Dar blind primary school faces shortage of teaching materials

The only pre-primary school for blind children at the Uhuru Mchanganyiko primary school in Dar es Salaam faces shortage of classrooms, teaching equipment and aids needed for the development of children.

Speaking to this paper yesterday in Dar es Salaam Emeramu Mtega, a special education teacher at the school, said the unique pre-primary school in the country, with only eleven children from various regions has only one classroom.

It was supposed to have three classrooms according to the teaching system for the disabled.

Mtega explained that normally it is recommended that one classroom should accommodate only five children. Therefore, the children at Uhuru Mchanganyiko, need at least three classrooms. “A single teacher is supposed to teach only five children at a go,” he said.




Mtega who is also project coordinator of the deaf blind within the teachers’ forums (DBWITEFO) based in Kisarawe district, Coast region said the school is also facing shortage of teachers who would enable the children to write and read using braille.

Mtega also said the school environment is disturbed by the busy Uhuru Road and hawkers, milling around the school.

Uhuru Mchanganyiko has four special pre-primary schools for the children including able, blind, deaf blind and mentally retarded.

Welfare officers from Mkuranga and Bagamoyo districts in Coast region and some teachers for special education from the city visited the school to assess the learning environment.

During the visit organised by DBWITEFO and financed by the Foundation for Civil Society (FCS), the delegation was requested by some teachers to tell parents to encourage their children to pursue their studies at the school according to their talents.

Another teacher of children with hearing and vision disability at the school, Maura Ulaya urged parents not to force their children to learn things which they don’t like, if they want good performance.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN