In a bid to complement government’s efforts in the fight against COVID-19, Sightsavers International with funding from People’s Postcode Lottery UK has supported 45 schools including teachers in Karene and Bombali districts with COVID-19 items and learning materials for persons with disabilities. The following IPC materials and FM radio sets were supplied to the 45 schools in 22 communities: Inclusion Champions, CWDs will benefit 180 sanitisers, 180 masks, 826 Veronica Buckets, 826 hand washing liquid, 826 FM radios and batteries for disabled children to receive lessons from the government’s radio teaching programme.
The distribution was witnessed by key educational stakeholders in the districts (TSC, MBSSE, Councils) across the project schools. Most of them expressed appreciation to Sightsavers for the laudable venture and called on the beneficiaries to make very good use of the items. Receiving some of the items, the head teacher of R.C. Primacy school – Binkolo in Bombali district – Dominic S. Kanu, commended Sightsavers International and People’s Postcode Lottery UK for providing the IPC items and learning materials for the pupils and teachers they are in dire need of, noting that the materials will go long way in the fight against coronavirus in the district.
He noted that COVID-19 is real and deadly but the IPC materials would help in the prevention and control drive for the pupils and teachers to stay safe in the school environment. The Programme Manager of Sightsavers Sierra Leone, Tiangay Gondoe, disclosed that a total of 826 beneficiaries have been identified, and 433 girls and 393 boys from the 45 schools including 180 teachers will benefit from the IPC materials and radio sets.
Madam Gondoe said the essence of the distribution is to create more equal rights for people living with disabilities; that though some of the pupils are now at home the radio sets would aid them to benefit from the government radio teaching programme. She maintained that the support to the 45 schools is part of the EU’s Inclusive Education project that has been advocating for the approval of the Inclusive Education Policy for the effective participation of children living with disabilities in the country.
“Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) wants everyone to have access to inclusive, equitable quality education through access to learning materials, a drive to also support the government free quality education initiative,” she noted. The Education and Social Programme Inclusion Officer, Eric Musa, said the IPC materials will help the beneficiaries to observe government’s COVID-19 operational guidelines like masking up and frequent washing of hands, noting that persons with disability should be supported since some of them are mostly vulnerable.
Sightsavers is a non-governmental organisation working in partnership with government ministries to promote, support and ensure that rights, access and disability issues are recognised and acted upon in different ways. Its work is to promote equal opportunities for people with visual impairment and other disabilities. “With a rights-based approach, we work to create a world where children living with disabilities are supported with adequate learning materials and other accessibility support in ensuring that they are integrated into the normal society like those living without disabilities with the key focus and objective of ‘leaving no one behind’.” MK/13/08/2020
By Mohamed Kabba