Saving a dream of a golden girl

Makata residential area and Ndirande Primary School in Blantyre are about three kilometers apart.

For a 15-year-old girl confined on a wheelchair, it should be some distance to travel every weekday to and from school.

But not with Grace Salanje. She covers it every day in the belief that the only way she can beat disability and achieve her dream of becoming a bank manager.

Sitting calmly in her wheelchair, Grace looks attentively at her teacher as she reads out instructions from an English examination paper.

As the entire class begins to write, Grace does not.

“We have been trying to teach her how to hold a pen. Sometime back, I tried to train her to hold a cup but it did not work. Her fingers are weak, only the thumb on her left hand works properly,’’ says Dickson Kuyewawa, her teacher.

Taking exams orally, adds Kuyewawa, is what suits Grace.

“Her legs are weak and they tremble just as her arms. The only way to keep her stable in the wheelchair is to tie her both hands and legs to the wheelchair so that she does not fall down,” he says.

A special needs education teacher at the school, Godfrey Banda, says because Grace could easily participate in class, she was removed from a special needs class and placed with pupils without physical challenges.

‘’When Grace first came to the school on transfer from a private school, she was committed to a special needs class which I teach. After assessing her condition for a year, I discovered that she has a normal cognitive mind. As such, there was no need to maintain her in a special needs class,” says Banda.

He, however, accepts that the teacher in Grace’s new class had to adjust. They had to make a special arrangement for her whenever there was a class exercise.

Though it was difficult for some teachers and pupils to accept Grace’s condition, continues Banda, with time they began to embrace her.

“It’s interesting to note that whatever she went through, she has always been in the top ten of the class, “he says.

Banda, however, fears that if she will not be provided with special help during Primary School Leaving Certificate of (PSLCE) examinations which are administered by the Malawi National Examination Board (Maneb) all the effort by Grace and the teachers will be

The special needs specialist teacher says for Grace to successfully sit for the examinations, she needs two invigilators, one to monitor her while the other to write down her oral answers.

He further states that an extra police officer would be needed to ensure make sure that nothing sinister happens in the process.

“I wrote a letter to Maneb notifying them about the physical condition of Grace and suggestions of what can be done for her to sit for the national examinations successfully” Banda said.

But he expresses disappointment because Maneb could have sent representatives to assess Grace’s condition.

“My fear is that if Maneb does not come to assess her condition in good time they may not provide her the proper assistance that she needs and that may affect her performance or she may completely fail to sit for the exam,” he said.

Banda worries that if she fails to sit for the examinations or if the assistance that will be provided will not be proper, time and effort of both teachers and Grace herself through the years will be wasted.

Maneb confirmed being aware of Grace’s case and says it is waiting for the right time to assess the condition so that she should be considered accordingly.

Public relations officer for Maneb, Simeon Maganga, explains that schools were advised to submit names of candidates demanding special needs and the nature of their respective disabilities. Ndirande, he says, submitted Grace’s name.

He referred to a statement that the examination administration body issued informing schools about registration for 2014 national examinations that states that registration of all candidates will end on January 31, 2014, as such; it is too early for the teachers to complain that Maneb is not doing enough to find ways of assisting candidates with special needs.

Grace’s case is only a tip of the iceberg as other candidates with various disabilities face challenges that prevent them from realising their dreams.

It is for this reason that Federation of Disability Organisations in Malawi (Fedoma) is advocating for the implementation of Disability Act that was passed in 2011 which, among other things, states that people with disabilities should be provided with materials and all the necessary equipment and assistance that will enable them to access education.

—The writer is a correspondent