Include special children into our schools

THE EDITOR: The special schools in Trinidad and Tobago are necessary in providing a full range of services, and are dedicated to the development and education of students with special needs. However, the current trend of inclusion, ie the placement of special students in schools alongside their regular peers, is now being implemented at a greater scale in our mainstream educational system. Are the needs of the handicapped adequately met; or is the inclusion policy carried out in a detrimental manner? Has any research been conducted to investigate the positive and negative aspects of inclusion in Trinidad and Tobago’s schools, and how to improve the policy?

Have the teachers in the regular schools been trained to meet the needs of the students eg adaptive physical education courses for students with special needs. Inclusion of the handicapped in regular schools is a sensible policy; once a number of conditions are met. Inclusion has to be in the interest of the individual concerned at the time, and that regular pupils are not significantly disadvantaged. In practice, the conditions imply that full support is given to the pupil and teacher concerned. In-service training should be provided for teachers to prepare them for these special students.

Training that addresses the needs of the students, such as learning styles, strategies, accommodations for exams, etc. Class size should be reduced in the receiving class. Adequate specialist support services should be readily available eg education audiologist, speech pathologist. Alterations to the physical structure of the school should be made in advance of the special pupils. The school must be “user friendly” for the physically handicapped. May I humbly suggest that inclusion of children with special needs should only be attempted with the full support of parents, teachers and specialist support services in cooperation with the Ministry of Education. In our attempt to reach “developed world status,” it is important to develop our special students to their fullest potential.

RONALD PERSAD
Chaguanas