‘Send children with disabilities to school’

 Malawi National Association of the Deaf (Manad) board chairperson Robert Mbendela has urged parents in Mzimba District to send children with disabilities to school.

He said this in an interview on Tuesday on the sidelines of the association’s first sign language spelling bee competition held at Embangweni School for the Deaf in the district.

Mbendela said it was unfortunate that some parents were violating the rights of children with hearing impairment.

“As an association, we want to promote inclusive education. Therefore, we urge parents to send children with disabilities to school,” he said.

Commenting on the competition, Mbendela said it will promote a reading culture.

“We want to promote and create demand for sign language, as such, we have started conducting these competitions to ensure children are reading and studying,” he said.

Ministry of Education’s Department of Inclusive Education chief education officer Peter Msendema said they are developing a sign language manual for training teachers in the country.

“We are aware of the challenges in achieving inclusive education in the country, but as a ministry, we are championing different interventions to improve it,” he said.

Chifundo Thabwa, a Standard Two pupil at Mountain View School for the Deaf in Thyolo District, won the competition and carted home K50 000.

Manad conducted the competition in partnership with Malawi National Spelling Bee.