Inclusive Education Committees are Supporting Improvements for Learners with Disabilities

“The Inclusive Education Committee works to ensure children with disabilities in the school community are enrolled in school, [and] that a portion of the Capitation Grant is used to support learners with disabilities to encourage them to continue coming to school,” Stephen Agupiyo, Director of Studies and Chairperson and a member of the Inclusive Education Committee from Venus Star High School explains the purpose of the Inclusive Education Committees, set-up by the Girls’ Education South Sudan (GESS) programme.

A few miles from Juba’s city centre, one would find Venus Star High School – a community-based school that boasts over 700 learners. Located within a residential area, the school sits on a small piece of land that accommodates six classrooms. On a school day, the school is filled with learners in all the classrooms.

“Currently, we have 26 teachers – 22 are male and 4 are female. We wish we could have more female teachers, but this is the number we have because nationwide there are fewer female teachers. The teachers have to manage the school well, and we have several committees which were set up after training we got from Girls’ Education South Sudan (GESS), which has improved the management of the school,” Amaju Joseph, Deputy Principal, Venus Star High School.

Venus Star High School is a government school that has benefited from the GESS programme. The school’s Board of Governors has received school governance training. The Board of Governors is a secondary school management committee, like the traditional parent-teacher associations, but including the Head Girl and Head Boy.

To receive the GESS capitation grant, schools must form a School Management Committee (primary schools) or a Board of Governors (secondary schools), and undergo a series of trainings, led by GESS’ School Officers, that prepares them to work together to implement positive changes to the school environment, and teaching and learning. The school governance trainings are intended to support school management bodies to identify priorities for school improvement and to properly account for the spending. In 2023, Venus Star High School received 6 million South Sudanese Pounds (SSP).

The training covered how to budget for the school; how to mobilise resources to run the school; how to be disability sensitive in our planning; and how to account for any funds that the school receives. As part of the training, we were also taken through how to work together as a school administration – the Board of Governors – for the better management of the school,” Amaju, Deputy Head Teacher, explained.

“Before we received the money (capitation grants), we had a school development plan, which we presented to GESS. In the development plan, we wanted to construct a good washroom for the girls, and toilets which are also good for learners with disabilities (accessible for those with physical disabilities, such as those in a wheelchair). We also wanted to purchase a generator for the school, which would give us electricity to run some activities around the school, such as printing examinations [papers],” Amaju continued.

Mawa, a GESS School Officer in Central Equatoria State told us: “In the past, school administrations used to consider accountability as something that is to question them of wrongdoing or mismanagement. But with the training, they have come to understand that it is what improves the work at the school and with accountability, resources can be managed better. Personally, I have trained several schools in Central Equatoria, and I have colleagues who are based in all the states and the administrative areas of South Sudan. This means the whole country is benefiting from this training,”

On how the trainings have impacted the teachers, the Deputy Principal at Venus High School stated; “The trainings we have attended are very important. Before the training, one person was in charge of everything at the school, but now, we have different committees, such as finance and planning, academics, inclusive education, etcetera. Apart from the fact that management of the school is now easy, members of the Board of Governors now work better with the school administration. And for me personally, the knowledge I have now will always remain with me. As a trained teacher, when I am transferred to another school, I will take what I have learnt to the new school in case they do not have the committee,” Amaju explained.

With the introduction of the Inclusive Education Committee, learners with disabilities in the school now feel more listened to, and the committee has ensured the washroom constructed using the capitation grant is disability friendly. There are no steps to be climbed to access the facility and the individual latrines have more space than before.

“As the committee chairperson, I always take time to listen to the learners with disabilities and take their concerns to the school management. We will continue improving our facilities at the school to accommodate learners with all forms of disabilities,” Stephen.  Currently, there are six learners with disabilities at the school, including two with physical disabilities, one with a hearing impairment, one with a speech impediment and two with mild visual impairments.

The Inclusive Education Committee at the school engages the learners with disabilities to understand the support they need to learn equally with others. The children with visual impairments and hearing impairments sit close to the front of the class so they are better placed to see and hear the teacher.

The Inclusive Education Committee had an active part in drafting the School Development Plan. It ensured that the needs of children with disabilities were being met, such as more conducive learning spaces and peer-to-peer education to eliminate bullying.

To date, over 5,000 primary schools and 295 secondary schools have received capitation grants and many Inclusive Education Committees have been formed in schools across the country.

Venus Star High School is an example of the improvements that can be realised in schools with an empowered school management body.

For more information on capitation grants and school governance activities, go to our website: www.girlseducationsouthsudan.org

“As the committee chairperson, I always take time to listen to the learners with disabilities and take their concerns to the school management. We will continue improving our facilities at the school to accommodate learners with all forms of disabilities,” Stephen.  Currently, there are six learners with disabilities at the school, including two with physical disabilities, one with a hearing impairment, one with a speech impediment and two with mild visual impairments.

The Inclusive Education Committee at the school engages the learners with disabilities to understand the support they need to learn equally with others. The children with visual impairments and hearing impairments sit close to the front of the class so they are better placed to see and hear the teacher.

The Inclusive Education Committee had an active part in drafting the School Development Plan. It ensured that the needs of children with disabilities were being met, such as more conducive learning spaces and peer-to-peer education to eliminate bullying.

To date, over 5,000 primary schools and 295 secondary schools have received capitation grants and many Inclusive Education Committees have been formed in schools across the country.

Venus Star High School is an example of the improvements that can be realised in schools with an empowered school management body.

For more information on capitation grants and school governance activities, go to our website: www.girlseducationsouthsudan.org

Categorised in: Capitation Grants, Disability Inclusion, Public financial management, Quality Education