Republic of Mauritius- Education Minister meets SENA members to discuss the way forward

In her address, the Minister, recalled that Government introduced the Special Education Needs (SEN) Authority Bill last year in the National Assembly with the objective of setting up of a SEN Authority that would cater for the needs of children with disabilities and provide for a new institutional framework to encourage their holistic development. The main purpose of setting up the authority is to promote an inclusive and equitable education system in the country and be in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 4, she underlined.

Currently, Mrs Dookun-Luchoomun emphasised, some 41 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and 63 schools providing special care, are working towards securing the welfare and the rights to education of some 2056 children with special education needs. On this note, she stressed the relevance of the SENA which will work in collaboration with these institutions to facilitate an inclusive learning environment and devise a quality assurance framework for SEN.

The Minister highlighted that the setting up of SENA is not to be considered as a means to separate children with special education needs from those benefiting from mainstream education. Inclusion in the long run should be achieved as a step by step process by providing special care and attention and this will be best done with the guidance of the SENA, she added.

Furthermore, she expressed satisfaction with regard to the meeting and highlighted that the SENA members will be expected to work as a team towards achieving a common objective. She also called for a synergy among parents, NGOs and SENA to better respond to the requirements of children with special education needs.

For her part, the Chairperson of the SENA, Mrs Savritree Oogarah, underscored that the Board has the keen determination to improving the education of the children with special education needs. She emphasised that with the expertise and experience of its members, SENA will be able to come forward with an effective action plan and spearhead appropriate programmes for children with special education needs.