Hope Fundafunda at Christian Information Network (CIN) reveals that the Times of Zambia, the Zambia Daily Mail, Yatsani Community Radio and the University of Zambia Radio station have demonstrated great passion for reporting special education needs for the disabled. Her remarks also acknowledge that other stakeholders such as the Ministry of Education have provided valuable evidence that they are using in their engagements with parliamentarians and other civil society organisations. This illustrates the result of synergies from coalition building by one of the GTF Zambia grantees, CIN.
The 1995 Education Policy indicates that by 1995, there were only 31 special education institutions – 28 at primary, one at secondary and two at tertiary levels, a situation that has hardly changed to date. A needs assessment study conducted in 2010 by CIN looking at the special education gaps for the deaf in Kabwe and Lusaka revealed that teaching and learning resources such as schools, books, teachers, sign language and visual materials were either not adequate or lacked in most schools. In view of this, CIN has adopted e-learning as an alternative method of teaching at learning institutions.
CIN, in partnership with the Zambia Deaf Vision and other coalition members has been championing the education needs of the deaf in order to stimulate action and influence policy towards ensuring that the deaf access special education equitably, particularly an e-learning platform in the target sites. Two media forums with key media houses and coalition partners have been held to agree on a strategy for publicity and advocacy campaigns. So far there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that these efforts have created awareness to both government and members of the public on the present standard of education for the deaf.
Following consultations and interactions with coalition partners, Panos, and some Parliamentarians, CIN were asked to make a written submission to the Clerk of the National Assembly of Zambia. Submissions were made in 2010 to the Parliamentary Committees on Education Science and Technology and Health, Community development and social welfare. Based on this, a select committee was constituted by Parliament to verify and consider the issues raised in the submission, which focused on the special education gaps in the 2010 education bill, ranging from inadequate teaching and infrastructural facilities,harmonization of sign language to the absence of a provision for e-learning. The 2010 education bill was withdrawn to take care of concerns raised.
The media networking efforts and engagement with policy makers including parliament opened up spaces for dialogue for CIN.They were invited to make presentations on e-learning and education challenges for the deaf on the commemoration of human rights day under the theme ‘speak up stop discrimination’ and at the National 2010 National Youth Indaba where they were accompanied by 24 deaf youths.
The effective evidence based engagements made by CIN and its partners are made possible through the GT programme that seeks to strengthen citizen-state engagement relationship through evidence base approaches.
