In keeping with efforts to improve the quality of life for learners living with special needs and disabilities across Guyana, the Education Ministry and its partners on Tuesday turned a sod for the construction of an aquatic therapy pool for these persons.
The pool will be constructed at the Regional Special Education Needs/Disability Diagnostic and Treatment Centre.
The event was hosted at the facility at the Cyril Potter’s College of Education’s Turkeyen Campus on Tuesday.
Some 200 persons are expected to benefit from this initiative.
The pool will benefit learners with sensory coordination and muscle strength issues and seeks to provide them with social interaction opportunities. It will enhance and improve balance and posture for blind and visually impaired persons.
The beneficiaries of this initiative include persons from the Unit for the Blind and Visually Impaired, David Rose special school, Beterverwagting/Quamina Special Unit, Diamond and No. 8 Village special needs schools, and all of the learners who access the services at CPCE for early stimulation.
Education Minister, Priya Manickchand, in her remarks, reaffirmed government’s commitment to improving the quality of life of persons with special education needs.
The Minister underlined that government remains steadfast in its efforts to ensure all learners have equal access to educational opportunities across the region.
While more needs to be done, Minister Manickchand emphasised that learners with special needs will benefit tremendously from this initiative, since this move will have positive outcomes for those who will access the services.
“While this is a really pleasurable activity, we believe that there is a lot of work that we can do and that remains to be done. I want to say to parents of special needs children, we have not forgotten you… And that is our effort. We ask you to partner with us as we do this,” she urged.
Assistant Chief Education Officer with responsibility for Special Education Needs (SEN), Keon Cheong stated that aquatic therapy will enhance and reshape Guyana as it seeks to improve the quality of life for persons living with special needs and disabilities, particularly school-aged learners.
Cheong stated this initiative positively adds to the concept of related services. Related services are those needed to make an individual more functional in every day life.
He noted that, “this initiative of an aquatic centre is beyond our wildest imagination. It takes Guyana on another level, higher. It also widens our scope. It brings and turns eyes and heads to us with the strides that we are making here as a country.”
The project is being financed by Trinidadian proprietor of Caribbean Educational Publishers, Teddy Mohammed.
Permanent Secretary, Alfred King, Senior Education Officer (SEN) Ms Nikoya Alleyne and Mr Mohammed also attended the ceremony. [Extracted and Modified from DPI]
