A VSO Rwanda special needs volunteer and how he is supporting students with disabilities

By David Kezio-Musoke (VSO Rwanda Communications)

Dieudonne Ndabazi is a national volunteer on the UK Aid funded Building Learning Foundations (BLF) project. Though a volunteer he is also technically referred to as a Special Needs Education Coordinator (SNECO) on the projects disability intervention programme run together with VSO Rwanda.

The disability intervention is part of the BLF project that focuses on improving learning outcomes of primary 1-5 aged children in English and Mathematics, and keeping children in school. Although 94% of children start primary school aged six, the annual drop-out rate is particularly pronounced amongst children with disabilities, a large number not attending school.

According to latest census figures, around 5% of the Rwandan population has a disability. The National Union of Disabilities Organisations of Rwanda (NUDOR) says that literacy rates are far lower amongst those with disabilities. This is compounded by stigma surrounding disability with many people believing children with disability cannot learn and must be kept at home, further delaying their development.

Part of a SNECO’s job is to break that stigma. “My work is to mentor and support inclusive education focal teachers who ensure that children with learning difficulties and disabilities have their additional learning needs identified and supported. This is done through tailored learning strategies, ensuring that all children are able to access their right to education,” Dieudonne Ndabazi says.

Dieudonne is very articulate and passionate about the importance of inclusive education. He describes his own physical disability as his superpower and says that his experiences have given him strength of character.

 VSO has deployed close to 500 SNECOs across all areas of Rwanda. The programme is having a ripple effect as communities recognising that children with disabilities and learning difficulties benefit from learning, and that schools will support them to do so.

Each SNECO is a VSO national volunteer with a university degree in special educational needs. They train and mentor head teachers and Inclusive Education Focal Teachers in support of implementation of the government Education Sector Strategic Plan 2018-2024 which states that every school should have at least one teacher competent in inclusive education who should support their colleague teachers. 

As a result of the work of the SNECOs in collaboration with the head teacher, teachers are trained in inclusive teaching and learning methodology, introduced to innovative approaches to identifying children with disabilities and learning difficulties and assess their needs. SNECO’s also take a systematic approach to planning and reviewing the support to individual children and work with the community to bring children with disabilities back to school after the long school closures and other children with disabilities into school for the first time whose education was most adversely affected by the COVID-19 school closures compared to other children

 Here an inclusive education focal teacher explained the difference that working with SNECO Dieudonne Ndabazi has made to his work:

“Although the school where I work has always had a focus on inclusive education, in the past we were more focused on those with obvious physical disabilities. Since I have been working with the SNECO I have been supported to identify pupils with learning difficulties and work out how best to work with them,” he says.

“I work with these pupils to overcome challenges they face in the classroom by giving appropriate support, so they understand what is being taught. I consider the needs of every every learner and give them different teaching aids that can help with their learning. For example, I will make sure that certain children are located at the front of the class so that they can hear the teacher better,” he adds.

According to the focal teacher working with BLF has helped him ensure that the school’s teaching has become more inclusive. “I co-ordinate with my fellow teachers to ensure that we are maximising the opportunities for impactful learning amongst pupils with additional needs. This approach is also having a wider effect – more people understand that every child has a right to an education.”

For more information and inquiries about the contents of the above article, contact the author on email david.keziomusoke@vsoint.org