St Patrick’s International Primary School in Blantyre is training its teachers on special needs education in a bid to promote inclusive education at the institution.

In an interview on Monday, St Patrick’s head teacher Niall Dorey said they decided to include children with disabilities.

He said: “A lot of parents leave their children at home because they are unable to adapt to mainstream education.

“With the support of our special needs department, we have been welcoming children with different special needs such as slow learning, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and down syndrome.”

Dorey said it is not easy to blend children with special needs with others.

Dorey: Our students are now more compassionate

“But we are determined to offer quality and effective education to all students regardless of their challenges,” he said.

Dorey said the newly-introduced inclusive education programme at the school is benefitting all students.

“Our students are now more compassionate. They have developed a better and greater understanding of how unique everyone is and how everyone deserves help, support and acceptance,” he said.

The school’s special needs education coordinator Dawn Kwanjana said when they notice that a student needs special attention, they assess and determine how best to help them.

“We help the students consistently and we see significant change. There are many things that are ignored, but we try to help the children,” he said.

St Patrick’s International School has nursery and primary school classes and 20 teachers have undergone basic training in special needs education.

The school has 15 special needs learners.

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