Learning

Here are some examples from Cambodia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tajikistan that show how good practices in the provision of accessible learning materials are being put into practice during COVID-19.

Classroom teachers, principals, and specialists are embracing an understanding that they do not need to wait for diagnosis or identification of a child’s disability to teach responsively. And, they are putting that understanding to work.

Kenya implemented the Tusome Early Grade Reading Activity in 2014. It introduced interventions at the grade 1 level beginning in 2015. Taking its name from the Kiswahili word for “let’s read,” the Tusome program was a five-year, nationwide effort.

In 2010, less than ten percent of Kenya’s primary school-aged children were reading at the national level benchmarks. Ten years later, largely due to the success of the Tusome program, nearly 66 percent of grade two students now read at grade level.

Today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders, and they must have access to education. Educational institutions need to meet students’ varied needs by providing a lot of ways to access information. 

Before we move into 2020, we wanted to take a look back at what education looked like in 2019.

Deaf children represent a majority of all children with disabilities in Kenya. These children are not only an underserved group of students, but also a distinct language minority that uses Kenyan Sign Language as their native language.

Various models have been employed over time to address disability inclusion in education programming, with social and rights-based models preferred.