THE DEVICES WILL ENHANCE INSTRUCTION FOR SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS.
Educational services to the population of special school learners require alternative resources and inputs to effect adequate learning and learner development, as the services required are significantly different from that of the general student population. Differences exist in the functional abilities of students, their impairment status, and the curriculum to be accessed.
The assistive devices handed over at a ceremony held Monday, according to Education Officer for Special Education Dale St. Juste, will assist Special education centers on the island in addressing issues including: student assessment for special education needs, student mobility, hearing impairments, speech impairments, disorders along the autism spectrum, accessibility to learning resources, rehabilitation of impaired functions, and the ability to better control and interact with their human and physical environment.
“So they need stimulation, they need therapy, and they need sensory regulation. These are not issues that can be resolved by a teacher standing in front of a classroom or by a laptop or a screen. So, it is very important for us that we have these devices to support the targeted needs of these children.”
The assistive devices were supplied by the Education Quality Improvement project (EQUIP) Unit of the Department of Education, Innovation and Vocational Training with support from the Caribbean Development Bank
Project Coordinator of EQUIP Marie-Grace Auguste says the idea to procure the assistive devices came from a fact-finding mission undertaken in 2019 at two special ed centers in Trinidad and Tobago by special education personnel to witness, firsthand, the practices that made those two facilities successful at providing care to their T&T clientele with special needs.
“The collective objective was to observe and to assess facilities, programmes and services and to select best practices that could be assimilated into or adapted to the Saint Lucian context. In the interest of the development of an education sector that is more inclusive of special needs education and that is student focused.”
The Special Education sector has applauded the efforts of the EQUIP team, in not just providing the assistive devices, but to develop a pilot project that will test the use of the devices at two local institutions which provide support to children with special needs.
“It’s wonderful to give everyone the same thing but that does not necessarily scratch where it itches. And so, what EQUIP is doing is really putting the fingernails where the itches are giving us the satisfying scratch, ensuring that our children with special needs have their targeted needs addressed.”
Acting Chief Education Officer Cirus Cepal says government is steadfastly committed to the transformation of Saint Lucia’s education sector so that it is more inclusive and responsive to the needs of students, teachers, parents and the wider society by extension.
“We at education will continue to support the holistic development of every child. When I say every child, I mean those who need the attention and those probably already excelling and then need that extra support that they will continue to excel.
There is a philosophy that I subscribe to very much; if the child does not learn the way you are teaching him or her, teach him or her the way he or she will learn and that is what we are seeing here.”
The pilot phase of the project will be undertaken at two special needs centers including the Lady Gordon Opportunity Center and the Soufriere Special Ed Center.
