More than 100 learners of Masaku School for the Physically Disabled in Machakos County have received a boost after the Nation Media Group (NMG) donated text books on Friday.
NMG’s Head of Marketing Philbert Julai led staff in handing over the books to the headteacher, Mr Ndeto Ndunda.
In his speech, Mr Julai stressed the importance of education and other needs for disabled children and other less fortunate people in the community.
Mr Julai revealed that NMG newspapers have reserved several pages every Monday for education issues for secondary and primary school learners in its programme dubbed Newspapers in Education (NiE).
“Its benefits are to promote the Kiswahili language and literature. Another advantage is that there is a prize of Sh50,000 to compete for. A certain amount of the money is given to the student, part of it is awarded to the teacher and the rest is given to the student's school," Mr Julai added.
Pupils of the Masaku School for the Physically Disabled on October 14, 1022 when the Nation Media Group donated books to them.
Photo credit: Sammy Kimatu | Nation Media Group
Help those with special needs
He called on other organisations, corporates and other well-wishers to join NMG to help those with special needs in the society.
The school’s headteacher appealed to parents who hide their children due to disabilities to send them to school.
Mr Ndunda said that they have many challenges as headteachers in special schools, saying that the allocation given by the government to schools with special needs does not meet their needs.
"The allocation we receive for schools for children with special needs is a small amount. The parents have financial constraints attributed to the high cost of living," Mr Ndunda added.
Change the word 'disabled'
A board member at the school, who is also a therapist at the Machakos Level Five Hospital, Dr Consolata Mwabu, said stakeholders are campaigning to change the word 'disabled' in the school’s name and find a better replacement.
In addition, she said the school has a shortage of land, explaining that disabled children should have an environment that meets their needs.
Dr Mwabu added that a survey was conducted between 2019 and 2020 by the Ministry of Health with funding support from the Clinton Health Access programme.
The aim of the study was to determine the level of facilities providing services for the disabled in Kenya. It was conducted in 238 level 5 and level 4 hospitals in Kenya in all the 47 counties. Among the findings was that at least 150,000 Kenyans need wheelchairs and other assistive devices.
However, the report showed that only five per cent of them can afford suitable wheelchairs or can find other equipment suitable for the disabled.
The report, added Dr Mwabu, said the shortage is due to the high cost of the devices.
"Our children's physiotherapy room is ill-equipped. If we get funding, we will be very grateful. Our doors are open to everyone who has a call to help," Dr Mwabu remarked.
"The non-disabled children are siblings of the disabled. Parents feel better if they all study here [instead of] being sent to different schools," Dr Mwabu added.
