CHILDREN living with disabilities in Fiji are facing significant challenges in accessing education, according to new data presented at a National Dialogue on Supporting Children with Disabilities in Fiji.
Presenting the findings, Data Manager Analyst of the Fiji Bureau of Statistics Neori Kete outlined attendance figures from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS).
He said the data showed that many children with disabilities were not attending school, especially at early ages.
Mr Kete explained for children aged two to four, only 3.8 per cent are attending early childhood education, while 5.9 per cent are not attending.
He said the situation was more concerning among older children.
For those aged five to 17, 8.9 per cent are attending school, while a much higher 19.2 per cent are not attending.
He said the figures reflected broader challenges in inclusion.
He noted that data was still limited in explaining why children are missing out.
“With access to other services, there are no tools that measure the inclusivity of the access of the services that are provided to clearly measure the children with disability on their access to service,” he said.
He stressed the current surveys were not specifically designed to measure these issues.
“There is no survey that focuses entirely on persons or children with disability.”
He said disability data was only collected as part of broader surveys.
“Each respective survey, when we conduct a survey, each agency or organisation conducts a survey, it is in line with the mandatory objectives of the survey.”
He said this approach made it difficult to fully understand barriers to education and inclusion for children with disabilities.
The data highlighted the need for improved tools to better measure and address access to education.
