Staff crunch forcing specialist school to turn blind students away

A guidance counsellor at the Salvation Army School for the Blind is calling for urgent support for the institution, as the current staffing levels are inadequate to address the needs of the students.

Sean Harvey says the institution is at risk of breaching the Disabilities Act as it has had to turn away students who are in need of its services.

This was one of a plethora of burning issues highlighted by teachers, students and other members of the disabled community who participated and spoke candidly at a back-to-school stakeholder consultation hosted by the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD) and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security at the Abilities Foundation in St Andrew.

Harvey said over the past 20 years, of every 10 students the institution receives, about seven have multiple disabilities.

The institution does not have the requisite staff to handle this situation, he noted, adding that being potty trained is a requirement to attend the school because of how it was originally designed.

He said while the school appreciates the State’s support in terms of providing shadows for the students with additional special needs, that does not cover, for example, a child from rural Jamaica.

“So because of that, we have had to turn back students we know are in need of our services but we are not staffed to assist,” he added.

The guidance counsellor said on an annual basis, the school writes to the education ministry seeking assistance to employ additional teachers and support staff.

He said the general model on which schools are staffed in terms of student-to-staff ratio is not fit for the special educational institution’s context.

“I really hope that there could be some consideration given to ensuring that support provided for our school is based on each child’s need rather than the one size fits all.”

PATH benefits

Harvey is also pushing for students with disabilities to be automatically granted regular benefits under the Programme for the Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) and not just the health component.

He argued that there was an extreme disparity between educating a student with a disability as against an able-bodied child.

The guidance counsellor said while braille machines are accessible at school, a blind student may not have one to use at home as it costs in the region of US$800.

“None of you have had to leave your pencil or pen at school while you go home,” he pointed out, indicating that a blind child without a personal braille machine is at a disadvantage.

“It is really desirable if our parents could be assisted in such a way that some amenities are able to be acquired for the children on a personal basis,” Harvey suggested.

Inadequate transportation was another sticking point.

Therese Braham, data operations instructor at the Abilities Foundation of Jamaica, said there was the urgent need for another school bus to transport the disabled to two schools in Papine and Gordon Town, St Andrew.

“I fear for the bus every morning because when I say it is packed, it’s packed. Could we look at having two buses, especially in the morning? It is unfair to have the students packing up like sardines. I hate to see it,” said Braham, who travels on the special service bus.

She said the Route 102 Jamaica Urban Transit Company bus that takes students to Carberry Court Special School in Papine, St Andrew, and the Lister Mair Gilby High School for the Deaf on Gordon Town Road are usually extremely packed.

Dominique McIntyre, a teacher at the Lister Mair Gilby School for the Deaf, appealed to the Government to repair the broken security fence at the institution. She said students are often distracted by outsiders traversing the school property.

No ramps at Mavis Bank High

Sylvia Grant, who works at the Hope Valley Experimental School in St Andrew, said a disabled student who passed for Mavis Bank High School is unable to attend the institution as there are no ramps to facilitate his movements at the latter school.

She urged the Government to ensure that schools put in place proper infrastructure, particularly ramps, for students who use wheelchairs.

Labour and Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles Jr, who attended the stakeholders’ consultation, said the objective was to have the dialogue and engagement that lead to action such as the promulgation of legislation, the adjustment of law and the development of policy to address the concerns raised by the disabled community.

He argued that when children are able to access education, it empowers them to achieve economic independence.

Charles said the Government is making structured and strategic moves to ensure that opportunities are opened up for the disabled.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com