Children living with disabilities suffer stigma in educational institutions

Villagers in ward 8 in Matobo have bemoaned the stigmatisation of children living with disabilities in educational institutions.

The plight of children living with disabilities was revealed during a meeting held in Bidi area recently. The meeting was held under the European Union and Diakonia funded project in partnership with South Western Region Gender Network (SWRGN) which seeks to promote civic engagement in local governance.

Although the meeting targeted people with disabilities aged 18 years old and above, it also attracted parents and guardians of minors living with disabilities who deemed it a platform to narrate ordeals faced by their children in schools.

“My child was called derogatory names by teachers. It hurt me so much until I decided to withdraw him from school”, said Mrs Dube whose son, now 16 years old has a speech impediment.

Other parents and guardians shared similar anecdotes with heavy hearts about how their children have been ill treated at their respective schools.

“My son always gets lost at school and we are constantly looking for him. No one looks after him, I drop him off at school every morning. They leave him to roam around school grounds unattended, the teachers simply don’t care”, complained Nolwazi Dube  a young mother whose son  is hard of hearing and has a communication disability.

One community member, Scholastic Moyo said that there is need for people with disabilities (PWDs) to be part of the decision making process by being present at such meetings where issues affecting them are discussed.

“We need to have more representatives in community leadership that are actually PWDs, because that way, they can better articulate our issues as they understand them better, even issues like inclusive education can be better advocated for by PWDs”, said Moyo.

Ms Mguni from Jairos Jiri Association said there was need to eradicate stigmatisation of PWDs.

 “We can build ramps, pathways and adapted toilets for schools but that will be meaningless  if stigma against PWDs is not eradicated. Stereotypes and stigmatisation are the biggest setback in community development as they fuel self-exclusion of PWDs which negatively impacts their livelihood”, said Mguni

Source: Matobo Youth for Development Initiative