- General
- Inclusive Education
A Disability Inclusive Resource Centre designed to give students with disabilities equal access to quality education has opened at the University of Juba.
What is a Disability Inclusive Resource Centre?
The centre, the first of its kind in South Sudan, will create an inclusive learning environment where students with disabilities can access adapted learning materials, assistive devices and tailored academic support.
It will also promote knowledge on inclusion across the university and enhance the skills of educators, including through disability inclusion training.
The centre is a partnership between Light for the World, the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare and the University of Juba, funded by Education Cannot Wait.
Education Cannot Wait: sustainable inclusive learning for all
Education Cannot Wait is funding a multi-year resilience programme to provide safe and inclusive education to crisis-affected learners across fourteen counties in South Sudan. Light for the World has already partnered with Save the Children and the South Sudan Ministry of General Education and Instruction to teach sign language and braille to the next generation of teachers.
Light for the World plans to expand inclusive education resource centres throughout the country, including in Maridi, Maper and Rombur National Teachers Training Institute. The goal is to strengthen the inclusive education system and train a new generation of teachers, so they are equipped to support learners with disabilities.
More than 2.8 million children, or over 70 per cent, are out of school in South Sudan. Globally, children with disabilities are 49% less likely to attend school than their peers.
Inclusive education is a right
Lucy Nyaga, International Director of Programmes at Light for the World, said the centre launch was a significant step towards ensuring students with disabilities have access to the tools they need to succeed.
“As a State Party to the UNCRPD, South Sudan has committed itself to advancing inclusive education at all levels,” she said.
“This resource centre will motivate and encourage students with disabilities to pursue their academic ambitions with confidence and dignity. Disability should never be a barrier to excellence and leadership.”
Lucy said she hopes the resource centre will inspire the university to establish a department focused on inclusive education.
“Such a department would ensure sustainable institutional leadership in inclusive education, research and teacher preparation,” she said.
Professor John Aketch, Vice Chancellor of the University of Juba, said the opening of the resource centre aligned with the university’s mission.
Nothing is more important than inclusive education, where nobody is left behind,” he said.
Esther Achire, Director for Gender Equity and Inclusive Education, acknowledged Light for the World’s support in developing the government’s inclusive education strategy, which calls for at least 13 resource centers across the country.
“Light for the World supported the development of the policy and out of the policy we came up with the strategy and the implementation plan. Today (the centre) is what it has given birth to,” she said.
