THE Guyana Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities (GCOPWD) yesterday held their annual Disability Day rally, in honour of World Disability Day 2014.The day was celebrated under the theme “Sustainable Development: The Promise of Technology – From Exclusion to Empowerment: The Role of Information and Communication Technologies for persons with disabilities is timely and appropriate.”
Present at the Rally yesterday which was held at the Carifesta Sports Complex, Thomas Lands Georgetown, were Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, head of the Probation and Social Services Department, Forbes Munroe, Chairman of the GCOPWD, Leon Walcott and other officials and persons with disabilities.
Minister Manickchand in her remarks expressed thanks for being invited by the GCOPWD to share a part of the day’s activities.
She said that some of the persons with disabilities (PWDs) had participated in consultations that the Ministry of Education had set up in several regions across Guyana on Special Education Needs (SEN).
CONSULTATIONS
She added that during those consultations, stakeholders including persons with disabilities, shared their ideas on some of the steps the Ministry of Education needs to take to have a more inclusive and better quality education for persons, and in particular children, with disabilities.
Minister Manickchand added that some of those ideas included the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in meeting the needs of students with disabilities.
She noted that it is for ICT that I feel that the theme “Sustainable Development: The Promise of Technology – From Exclusion to Empowerment: The Role of Information and Communication Technologies for persons with Disabilities is timely and appropriate.”
The Minister added that in their consultations there were discussions on the use of television, audio equipment, computers, scanners, and many other types of assistive devices, to support the delivery of education to students with SEN and the acquisition of appropriate equipment is an integral part of the Ministry’s SEN operational plan, which she understands has been shared with several organisations, including the National Commission on Disability and the Council.
ICT BENEFITS
Minister Manickchand further added that in the last 18 months the Ministry has had ample evidence of the power of ICT to facilitate the delivery of education to persons with SEN, through its support of a programme run by the Guyana Society for the Blind.
She noted that persons who had dropped out of school were gaining excellent passes at the CXC examinations and moving on to tertiary education at Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and the University of Guyana (UG).
FURTHER PLANS
Minister Manickchand said that the MOE is planning to move to a place where the use of computers and appropriate software programmes will be used to convert text into speech for blind students and also will be looking to implement this within the regular school system.
In closing she noted, “It is therefore my hope that during this week, and indeed in many weeks to come, businesses/firms will also recognise the promise of technology in becoming more inclusive organisations i.e. in being able to employ and cater for persons with disabilities.”
She also stated that “we all have a part to play in ensuring that persons with disabilities reach their full potential and are able to contribute to the sustainable development of this country in the way we know they are capable of.”
OVERVIEW OF EVENT
Also speaking at the rally, Chairman of the GCOPWD in brief remarks noted that the event organised by the GCOPWD was held in order to promote awareness for PWDs.
He noted that the event was set up so that persons with disabilities can have an opportunity to showcase their talent and let the public know that they are highly capable of doing quite a lot and also they can play a major role in society.
In closing he noted that persons with disabilities are special persons who can do a lot if given the chance to assist in contributing to the development of Guyana.
Source: https://guyanachronicle.com/2014/12/03/disability-rally-highlights-role-of-ict-as-timely-and-appropriate