CISA REPORT:
ANTANANARIVO, October 02, 2012 (CISA) -The government of Madagascar has initiated an educational programme for children with Visual, physical and mental disabilities.
In addition to this, 400 teachers have received training on teaching the disabled children.
This comes three years after Government’s failed attempt at making education attainable for the disabled children in the State.
In 2008, the Government issued a decree to introduce a program providing for the Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in education, but unfortunately, it was blocked the following year, after the army ascended to power in a coup.
The coup significantly reduced the education budget, limiting it to the funding of benefactors and going from $82 million in 2008 to 14.9 million in 2012.
Government inability to satisfy the teacher’s salary, as a result of the reduced budget, meant poor families had to pay school fees and hence, making their economic situation even worse.
According to the Southern Africa Regional Food Security Update of February 2012, four fifths of the population of Madagascar is forced to live on less than $ 1 a day, and poor households spend 74% of their income on food.
As a result, school enrollment has declined. In 2010, they were 73.4%, compared to 83,3% in 2005.
According to FIDES the parents of the disabled children preferred not to send them to school because they are convinced that sending a child with disabilities to school is a waste of time and money. With the implementation of the new changes, this situation is bound to change.
shared from CISA NEWS
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