In the developing world, only 2% of children with disabilities ever go to school. Many of these children can and should be in class and are capable of learning and contributing to their communities and the economy. Being fully-integrated into the school environment is very important for the rehabilitation process and for ending discrimination in our society. 

I work for one of Tanzania’s largest disability organisations, the Comprehensive Community-Based Rehabilitation programme in Tanzania (CCBRT), which runs a disability hospital and a community programme aiming to provide a better quality of life for adults and children with disabilities. We have few official statistics on disability in Tanzania but the World Health Organisation estimates that 10% of any population has a disability so we’re looking at around four million people with impairments in Tanzania. 

There are many factors which prevent children with disabilities from achieving an education in Tanzania. A major barrier is the inaccessibility of the school compounds to children with disabilities. Most schools here in Dar es Salaam are based on sand. Have you ever tried pushing a wheelchair through sand? Schools are often built on plinths to prevent the rain entering the classrooms during the rainy season, but there are no ramps so physically disabled children cannot enter the classrooms. 

The doorways are rarely wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair, plus there are barely any toilet facilities in schools accessible to children in wheelchairs. The children with the wheelchairs are the lucky ones; many do not have any kind of mobility device and must rely on their parents to carry them to school and on friends to assist them. There is also a serious shortage of teaching aids and books available for children with disabilities.

Know your child's rights

Attitudes of teachers and parents used to be a major barrier.  As part of my job I talk to head teachers around Dar es Salaam to explain that children with disabilities should also be integrated into classes at regular primary schools and that they too have a basic right to an education. In the past, I found that teachers, already overburdened with up to a hundred children in a classroom, were unwilling to accept a child with special needs. Most parents did not even know that their child was entitled to an education and so weren't even seeking schooling for their child. 

But over the last few years I have noticed attitudes change for the better and parents  become increasingly informed about their child’s right to an education. CCBRT, along with other NGOs, has been raising awareness amongst parents through radio announcements, community meetings and home visits that they must enroll their child in school. Head teachers are becoming increasingly more accepting. Our education programme is now working with 78 primary schools in Dar es Salaam and another 88 in Moshi, supporting 800 children with disabilities in schools. 

Poverty is another major obstacle. In Tanzania, households that include a person with a disability consume 60% below average. Approximately half of the families I deal with are also single parent families: it’s mostly mothers bringing up their disabled child alone. The uncomfortable truth is many fathers abandon their wives when they see that their baby has a physical impairment. So while primary education is free, just finding the money for school materials and uniform is difficult for these mothers.  

Primary school in Tanzania starts at age seven and finishes at 14, but children with disabilities tend to start later meaning many are aged 18-20 by the time they have finished their primary. And because of the need to learn sign language, children with hearing impairments spend 10 years in primary school compared to seven for able-bodied children.  

More vocational training should be offered to disabled students, with the government  encouraging their integration into vocational training centres. This would also help friendships to develop and to end discrimination. Many people with disabilities can lead independent lives and should be given the opportunity to contribute to their communities and the economy.  CCBRT has recently linked up with an education and recruitment firm in Dar es Salaam called Radar to provide recruitment services specifically for people living with disabilities and HIV and AIDS – it’s the first service of its kind in the country.

Pushing up standards

Teachers' first concern is the lack of funds if they are to include children with special needs. There is much work to be done here but recently there has been encouraging progress. 

Last year, CCBRT lobbied the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training over the accessibility of school buildings to adults and children with disabilities.  We were then asked to help provide recommendations on updated construction guidelines so that all newly built schools can be made accessible in line with international standards. We are hopeful that all new schools built in Tanzania will now be accessible to people with disabilities.  

We have also been liaising with the School WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) programme so that plans to improve water, sanitation and hygiene in schools also take account of the needs of children with disabilities. These may seem like small advances, but they signal a major step forward in encouraging an enabling learning environment for future generations of Tanzanian children with disabilities.

Edward Masangwa is education coordinator for the Comprehensive Community-Based Rehabilitation programme in Tanzania