Ejide Imanizabaho has been handicapped since he was born. Until early this year, the 18-year-old teenager had been saved the ‘burden’ of school by his family because of his physical challenges. And much as his caretakers claim they did this out of sympathy, they did not know how much they were frustrating Imanizabaho, whose dream was to become an accountant.

However, luck came his way at the beginning of this year when Merc Hategekimana, the head teacher of Groupe Scolaire Kabuga, happened to be passing by their home and saw a child with disabilities seated on the ground.

"When I saw him, I was touched and rushed to have a chat with him and his family. Consequently I invited World Vision, an NGO, to Imanizabaho’s home and in no time they gave him a wheel chair to ease his movement to school,” says Hategekimana, adding that the formerly despised child is one of the best performers in primary two at Groupe Scolaire Kabuga.

Imanizabaho has once again set his sights on keeping books of accounts.

This is just one example of the challenges people with impairments go through. Many want to study and develop careers but can they? How about the facilities, are they sufficient or even available?

Government initiative

According to Mary Kobusingye, who is in charge of special needs in the Ministry of Education, although there are currently no special needs colleges in Rwanda, the Kigali Institute of Education is planning to establish one to cater for their needs.

"At the moment, students with mental impairment are taken to centres such as Humura in Kimironko, Ndera and Nacyonga. Those with visual impairments are taught how to read and write among others,” Kobusingye explains.

However, many other schools such as G.S. Kabuga welcome students with disabilities despite lacking most of the facilities to cater for them. And because of the good gesture, a number of stakeholders have come on board.

For instance in 2010, Handicap International, a humanitarian organization, trained 4 teachers (including Hategekimana) in taking care of the disabled students, measuring their progress and integrating them within the students’ community.

"We were taught various ways of making learning interesting for children with special needs.  We studied sign language, writing and movement orientation among others. We have used that knowledge and our students are doing well in all spheres,” Hategekimana explains.

He says the trained teachers then shared their knowledge with their colleagues causing a positive mind shift within the school and after a few months, the fruits were there for all to see.

In fact after the training, Hategekimana and company started a club called Tubakunde (let’s love them) at school where all students meet and discuss how to help students with disabilities.

In the same year, over 35 students with disabilities (mental and physical) registered to join the school at different levels. 

All these students have not found hardships studying with others but the question is how do they perform in class?

Performance in class

According to Charles Gahire, the chairperson of Special Olympics, disability is not inability. He says a physically challenged person can compete with anyone else and even perform better.

"No one should base on one’s physical and mental ability to judge their potential or discriminate against them because that does not count for anything,” Gahire explains.

And Hategekimana confirms Gahire’s assertion.

"Elvis Sebera, another physically impaired pupil in primary four, is one of our best performers. For instance Sebera was among the top ten pupils in his class last term,” he says.

According to Josephine Mukondo, his grandmother, Sebera has always wanted to become a doctor and is optimistic all will go well.

Although these students perform better than many expect, experts believe that certain provisions have to be put in place to get the best out of them.

Teachers, parents advise

Paul Swaga, a teacher at Akilah Institute in Kibagabaga, says students with serious physical disabilities should always be given more time when doing examinations.

"Such cases are rare but given more thirty minutes, they can compete favorably with those who are able,” Swaga explains.

Swaga adds that "in some countries, students with serious disabilities are registered in a special way by the national examination boards and during their final examinations, the invigilators  allocate them more time to help them catch up with the rest of the students.”

Donald Kanamugire, a parent, says students with special needs require adequate support from their teachers in order to grasp the concepts taught.

He says: "This implies that as the teachers select the methods and materials to use in class, they have to put into consideration the fact that some of their learners may be having certain disabilities that hinder their learning.”

"For instance a student who has hearing problems may not follow adequately if the teacher does not use pictures and visual teaching aids to reinforce what he presents verbatim. Stigmatization against students with disabilities should also be addressed within communities,” Kanamugire advises.

Advocacy growing

The National Council of People with Disability (NCPD), in partnership with Handicap International, the National Union of the Deaf and Voluntary Search Oversees (VSO), is heading the advocacy drive to help the community give people with disability a conducive environment.

According to Emmanuel Ndayisaba, the executive secretary of the commission, the problem is cross-cutting.

"Disabled people have generally been neglected and can hardly access most places such as hospitals, churches, taxis, schools and entertainment centres since the facilities to cater for them have not been put in place,” he says.

Ndayisaba says since 2010 when they carried out a series of campaigns to remind the community that people with disability need special attention, their plight is but slowly improving. He says some policies have been designed to cater for the disabled people.

In August 2012, for example, the Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA) published a handbook detailing what facilities must be installed in every public building so that everyone can access it easily.

Ndayisaba also notes that they are working on a sign language dictionary which they hope to launch in 2016.

"After this, we shall request the government to make sign language official and be taught in school right from primary,” Ndayisaba adds.

He adds that together with their partners, NCPD has designed audiovisual material to help in teaching sign language.

Although the number of disabled children is not known, four schools for training disabled children have so far  registered over 3,700 children. Concern however still stands with employability of disabled people.

Ndayisaba, however, notes that unemployment is one of the major challenges affecting the disabled people. He says over 20 disabled graduates have failed to get work and appeals to the government and other employers to give them a chance to earn.

Your views

Faith Namugenyi, a teacher

All children can excel in the same conditions whether disabled or not. It is only different if the person has mental impairment. What is needed is to train many teachers and distribute them across the whole country in order to help children with those challenges.

Geofrey Masumba

Sometimes people with impairments feel disadvantaged and that is  why most of them work much harder than the rest. I have seen several of them perform better than those who have no problem at all. I hate to see people stigmatising them because it creates an inferiority complex in them.

Josephine Nyinawumuntu, parent

I have a relative who is disabled but I have been taking care of him without feeling inconvenienced. I feel such children should be given special treatment from the rest.

Brian Sengoga

It’s good that schools  have started addressing the plight of people with disabilities. Perhaps this lead to putting facilities in place that make their life easier. All institutions like libraries should be easily accessible by all.

Marc Hategekimana

To me disability is not inability. People with impairments are just like the rest, they also deserve to benefit from education like anyone else. However since they cannot work at the same rate like other students, they should be provided with special conditions to make studying easier.

Lora Grace

I think people with disabilities should not receive any favours. Most of them share classrooms with other students and life goes on normally. Even when it comes to employment, everyone, regardless of their physical ability can take the job. So the earlier they get used to competition the better.