Fulfilling a promise to prioritise special education in Trinidad and Tobago, the Honourable Anthony Garcia Minister of Education has expressed great pleasure in the hosting of the Ministry of Education’s Special Education Focused Consultations. The consultations will take place on November 15th, 18th and 20th 2019 at locations across Trinidad in the first instance. At the event, stakeholders will be introduced to ‘The Inclusive Schools’ Project’, a pilot project that will allow for the necessary special education requirements to be implemented in selected schools in order to begin the integration process for differently abled students.
The Ministry’s Inclusive Education Policy states “to effectively address the needs of these learners, the education system in Trinidad and Tobago must be inclusive, actively seeking out children who are not enrolled and responsive to the varying circumstances and needs of all learners.” To this end, the Inclusive Schools’ Project has been created as a response to the significant need within the education sector.
Minister Garcia, while reiterating his commitment to special education stated, “The needs of our children of all abilities must be properly met and cared for. This is but one step in the direction toward achieving quality, accessible and equitable education for all children of this country. It is my hope that through this focussed consultation, stakeholders can realise the amount of time that has been invested into developing this pilot project. The development being based on the feedback that many of them would have provided”.
Within the coming weeks, the Ministry of Education will share information and resources with the public so that stakeholders and interested parties can have their input as the Ministry works toward inclusive education.