Advocacy Project on Disability friendly classrooms in primary schools in Karagwe
This project is funded by Lillian Foundation –Netherlands through KCBRP Tanzania.
KARUDECA is implementing this project in cooperation with CIBIDIO Kagera and KESUDE Group.
Why this Project?
In Tanzania and Karagwe in particular, children with disabilities face a lot of challenges as they struggle to get education. One of the most pressing challenges is unfriendly infrastructure within the school environment. Children with disabilities get difficulties to enter in the classrooms as most classrooms are built with steps and thus the children fail to enter in the classrooms suppose one has a wheelchair.
With the free education strategy in Tanzania and following stakeholders sensitization on disability issues parents of children with disabilities are increasing willingness to send their disabled children to schools but always facing barriers since sensitization done left out improvement of infrastructures something resulting into leaving out big number of children with disabilities of school going age out of education systems. Different strategies such as we ring the bell campaign lead by KCBRP and other pro-disability organizations in Karagwe such as KESUDE-Group, and KARUDECA, that have been calling up on stakeholders especially government authorities to create enabling environments that could suite children with disabilities of school going age to join and enjoy their rights to education but ended into unfulfilled promises missing follow ups strategies, with this kind of lesson learnt from international Campaign, pro-disability in Karagwe ought to change the advocacy strategy by implementing trajectory project (ongoing) that meant for active participation of government in creating enabling environment and thus reduces physical barriers and opening windows and doors for disabled children to get their rights to education in an accessible infrastructures. In Karagwe district there are 118 primary schools out of this number there is only 5 schools with special units however there infrastructure in these with special units are still questionable. With this great gap KARUDECA, CBIDO-KAGERA and KESUDE GROUP are implementing this project which will conduct a study/survey in ten primary school five with special units and five without special units so as to share the findings and together with Karagwe district government authorities find the way of improving infrastructures for enabling disabled children to access their education as any other children without disabilities. This project therefore aims at influencing the Karagwe district council management on the importance of constructing CWDs friendly classrooms. This approach ensures sustainability as its make disability issues community owned implemented and solved.