UNICEF Zimbabwe helps advance inclusive education at Margaretha Hugo

Shepherd Gwenanguruve, 7, excitedly uses the Cuberithm Arithmetic Board to solve a mathematical problem carefully. He is part of a class of about 15 learners at Margaretha Hugo Primary School of the Blind in Masvingo, who are visually impaired.

Shepherd has low vision and has a brother, Anotidaishe, two grades ahead of him who is also visually impaired and is learning at the school. Whereas Shepherd wants to be an Ophthalmologist, his brother is more excited in the musical class playing the mbira and marimba instruments.

“The sky is the limit for all of us,” Shepherd said posing momentarily to an enthusiastic classroom that looked on as he spoke animatedly.

He continued: “My parents have shown me that I can be whomever I want to be. I see myself as a doctor of eyes. This is an important job because it matters to help people like me. We have to be included.”

Shepherd lives with his parents in Bulawayo, 300 km from Masvingo.

Both his parents are visually impaired and were Margaretha Hugo Primary School students.

“My parents are both teachers. They inspire me because, despite the loss of sight, they still contribute to the future of this country. We are able and that is important,” Shepherd said.

His teacher, Pamela Mangori looks at him admirably and cautions him about his lack of concentration on his multiplication math.

“You are doing well but you are playful,” the teacher said adjusting the Cuberithm Arithmetic Board. “You have to keep on working hard.

Inclusive education is the most effective way to give all children a fair chance to go to school. UNICEFZIMBABWE with funding from Global Partnership for Education (GPE) provided Braille Embossers, voice recorders, magnifying glasses, and white canes to Margaretha Hugo Primary School.

Pamela said: “Teaching has become easier with the provision of these devices. The recording devices are critical when we are teaching especially the grade ones. The students pay attention when they are using electronic devices instead of the oral method of teaching. The devices have become a huge benefit for us and play a big role in our teaching.”

Pamela added the recorders have helped in note taking especially for the student with low vision.

“We record the notes for the students and they listen anytime they want to. This has seen a marked improvement in their performance. Brailling takes time and I find the recorders to be very handy,” she said.

Pamela thanked UNICEF pointing out that inclusive education means all children are in the same classrooms and schools. It also means real learning opportunities for groups who have traditionally been excluded – not only children with disabilities but speakers of minority languages too.

Inclusive education

There are an estimated 240 million children with disabilities worldwide and an estimated 600,000 in Zimbabwe. Like all children, children with disabilities have ambitions and dreams for their futures. Like all children, they need quality education to develop their skills and realize their full potential.

Yet, children with disabilities are often overlooked in policymaking, limiting their access to education and their ability to participate in social, economic, and political life. Worldwide, these children are among the most likely to be out of school.

Sithokozile Masvingise, Teacher in Charge at Margaretha Hugo School speaking on the UNICEF provision of assistive devices said: “We received magnifiers, white canes, cuberithmetic boards and cubes, talking clocks, mobile phones, magnifiers, white canes and recorders. The mobile phones will allow us to use platforms like the Learning Passport  that are helping in the continuity of learning and are part of the e-learning initiative government is working on.”

The Learning Passport is an innovative global platform that provides a localized curriculum for students around the world. ‘A new solution designed to close the learning poverty gap, the Learning Passport is an Online, Mobile, and Offline tech platform enabling high-quality, flexible learning.’ The LP can be accessed on the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Website.

Sithokozile said the school expects the pass rates to improve.

A student, Takura Mhuka said: “This school has been good to me. Even though I am visually impaired, I feel like I have a chance in this life. My knowledge is the same as that of my friend Victor who is able-bodied. I am grateful for the equipment and the braille I can access from the library.”

Margaretha Hugo School changing lives

Sitting in her office and admiring the photos of students who already left the institution with some having enrolled in tertiary schools around the country, Tsitsi Muganhu the Head of the school is a proud woman.

“I manage the Secondary and the Primary School. The school has students, some of them as old as 30 years of age. Some students became visually impaired later on in their lives. It takes time for guardians to bring them over deciding first to consult traditional healers. This delays their start to school and we do not discriminate because of age,” Tsitsi said.

She said Hugo High School for the blind, Copota is a welfare organization catering to 161 visually impaired learners in an inclusive environment. Located 17 km north of Masvingo town in Zimbabwe, the school has opened its doors to learners without disabilities to provide inclusive education for all. the school relies on support from parents, the Responsible Authority (Reformed Church in Zimbabwe), the government, and other partners both individual and corporate. Places are offered for boarding only.

“We are here to make sure every child has a right to opportunities and this mantra that we learn from UNICEF and your mandate is exciting to us,” she said.