50,000 TT Students Have Learning Difficulties

There are approximately 50,000 children in TT who have learning difficulties, but with early detection of their problem and appropriate intervention, they can become productive members of society, said Dr Leonard Bernstein, President of the Multi-disciplinary Academy of Clinical Education (MACE). Dr Bernstein was one of the speakers at a workshop hosted by the Health Ministry in conjunction with MACE at Normandie Hotel yesterday to develop a framework for the establishment of a National Child Development Centre. Based in the US, MACE comprises professionals in the field of communicative disorders, education, education therapy, neurology, optometry, psychiatry and psychology. Dr Bernstein said it is a great tragedy for many children to be labelled “stupid” simply because someone has not been trained to recognise a learning disorder.

But recognising a problem is one aspect, he said the other part of the equation is appropriate intervention. He said the “ultimate goal” of appropriate intervention is to have a confident, competent adult, who is a productive, contributing member of the society they live. Of the 50,000 children with difficulties, 5,000 children will manage to do well enough (without cost) mostly on their own, while at the other extreme there are 5,000 who will need maximum assistance throughout their lives. Dr Bernstein said the remaining 40,000 can be helped with intervention so they will not be a drain on society’s resources but productive citizens contributing to its wealth. He said these children are the future of the country. In her presentation Education Minister Hazel Manning expressed concern for the 75 percent of  primary school population in TT with learning difficulties that go undetected by the education system. It also does not cater for the small percentage of children who are gifted.

She said some researchers have estimated that 50 percent of the primary school population may experience difficulties because of problems with their vision and hearing. She said these “can remain undetected and contribute to poor academic achievement despite the fact that these students are of normal intellectual ability.” Another group of approximately 25 percent of primary school children can be classified as being intellectually below normal but, Manning said they may be the product “of an education system which does not seek to identify and cater to their individual differences.” Until recently, these children described as “learning challenged” would leave school at the end of their primary education but with guaranteed secondary education they went further. However, Manning said they were likely to drop out during the first three years due to lack of academic ability and achievement resulting in poor esteem and motivation.

Approximately two percent of primary school children are gifted and/or talented but she said virtually no attempt was made to identify this group of students and provide the accelerated programmes they require. Responding to the needs of these and other children with special education needs, Manning said Cabinet has approved the establishment of an expanded Student Support Services Unit to support all students and maximise their learning potential. It will target primary school children where formal schooling begins at five years. She said the formative years is when holistic analysis is needed to identify strengths, weaknesses, aptitudes and identify remedial action.

Manning said while some students will be diagnosed at primary level, continuous identification and remediation is needed at secondary level “with an added focus on their personal/social and career development.” Health Minister John Rahael said the Ministry expected the Centre to treat children referred to its team of specialists for diagnosis and strategies to assist them. He expected it to cooperate with institutions already engaged in treating disabled children to help upgrade their programmes, and take the lead in establishing mass health education campaigns to sensitise the public to the developmental needs of children “so that archaic ideas like the need for physical punishment for bad children will decrease.”