By Caroline Katana
Fifty percent of children with disabilities in low and middle-income countries are still out of schools.
The gender gap is enormous, only 42 percent of girls with disabilities complete their primary education compared to 50 percent of boys with disabilities.
Every child needs a teacher, every child has the right to education but children with disabilities are denied this right.
In Kenya children with disabilities often miss out on the opportunities that education can offer due to the inability of schools to meet their special needs.
“Schools claim that they are not sufficiently equipped with the resources and specialty to cater to the needs of children with disabilities ,this forces children to miss out on school or to drop out early “
It is critical for disabled children to be in an inclusive environment, stimulating early childhood education also enhances placement, retention and academic performance for children with disabilities.
However due to physical or mental disabilities most children do not attend or participate fully in school one of the factors that affect a child with mental or physical disabilities to fully participate in school is the lack of conducive education centrers. .
It is difficult under such learning conditions to detect children with special needs because most of the teachers in such institutions are not adequately trained or trained at all to identify and attend to the needs of children with special needs .
The Kenyan government enacted a few policies to aid this issue including the Basic Education Act of 2013 (BEA) as a tool for safeguarding and promoting early childhood development and education for children with disabilities in Kenya.
The right to education is recognized as a constitutional right in article 53 (1) (b) of the constitution of Kenya which entitles every child to free and compulsory basic education.
The BEA was enacted to put these constitutional rights into action ,and it explicitly mentions the rights of children with disabilities ,however ,to what extent has this act aided in the increased access to education for children with disabilities ? The act has been critiqued for taking one step forward and two steps back.
A partnership with parents, civil society, particularly representative organizations of people with disabilities and oversight authorities such as human rights institutions is essential for ensuring accountability and compliance
Kwale County Community of Practice (KCOP) is a network of organizations and individuals working collaboratively to address pressing social, economic and policy issues within Kwale County, is committed to fostering a community-driven change, Kwale county community of practice adopts non-violent participatory approaches to influence decision makers and bring about impactful policy transformations.
Policy discussion meeting in Diani, Kwale County
Through cross learning and strategic partnerships, the network amplifies diverse voices and leverages collective expertise to advocate for community needs.
One of the Kwale County community of practice focus areas has been promoting inclusive education to ensure equitable learning opportunities for all, particularly marginalized groups (PWDs).
During a policy discussion meeting with  two County Budget and Economic Forum (CBEF) representatives and sixteen KCOP members in Diani Kwale County, Path Youth Organization and a leader of education department in KCOP Salim Ali said, a memo was developed and presented to the county government of Kwale advocating for inclusive education services .
“We are advocating for improvement of school infrastructure to accommodate PWDs at ECDES and TVETS, the school’s physical environment is often difficult to access and the teaching and learning materials are poorly adapted,” Said Ali.
Ali said KCOP aims to advocate for an increased budget allocation and to collaboratively shape an inclusive education Policy framework that supports long-term, sustainable changes in the educational landscape.
According to recent data by KNBS and the Ministry of Education about 4.6% of school-aged Children in Kwale County live with some form of disability, translating to over 12,000 students with Special needs.
“Students face substantial barriers to education, such as inaccessible school Infrastructure, limited availability of trained special education teachers, and a lack of appropriate Learning materials, only 30% of children with disabilities in Kwale are estimated to attend school regularly many drop Out due to a lack of support and accessible resources, while others never enroll due to limited Mobility discrimination, or low community awareness about the importance of inclusive education,” said Ali
KCOP education department leader Salim Ali
Less than 10% of Kwale’s teachers have formal training in inclusive education, making it difficult to adequately support students with disabilities.
Leader of the governance department in Kwale county community of practice Mealii Mbodze Swazuri said economically disadvantaged families struggle to send their disabled children to school.
“The ability of a child to enroll in and attend school is determined by the cost of education which for disabled children may be significantly higher, that is why we are asking the county government to allocate more funds to ensure every disabled child gets the fundamental right to education,” said Mbodze .
Mbodze affirmed that children with disabilities to encounter stigmatization from the society
“Societies often have stigmatizing attitudes towards children with disabilities, because of traditional beliefs and practices ,people often blame the children or their parents for the disability or believe that it is the result of a disease or is a kind of punishment or curse,” added Mbodze .
She added that many parents would like to send their children to school but fear that they would not be accepted by the school and by the community as a whole, that they would be ridiculed and bullied.
“People sometimes think that because they have a disability there is no point in sending them to school that they are unable to learn, especially if they know the schools don’t know how to adapt to them,” said Mbodze .
KCOP governance department leader Mealii MbodzeÂ
She said that there is a need for the county government to come up with policies that will protect children living with disabilities.
“The government must prioritize efforts to ensure that all children with disabilities have equal access to essentials such as quality education,” said Mbodze
Project assistant of youth and women for peace and sustainable development (YOWPSUD) Mize Mohamed said they are striving to address marginalization and inequality by advancing the role of women and youth in the political, social and economic spheres of focus.
