More than 2296 students with disabilities are enrolled across 18 special schools and 378 mainstream schools.
Education Minister Aseri Radrodro made this statement yesterday during the launch of the Special Inclusive Education (SIE) policy at Sunshine Special School in Lautoka.
“As your Minister for Education, I have been informed of the many changes implemented to improve access to education and the education outcomes for learners with disability since 1967,” he said.
“More than a decade ago, nearly six students were enrolled in five mainstream schools and around 1000 attended special schools.
“In 2016, the Ministry of Education developed, endorsed and implemented a policy with guided efforts to strengthen special and inclusive education.
“However, this endorsed policy did not have any costing on its implementation plan.”
Mr Radrodro said with this revised SIE policy, the implementation plan has taken into consideration the increased number of students with disabilities for activities that it must implement along with the financial implications.
“The implementation of the plan is subject to endorsement through the annual Ministry of Education budget allocation and provisions.”
