JTA President calls for Special Education Act

President of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), Dr Mark Smith, said there is need for a Special Education Act to provide targeted interventions in the education sector.

While acknowledging the provisions in the Disabilities Act, he said that legislation that focuses only on special education would ensure critical specialised training and educational resources to meet the needs of students.

“In other jurisdictions, immense support is placed on this, particularly the funding support and that is what an Act provides. It provides a legislative framework to support the funding models to be able to move our schools (forward)… We have to look at funding education generally, but particularly funding as it relates to special education,” he said.

Mr. Smith was addressing the 8th Biennial Education Conference of the Mico University College’s Child Assessment and Research in Education (CARE) Centre on Friday (Oct.18) at the AC Marriot Hotel in Kingston.

Emphasising the demand in the sector, Mr. Smith said special education teachers are needed to support the varied learning abilities of children as well as to deliver tangible impact on the entire system.

Director of the Mico CARE Centre, Dr. Sharon Anderson-Morgan said the conference brings into focus the diverse educational needs of children.

She underscored the importance of building a more inclusive and supportive educational environment.

Dr Anderson-Morgan said the aim of the conference was “to build the capacity of stakeholders, including teachers, to provide best practice interventions for students who present with learning gaps. That could include students with special education needs and disabilities but there may be other struggling students.”

The Mico CARE Centre provides diagnostic and therapeutic intervention services in support of children with exceptionalities in Jamaica and the wider region. It supports special needs education and provides specialised targeted support and education to parents, teachers and caregivers.

The conference, which brought together educators, researchers and practitioners, was held from October 17 to 18 under the theme: ‘Bridging the Gap: Understanding and Supporting the Whole Child’.