77 000 learners provided with assistive devices: U...

77 000 learners provided with assistive devices: Unicef

Audrey Galawu

Children with disabilities often fall out of school as a result of lack of resources, the scarcity of assistive devices for hearing-impaired students and Braille deprives them of their right to education

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund says an estimated 10% of children with disabilities in Zimbabwe do not have access to education.

To improve access and quality education in disadvantaged schools in the country, UNICEF through thematic funding and Global Partnership for Education provided assistive devices benefiting 77,000 children with disabilities (35,000 girls).

The assistive devices address a wide spectrum of impairments, from visual, hearing to physical; and ensure access to inclusive quality basic education for all students.

About 2 914 schools with 968 514 learners (482 541 girls) benefited in 2023 from school improvement grants which enabled schools to procure teaching and learning materials, furniture and improve school infrastructure.

To ensure children with disabilities enroll in school, UNICEF supported the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to conduct community outreach programmes, reaching 32,776 people (19,144 females).

Following the learning loss experienced from 2020 to 2022 due to Covid-19, Unicef supported programmes in development settings and emergency response, resulting in more than a million children accessing education services.

In its 2023 annual report, Unicef said access to education was prioritised with a new partnership with the Global Partnership for Education, scale up of school solarisation, digital connectivity and digital learning through the learning passport and coverage of school improvement grants to improve access and quality of learning for children.

“With funding from the United Kingdom, 128 disadvantaged schools were solarised and certified by both the Ministry of Energy and Power Development and Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. As part of the Government’s blended learning approach, this initiative will result in enhanced e-learning programmes and present opportunities to scale-up the uptake of the Zimbabwe Learning Passport with 113 000 users already enrolled.

“This contributed to the pre-primary and primary education net-enrolment rates of 44.15 and 88.33 percent respectively and gender parity index of 1.01.

“In terms of quality of education, Unicef’s provision of learning materials contributed to Grade 7 pass rate of 39.83 per cent in 2022, with girls (43.42 percent) performing better than boys (35.92 per cent),” reads the report.

Unicef, however, noted that the proportion of children out-of-school in primary and lower secondary schools at 10 and 17 percent respectively, remains a concern.

The organisation further cited that lack of funding for foundation learning and vocational training and limited investment in digital learning, both in terms of supplies as well as in training of teachers also remain areas of concern.