He was speaking during an audience granted to a delegation from the Socio Economic Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities SEEPD Program of the CBC Health Services recently at the Star Building in Yaounde.
The delegation led by the Director of CBC Health Services Prof Tih Pius Muffih was made up of the SEEPD Program Manager, Awa Jacques Chirac, SEEPD Education Advisor, Mrs Forbuzie Bridget Longla, and the CBM Regional Director for Africa Central, Mr. Mue Peter. CBM it should be noted is the funding partner of the SEEPD Programme
The aim of the visit was to introduce the SEEPD Programme activities to the government especially in the area of inclusive education and also to lobby for government to demonstrate increased ownership of inclusive education initiatives started in the Northwest Region.
During the visit, the mission of CBM, an international organization that seeks to improve on the quality of lives of persons with disability was unraveled to the PM by its Director Mr. Mue Peter.
Pleased with what the organization is doing, the Prime minister promised to hasten the official registration of the organization in Cameroon as he was told that the organization’s official registration process was still ongoing.
Presenting the achievements and challenges of the SEEPD Programme inclusive education initiative, the Education Advisor Mrs. Fobuzie Bridget said the Program besides its special education programmes for the deaf and blind started implementing inclusive education in the Northwest Region in 2010 after it was noticed that children with impairments are either excluded from studying in the same setting with their peers without impairment or they study in difficult conditions.
She revealed that the SEEPD Program has started inclusive education in some 17 pilot government primary and secondary schools in the NWR to enable children with impairments study in mainstream schools.
Mrs Forbuzie noted that the SEEPD Programme has constructed one resource room in GBHS Bamenda and equipped one in GBHS Kumbo adding that GBHS Bamenda for the first time since its creation, now has 20 students with hearing impairments, 6 with visual impairments , 400 with mild or severe impairments and 3 sign language interpreters with one employed by the CBC Health services. She also revealed that the Program has supported the GCE Board with a Brail machine in order to enable the Board brail the scripts of children with visual impairments.
Mrs. Fobuzie said there is need for the government to make inclusive education a policy in Cameroon so that most schools will welcome it because some principals have not yet caught the vision.
She recommended human and material resources to facilitate teaching in mainstream settings and for government to take up the management of special schools and use the teachers to support teaching in mainstream schools and also to build the capacity of more teachers.
The Prime minister was visibly satisfied and overwhelmed with what the Program is doing which he said is part of nation building. He noted that the message SEEPD has is good for the government which will have to embrace inclusive education in order to ensure that children with impairments study in inclusive settings because no government should have children who are excluded from education
Responding to the challenges, the PM said change is usually difficult because it is always resisted at the initial stage but encouraged the SEEPD program to press on despite the resistance because inclusive education will certainly find its place in the Cameroon education landscape.
While he frowned at the nonchalant and non-receptive attitude of education authorities towards inclusive education, he congratulated schools that have opened their doors to children with impairments.
The Prime Minister promised to make arrangements for the CBCHS team to meet the ministers of basic and secondary education and channel their challenges and recommendations to them.
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