Inclusion: Is Jamaica Ready?

Inclusion: Is Jamaica Ready?

Sharon Y. McKenzie

Florida International University

Curriculum & Instruction

Jamaica Program
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The disabled/special needs population in Jamaica is rising rapidly; this is according to censuses

conducted in 1991 and 2001 respectively, which indicate that, whereas the wider population grew by 8.3

percent, the population of persons with disabilities grew by 49 percent (Vision 2030 Development Plan,

2009). These figures imply that there is a growing demand for educational facilities to accommodate

persons with special needs/disabilities.

Jamaica is signatory to the Convention on The Rights of the Child (CRC), The World Declaration

on Education For All and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, among others. The country’s

affiliation with these organizations gives credence to the value placed on education as an agent of

National Development. The Ministry of Education (MOE) has acknowledged that “Every Child Can

Learn and Every Child Must Learn” and have conceded that the human resource capacities of our nation

can only move forward with a transformed education system that is accessible, equitable and relevant

(Evering, 2007). As such, the MOE has been encouraging inclusive education in government schools.

The focus of this paper is to examine the capacity of Jamaica’s public education system to provide for

individuals with special needs and the implications of involving special needs children in the public as

they are currently.

Key terms: children with special needs/ disabilities, mainstreaming, inclusion

Children with special needs are identified by (Kanu 2008) as those with mental retardation;

learning disabilities; emotional and behavior disorder; hearing loss; blindness; and low vision;

physical disabilities; autism; multiple disabilities; deaf/blindness; severe disabilities and gifted

and those who are gifted and talented. Mainstreaming according to Rogers (1993) refers to the

selective placement of special needs education in one or more “regular educations classes.

Inclusion consists of placing disabled or “learning impaired” students in general education

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classrooms integrating their learning experiences with students in the general education classes

(Turnbull & Turnbull 2004).

The Ministry Education’s focus

The focus of the MOE has shifted from, only facilitating children with disabilities in the

mainstream, to a broader look at provisions for all students based on the concept that all children should

have equal opportunities regardless of their cultural and social background or their differences in abilities

and capabilities. The Ministry’s philosophy states that:

Each individual, child or adult can learn and must; education is best achieved in an environment

that is caring, safe and one of mutual respect; sound early educational foundations and nurturing

values and learning is a lifelong process that should build in our tradition of cooperative

partnership in education; and the ever changing global environment creates opportunity and

demands for a society which actively develops a creative thinker-worker with attitudes, skills,

and knowledge to be a controller of his environment not a victim of it (MOE White Paper , 2007).

The MOEs philosophy is in accordance with Miller (2002) assertion that “there is no universal

child developing in a vacuum; rather, the mind is inherently, social. The child, the other person and the

social context are fused in some activity and the socio-cultural-historical context defines and shapes

children and their experiences” (pp. 170-172). The author further states that, children’s goals, needs and

social practices are inextricably linked to their cultural and social environment and are influenced by

family and societal routines.

According to Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory, cultural beliefs about kinds of skills children

should acquire, often reach a child through the immediate social situation in which a child engages in, as

well as activities with a parent, sibling, or peer who encourages these skills (Vygotsky 1987 as cited by
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Miller, 2002). The ideology of this theory is that culture influences settings and shapes the interactions of

people in particular settings. Vygotsky believes that a child’s participation in various cultural routines

nurtures particular ways of thinking and cultural beliefs; knowledge and values; artifacts and physical

settings influence what settings children are encouraged to enter and when they can enter them; what they

learn in these settings; how they acquire skills; and who enter particular settings. He further posits that

children can develop in a zone of proximal development, the distance between what a child can do

without help and what he can do with help and that a more skilled person uses prompts, discussion,

modeling, explanation and so on to guide and collaborate with children to move them through the zone.

Aldridge (2002) alleges that many teachers present the same lesson and instructional materials to all

students because not all of them use best practices such as cooperative learning and class-wide peer

tutoring. This practice is prevalent in Jamaican schools and such, is an issue that must be addressed

before children with special needs are placed in general classroom settings.

Educational institutions for persons with special needs/disabilities In Jamaica

Currently there are 29 Schools of Hope which cater to children who are mentally challenged

(these institutions are attached to Primary, All-Age and Secondary Schools); there are 12 schools serving

the hearing impaired population, 3 of which are privately owned and 7 grant aided, and supervised by the

Ministry of Education. The Salvation Army School operates a school for the blind which is the only

institution that caters to students who are blind or visually impaired (a Deaf/Blind Unit is attached).

Provision is also made for children learning and other mild disabilities in six special units attached to

regular primary and all-age schools. The Hope Valley Experimental School is the only institution which

offers education to both normal and disabled children. Mico College Child Assessment and Research

Centre (CARE) ensures early detection of disabilities which affect children’s development and prescribes

corrective, instructive programs to address disabilities diagnosed. The government also gives assistance
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to Alpha Boys Home Special Education Unit; St. John Basco Boys Home; 3D Project Special Unit;

Jamaica Association for children with Learning Disabilities; Marantha School for the Deaf and Private

Voluntary Organizations Limited. In addition to the above mentioned institutions there is the Abilities

Foundation which offers market driven vocational education to adults with disabilities and the Jamaica

Institute for Excellence in Education (JIEE). JIEE is the only institution that implements programs to

encourage and stimulate young gifted Jamaicans to achieve their full potential.

Human Resources

Data for the 2007/2008 academic year from the Planning Unit of the Ministry of Education

indicate that there were 412 teachers employed in special needs institutions and a student population of

4,115. The teacher complement comprises Graduate-trained and College-trained special educators, as

well as those who are not trained in the area of special education.

Is Jamaica ready for inclusion?

There is compelling evidence that the special needs population is growing rapidly. The MOEs

White Paper “The Way Upward” motto is “To provide a nation committed to education and a

Government committed to the education of the nation.” The Ministry’s mission is “To provide a system

which secures quality education and training for all persons in Jamaica and achieves effective integration

of educational and cultural resources in order to optimize individual and national development. Although

the MOEs motto and mission embrace the need to adequately cater to the needs of individuals with

special needs, the question of the seriousness of the Government to commit to inclusion in public schools

remains unanswered.

In an inclusive program some children with special needs get a fair, equal chance to obtain high

quality education. Smith (2004) asserts that most disabled students can keep up with fellow classmates at

their grade level and are able to perform on standardized assessments or tests. Although the literature
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suggests that some special needs students can benefit from inclusion (Smith 2004), It can be argued that

when special needs children are placed in the general classroom settings, instruction is diluted and the

special attention children would receive in a special education class dissipates (Fuchs & Fuchs 2000).

Placing special needs children in general classrooms in Jamaica can also be disadvantageous to both

“normal” and special needs students, considering the paucity of human resources in the regular program.

Additionally, both groups of children will not get intensive and individualized attention and teaching that

will take them through the zone of proximal development.

An investigation report published in the Sunday Gleaner February 21, 2010 revealed that the

education system is failing to identify special needs children, as hundreds of suspected cases of children

with learning disabilities have been piling up at Mico (CARE) centre. The report also indicated that 1,000

students were waiting to access the special-education program offered by the school; 600 students

referred to the facility were on its waiting list, and that the assessment can take up to year. Parents who

can afford to pay $7000 dollars have their children’s cases dealt within a month and priority is given to

children referred to the institution by the courts. In February 2010 the centre was assessing children who

were registered in August 2009! Is this equity, relevance and accessibility?

There is negligible focus on equity, relevance and accessibility as it relates to adults and gifted

students in Jamaica. Only the Abilities Foundation which offers market driven vocational education to

persons with disabilities and the Jamaica Institute for Excellence in Education (JIEE) are listed in the

MOEs brochure as institutions which cater for these two groups. This does not imply equity and

accessibility. Maybe, the Government could reconsider relocating Up Park Camp and use the physical

(4,000 acres of land) and financial (billions of dollars) resources allocated to that project to build

“inclusive schools” and diagnostic centers. This would be a huge step towards equity, relevance and

accessibility.
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Jamaica needs to move upward

Inclusion makes allowance for societal integration of children with special needs. If all

students are treated equally, the goal of achieving full integration for all will create social

cohesion, greater sense of empathy and a greater sense of diversity. However, there is no

guarantee that without children with special needs will not be ridiculed and marginalized by their

peers if the appropriate support systems are not put in place.

Based on the concept of the zone of proximal development of each child, in the inclusive setting

teachers need specialized training. Each teacher must be able to identify where each student is

academically, socially and culturally in order to determine how best to facilitate learning. Soffer (1994)

sums up the skills teachers would need to accomplish this feat as follows: skills in curriculum based

assessment, team teaching, mastery learning, assessing learning styles and modifying instructions to adapt

to students learning styles and individualized adaptive learning approaches, cooperative learning

strategies, facilitating peer tutoring and peer buddies. Imagine one teacher in a classroom with 25- 40

children with a wide variety of academic levels. Among them students without disabilities and students

with various types and severity of special needs. Training must be provided for teachers before they are

placed inclusive settings.

Inclusion can also be used as a cost saving strategy for the Government; based on the MOEs

stipulated teacher pupil ratio less teachers will be employed. However, what will happen when children

with behavioral problems become disruptive and special needs children personal care needs are to be

addressed? Will other children and the teachers be safe? Are appropriate physical facilities available? If

the mission of becoming a society (inclusive of persons with special needs) which actively develops a
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creative thinker-worker with attitudes, skills, and knowledge to be a controller of his environment not a

victim of it is to be realized, the philosophy, vision and mission of the Government must be taken from

the papers they are written on and “transformed” into action.

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References

Aldridge, J., & Goldman, R. (2007). Current trends and Issues in education (2nd, ed.). Pearson

Education Inc. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Evering, S. (2007, December 5-7). Jamaica country report. Caribbean Symposium on Inclusive

Education. Kingston, Jamaica. UNESCO Bureau of Education.

http://www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Inclusive_Education/Reports/kingston_0

7/jamaica_inclusion_07.pdf

Miller, Patricia, H. (2002). Theories of development psychology (5th ed.). New York, N.Y:

Worth Publishers.

Ried, T. (2010, February 21). Special needs children’s long wait. The Gleaner. Retrieved

from http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100221/lead/lead6.html