special Education Needs arrangements and advise on how they could be developed,” he told the House. The consultancy will provide a comprehensive analysis of the needs in human resources, training and facilities in order to properly monitor these students in the system. “Madam Speaker, I met quite recently with the parents of children who are differently abled and it is high time that we begin to properly address the needs of these children,” admitted the Education Minister.
There will need for various expertises such as Diagnosticians, Occupational therapist and the like within the ambit of the Ministry of Education to provide the much needed services to these students. Hon. Myron V. Walwyn called on all members of the House of Assembly to join him in his bid to getting the issue fixed “once and for all.” He acknowledged that it can no longer be accepted that parents must relocate to get the help needed for their children.
Within recent years there has been a number of students being diagnosed with various behavioral problems, Hon. Walwayn told the house and said that instead of sometimes casting these children aside as just being rude, the Virgin Islands system has to be better developed to properly diagnose behavioral issues such as ADHD and provide the necessary support to students so that they too have a positive experience matriculating through the school system. “But Madame Speaker, we must first build this system and that is what we are now trying to begin.”
“At this juncture in the development of our Territory, we need to ensure that all Virgin Islanders and residents have opportunities to utilize their God-given skills and talents to be part of our society and contribute to its development. It is my intention to have the Ministry of Education and Culture spearhead the exploration of inclusive education to allow our differently abled residents the opportunity to advance as far as they wish in our formal education system,” stated Hon. Walwyn.
The issue of dealing with children with special needs remains in unchartered waters for the Territory and the Minister said he is committed to realizing this opportunity for residents who are differently abled. The journey to inclusive education will not be an easy one, he noted, but it is a journey that he acknowledged that should have started years ago and it is a journey that the government of the day now owes to the many differently abled Virgin Islanders to begin to facilitate.
“This issue is particularly vexing to me because for decades we have kept differently abled Virgin Islanders on the outskirts of our community,” said Hon Walwyn as he also noted that as a developing Territory, it is important that as a people it must summon the courage to face the opportunity to mature as an inclusive society, with all Virgin Islanders striving to be their best and advance the country, regardless of their abilities.
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21 Responses to “Differently abled children to finally get govt attention – Hon. Walwyn”
you paid NDP bloggers are a joke keep up the good work people on pointing out the facts.
So to correct your somewhat ignorant comment, the term "differently abled" is very appropriate. A person in a wheelchair falls into this category, a person with down syndrome falls into this category, a person who has autism falls into this category...and that is just to name a few. These individuals have different abilities period and they may or may not be related to learning disabilities.
I congratulate the Minister in his efforts to bring these issues to light. If nothing else, the public will get educated about the daily challenges that the differently-abled face.