The Minister of Education yesterday conducted its final consultation session on a proposed five-year Special Education Needs/Disabilities (SEND) strategic action plan.
According to a statement from the Ministry, planning for the action plan began in May at the behest of Minister Priya Manickchand who “saw the need to improve the SEND service delivery within the education sector”.
Chief Planning Officer in the Ministry of Education, Nicola Johnson explained during the consultation that following the Minister’s request a working committee was established with SEN professionals, advocates and a representative of UNICEF, to ensure that the process is data-driven and inclusive.
A rapid assessment in the form of consultations and desk reviews were also conducted between July and August 2021.
Johnson added that organizations representing those living with disabilities participated by providing their objectives, beneficiaries of their services and the scope of their current activities to allow for an assessment of the existing body of services available.
“This process culminated with a synthesis of all the information we have collected from the desk reviews and the consultation with you that led to the emerging of two key outputs,” Johnson explained.
It was explained that the two key expected outputs are the restructuring and reorganizing of the operations of the SEN Implementation within the sector as well as the enhancement and improvement of SEN delivery through improving access to physical facilities and resources.
Manickchand explained that the development of this plan is one of the important things happening in the Ministry while National SEN Officer, Savvie Hopkinson said that the consultation advances the Ministry’s policy of inclusivity in planning and formulating strategies by engaging and involving stakeholders, partners in education and those with a vested interest in SEND.
The consultation exercise and the presentation of the strategic action areas were done by Keon Cheong, Coordinator at the Regional Special Education Needs/ Disability Diagnostic and Treatment Centre.
