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What of the differently abled students?
Students Solidarity Trust
April 13, 2010

The discourse on education transition in Zimbabwe has negated the plight of the differently abled students amid initiatives and contributions from the parent Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture (MoESAC) and donor organizations. The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education (MoHTE) has been conspicuous by its inactivity not only with regards to the differently abled students but also students in general. The inception of the inclusive government saw the forsaking of the unstable, weak and worthless Zimbabwe dollar as the official currency for a multi-currency system. In the short term, this helped stabilise the economy and halted the slide into economic ignominy. Broadly speaking, the economy has taken shape and inflation figures indicate that Zimbabwe is slowly moving out of the economic tangle it had plunged itself into. These developments as welcome as they maybe compel us to pose the question: What of the differently abled students?

Generally speaking, marginalised groups including the community of differently abled students have limited access to the foreign currency and thus they can not afford the tuition fees. For starters, differently abled students need more than tuition fees depending on the particular type of their disadvantage. The extra aids they need such as hearing aids, Perkins Braillers, wheelchairs, white canes to aid them in their mobility and other specialised equipment are very expensive and are imported. On average, differently abled students would require two to three times more resources to assist them to access education. Resultantly, students have been forced to drop out of school due to failure to pay their tuition fees. The University of Zimbabwe, Midlands State University and other tertiary institutions have seen a decline in students with disadvantages applying for places and in those completing their studies due to lack of resources.

In the past year, a few initiatives have been launched by government and nowhere in these initiatives are specific measures and mechanisms to address the plight of the differently abled students. The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart has launched the Education Transition Fund [ETF] meant to stabilise the education system and recapacitate schools through ensuring that the schools have furniture and books. Up to now, no mention has been made in the [ETF] in terms of funding for differently abled students or programs that will ensure that as the recapacitation goes on, these students will also be provided for. This arrangement means that a section of Zimbabwean society is being left out of the revival efforts by the government.

The Minister of Finance Honorable Tendai Biti on 2 December 2009 presented a budget that he said was reconstruction with growth and equity. He allocated about 108 million dollars to education programs with no mention of differently abled students in particular. The closest was the 23 million dollars allocated to social protection programs but this was mainly focusing on the Basic Assistance Education Module [BEAM]. Acknowledging the financial limitations that have gripped the government, it is important that differently abled students do not fall through the net as the financial squeeze promises to stay with the nation for some time. Programs should be put in place to ameliorate the plight of these students as most of them come from disadvantaged and poor backgrounds. A return to the loans and grants system will go a long way in assisting the students as they need access to resources to complete their studies. Government should, through the responsible ministries be able to do a needs assessment to find out how they can assist differently abled students. Education should be a right enjoyed by any and all and without these interventions by government, education will remain a privilege for the few who have the money to buy it as a commodity available on the market.

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