Legislator Elysée Bisengimana has called for specific budgetary allocation for children with special needs to help them access quality education. Bisengimana, the chairman of the Chamber of Deputies’ Standing Committee on Education said this Sunday at the end of the global education campaign week held under the theme Quality Education to End Exclusion at Camp Kigali grounds. The campaign kicked off at the district level on Monday last week. With the inclusion of children born with special needs in the national budget, it would be easier to increase the current inadequate technical assistance to support them, Bisengimana said. The MP added that there was need for construction of more schools and other facilities to assist disadvantaged children access quality education which, he said, must go hand in hand with more budgetary allocations. Bisengimana explained that besides the need for additional budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Education, children born with physical disabilities need to be given priority to enable them access education without exclusion. He added that there was need for advocacy and sensitization of masses, especially parents who continue to deny equal chances and opportunities to children born with physical disabilities. As lawmakers we shall advocate for laws that make it possible for children with special needs to access quality education without exclusion, he added. Ruth Mbabazi, the Education Programme Manager of Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), said that there was clear evidence that many children with special needs were still not accessing education because of lack of awareness and advocacy campaigns. We want the Government to reconsider the education policy so that children with special needs can be helped to access quality education, Mbabazi added. She explained that education without exclusion was the only way that the Government development programmes, such as Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS), could be achieved.Ends
