 SPECIAL NEEDS AND DISABILITIES
Out of Kenya’s population of 30 million almost 10% of the population (3 million) are persons with disabilities. If you have a disability in a country like Kenya, it is likely that you are ostracized for the community and hidden away. Many people think that a person is disabled as a punishment from God and that they are not even human or worth taking care of. They often do not have proper facilities available to them such a school, medical care, etc. and the country, as a whole, does not cater to their additional needs. Even though there was a Disabilities Act passed in 2003, little has changed in regard to the overall care and concern for the disabled and they are still kept at the margin of society.
In regard to special needs, it is said that 1.8 million school-aged children have special needs. Of that 1.8 million, 1.7 million are without any educational support. Therefore, they are placed in a class with normal functioning children and fall behind in their learning. Often, they will give up trying and will drop out of school.
Since there is not proper testing to find out the ability of all children, children with special needs are not getting the education that they deserve. In addition, since special needs education is not a priority, Kenya has poorly trained staff and insufficient funding given to reform this problem. As with the disabled, there is a negative attitude of the society to the special needs demographic.
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