Morris Dixon vows to increase special needs education options locally

Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Dr Dana Morris Dixon, has underscored the need for more special education options locally.

She revealed that the ministry will continue to engage with tertiary institutions to increase the number of career paths in the field, as special needs is now a focus of the Government.

"I was looking at all of the schools, and the thing that I look for the most was how many special needs education teachers were we graduating, and it wasn't enough. I didn't see enough," Morris Dixon lamented.

She was addressing students at a Special Education Seminar at Shortwood Teachers’ College on Thursday.

The minister's comments came as the Government rolls out its new special needs policy, designed to ensure early identification and intervention for students with special needs.

"It involves years of research, consultation and review..., but finally we do have a new special needs policy. In terms of what's in there, it is grounded in access, equity and relevance," Morris Dixon explained.

"The ECC (Early Childhood Commission) has a mandate to focus a lot more on our early childhood institutions and identifying the special needs (in children) as early as we can," she added.

The minister said the policy prioritises strengthening teacher training to equip educators with inclusive teaching skills, a crucial aspect given the rising numbers of special needs children nationally.

"It focuses on strengthening teacher training to equip teachers with inclusive teaching skills, because we gonna need it.

"I told you the numbers (of special needs children) are going up. You are going to have special needs children in your class. You gonna have children with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in your class, who are disrupting the class, and you need to understand how to treat with them because some of them are very brilliant," Morris Dixon informed.

To address the shortage of special needs educators locally, the ministry has initiated discussions with the University of the West Indies (UWI) to increase its focus on special needs education.

"We've already said to UWI, because the Government funds the University of the West Indies, that we need you to focus on the areas of special needs.

"We need you to be putting out more speech therapists..., so we've actually started that conversation with UWI, saying to them that you have to be aligned with Government policy because... special needs is a priority," Morris Dixon stated.