Special Education – A growing field in Jamaica

Special Education for children with mental retardation began in Jamaica in 1956 at the School of Hope, St. Andrew. The need for this facility was recognised by Randolph Lopez, a concerned parent faced with the dilemma of raising a child with mental retardation without the necessary facilities. This child, now in her 50’s, became the first student to enroll at the School of Hope.

Today, the School of Hope, which falls under the Jamaica Association for Person with Mental Retardation (J.A.P.M.R.), has increased in scope and mushroomed to include 29 satellite branches located across the island. However, the largest group of children with mental retardation is located at the Head School.

Over the years, a number of similar institutions have emerged, including the Jamaica Association for Children with Learning Disabilities (J.A.C.L.D.). The policy of the J.A.C.L.D. is to keep the children requiring special education within the mainstream of the regular school.

The Salvation Army School for the Blind is one of those institutions which caters to students with special needs. It runs a regular academic programme which includes a deaf and blind unit.

In the Infant Department, sighted children are integrated with the visually impaired ones. This is happening as a result of a shift in focus in special education programmes, says former Assistant Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture, Mrs. Stephanie McFarlane. This shift in emphasis has been having positive results as, this year, for the first time, five children did the Grade Six Achievement Test in Braille and 23 in large print, Mrs. McFarlane says.

At Meadowbrook, Calabar, Wolmer’s Girls, St. Hugh’s and Queen’s High Schools, Jamaica College and St. Andrew Technical High School blind children are integrated into the school system. Efforts are being made to provide textbooks in Braille, but “there is a problem with getting books in large print at the high school level”, Mrs. McFarlane states.

Facilities for the deaf are also improving. There are now four schools run by the Jamaica Association for the Deaf:

1. The Lister Mair Gilby School – a senior school which recently gained Comprehensive High status.

2. The Danny Williams School for the Deaf – a primary school and pre-school.

3. St. Christopher’s School for the Deaf – also a primary school.

4. The Woodside School for the Deaf – a branch of the Lister Mair Gilby School, currently seeking establishment as an independent school.

The Government also runs six special education units which cater to the learning disabled child, the child with a vision or hearing problem, and children in schools who exhibit other learning problems. Resulting from a programme with the Dutch Government, these units act as resource facilities for the schools to which they are attached and for nearby schools.

The units are located across the island at:

1. The Mico Practising School

2. Hazard Primary School

3. Lyssons All-Age School

4. Duncan’s All-Age School

5. Catherine Hall, Montego Bay and

6. St. Ann’s Bay

There is also an experimental model programme at the Greater Portmore Learning and Resource Centre formed by the J.A.P.M.R. with the support of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture and other agencies. The unit acts as a resource centre for children at neighbouring schools who require special education in addition to being a school in itself.

Additionally, the government offers support to the following 3 community-based programmes which train persons to work with special children in their homes. Clinics, assessment and other support programmes are offered.

1. Private Voluntary Organizations Limited (P.V.O.) with head office on Constant Spring Road and locations in Hanover, St. James, Westmoreland and St. Elizabeth.

2. The 3D Projects (Dedicated to the Development of the Disabled) in St. Catherine, St. Mary, St. Thomas and Manchester.

3. The Clarendon Group for the Disabled in May Pen, Clarendon.

The Special Education Unit in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture was established in January, 1989. Training of teachers islandwide has been done in order to identify and cater to children with various learning problems.

In this regard, the Ministry has been organising sensitisation seminars and workshops across the island to enlighten teachers to the problems of children with learning difficulties who are not readily identified when they are very young.

The ultimate aim of these workshops is for the availability of at least one special educator in every school. However, this goal has not yet been fully realized due to financial and staff constraints, Mrs. McFarlane says.

The government further proposed that, come September 1997, every teacher in training at all the training colleges complete a module in special education.

Government formed the Mico C.A.R.E. Centre in Kingston in 1981 to evaluate and assess the needs of those requiring special education. The thrust behind the establishment of the centre was to fill a void which existed in the community for an organisation which catered to the multiple disabled. With the establishment of the centre, government is mandated to provide support services for the five to 12 year age group within the public and private school system. Children not within a school system are referred to an educational institution.

A child can be referred to the Centre by a school, a parent, a community worker or a doctor. If the child is accepted for evaluation, an in-depth assessment is done by a group of clinicians. Depending on the outcome of the assessment, a case conference is held involving both parent/guardian and teacher. The findings are discussed and recommendations are made. A scheduled number of assessments are made every week, and the Centre opens straight throughout the year, except on holidays.

As an institution for assessment and evaluation, the Centre is not mandated to operate as a school, but short-term intervention programmes are offered.

According to the Centre’s Manager, Mrs. Angelita Arnold, “Special programmes for children exist, particularly for those who cannot fit into any other institution.” Although not a government requirement, the Centre also offers support services for older children outside of the specified age group, she added.

Additionally, the Centre has recently established a satellite branch in St. Ann. “We try to cater to the needs of the community. Whenever we do something new, it is because the community needs help,” Mrs. Arnold says.