Venantie Mukanziza narrates the hurdles she encountered to access education as a person living with disability.

Despite her visual impairment, Mukanziza, a resident of Kimironko sector, acquired a master's degree holder in education and is a mother of 4 kids. This, she says, didn’t come easy.

"I lived in Gicumbi near the Gatuna border. At that time, the only school that catered for people living with disabilities was in Nyanza District,” she recalls.

This required her to endure a long journey since she had to board a bus twice for her to get to school.

Mukanziza says this and other factors are some of the challenges faced by people living with disabilities, noting that a few years ago, the education system was not favourable and inclusive for people living with disabilities.

Efforts are in place to make education system more favourable and inclusive for people living with disabilities.  Courtesy photo.

She, therefore, says that it was the support from her family that facilitated her through the tough times.

"I am very proud of my parents who had a very good sense of what it meant to live with disability. I know some of my age-mates whom I grew up with in the same sector that were not able to pursue their studies,” Mukanziza says.

She adds that it called for financial stability for a family to be able to educate a visually impaired student.

"Some students were not even able to afford tickets to go back home, so they had to stay at school for the entire holiday break. Some were only going back home once a year, but there are even some who remained there for three years because parents had no money to transport them back home,” she recalls.

According to National Council of Persons with Disabilities (NCPD), Rwanda has only four schools that educate children who are visually impaired. These include Rwamagana’s Homme de la vierge Marie des Pauvres (HVP) Gatagara, the Catholic Sister’s Disability School in Kibeho, Groupe Scholaire de Gahini in Kayonza and Ubumwe Community Center in Rubavu. This is in addition to other schools that generally educate all students with disability and other schools that have a department in charge of students with disability.

Addressing challenges

According to figures from NCPD, Rwanda has 50,000 people who are visually impaired, have eye defects and other related diseases.

Rwanda Education Board this year introduced the teaching of braille technique in teacher-training centres. This is aimed at producing teachers who are able to educate students with and without disability.

Braille is a system of touch reading and writing for visually impaired persons in which raised dots represent the letters of the alphabet.

"With our partners, we are going to translate all reading materials in braille language, as it is the one which is understood by visually impaired people. This is an extended process which requires a long time. Resources may vary depending on the capacity available but we have started working on it so as to create an inclusive education for all,” Dr Ndayambaje tells Education. 

Mukanziza hails the government’s move saying that it is going to be a solution to so many problems.

"This is a dream come true because education for visually impaired people was a hurdle as parents were required to look for teachers who are qualified with the "braille” reading method,” she says. 

Talking to Education, Emmanuel Ndayisaba the executive secretary of NCPD, says that they won’t stop at braille training, but will also incorporate digital education.

"We usually use braille in some schools like HVP Gatagara, Gahini School, and et cetera. But we are even going to expand this to laptop distribution, we will give visually impaired people talkback machines so that they learn to type too,” says Ndayisaba.

He says that they are doing that to decrease the large number of visually impaired students who are not in school.

"The number of students who are visually impaired are mostly in rural areas. What we are doing is to show them that they are able to study and can succeed in their future endeavours,” he adds.

The United Nations Children’s Fund is one of the stakeholders working with REB on this initiative, among other stakeholders.

Rwanda’s 2013/14-2017/18 Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) emphasises the need for a more innovative approach to inclusive education. In 2018, Rwanda Education Board partnered with The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to conduct a pilot exercise aimed at enhancing inclusive education, teaching and learning methodologies.