SEEPD Trains 21 Teachers for Inclusive Education
The Socio-Economic Empowerment of People with Disabilities, SEEPD, program has trained 41 Resource Teachers in Unified English Braille and Sign Language Interpretation in 2023 and 2024. The training was intended to take a significant step towards breaking down barriers and ensuring that everyone has access to quality education and opportunities irrespective of their abilities. Some 20 teachers were trained in 2023 while 21 who did not know brail and sign language were trained in 2024.
The training for 2024 which took place from the July 15-31 had 11 teachers trained in Brail and 10 in Sign Language. the training held within the Comprehensive Program for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities and Inclusive Access to Basic Services of Health and Education in the Northwest Region of Cameroon with support from CBM.
The special needs education training is coming at a time when awareness of the education of children with impairment, specifically learners with hearing and visual impairments, requires more sign language and brail teachers. In the past, some children with hearing and visual impairment could not access education because of a lack of resource teachers. Thus, the training of these teachers will add to the poll of a few already existing resource teachers
One of the lead facilitators, Mr. Che Manaseh a Sign language teacher, remarked that ignorance of the deaf culture and the lack of understanding of sign language and brail by teachers has been one of the main causes of exclusion of these learners. He noted that during the training, they identified challenges that learners with hearing and visual impairments face and also developed strategies to address them.
Mr. Chiambah Daniel, a brail teacher and main facilitator for the brail class expressed that there is still a need to train more teachers in brail given that learners with visual impairment face challenges in the teaching and learning process.
During the training, they were able to develop a curriculum, which can help the teachers to adapt the curriculum received from the Ministry of Basic Education. They also developed practical strategies that they can use to ensure that these learners effectively participate in the teaching-learning process.
The 2 weeks of training culminated in an end-of-course ceremony at the Baptist Center Nkwen presided over by the Director of CBC Health Services, Mr. Ngum Samuel. In his address, he thanked the Delegations of Basic and Secondary Education, the funding partner CBM, and all those who contributed to the success of the training program. He noted that the knowledge and skills they have acquired should be used for continuous improvement and advocacy. He implored them to be champions of inclusivity and to make a positive impact in their schools, communities, and beyond.
Speaking to a Class 2 teacher of Nkwen Baptist School, Ndosaka Euria from the Brail class said she had learners with visual impairment but did not know how to include them in his curriculum. “I am happy that I was selected for this training, I have learned a lot and I will be able to include learners with visual impairment in my teaching method,” she stated.
Another teacher from the Sign Language class, Hannah Mbel from Inclusive School and Sign Language Center Mbingo said she came for the training with little knowledge of sign language but after the 2 weeks she understood the deaf culture and signs which will enable her to teach learners with hearing impairment. “Am going back ready to reach out to more children with hearing impairment in their school, community,” she rejoiced
