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>The distress of the Namibian children with learning disabilities' By M.T.Harupe

Due to the lack of special schools in our country in order to cater for the learners with special needs,many children in Namibia who are unable to cope with normal school works are neglected, Despite the fact that fact that the Minister of education,arts and culture  has introduced  the inclusive education,it is certain that the children with learning disabilities are in existence in most of the Namibian schools. Children with learning difficulties are also referred to as with learning disabiliteis.An educational psychologist Mwamwenda  define these children  as children whose performance in school is not keeping up with their intellectual ability (IQ),or who do well in some subjects and poorly in others.(Mwamwenda,2004). Our government is still taking long to realize that the social and personal needs of exceptional children are no different from those of normal children.THey need love ,security and approval,just like normal children. All children need to liked and treated with respect as people of worth and dignity. Although the Ministry of education has introduced  the inclusive education in Namibian schools, I still believe that proper arrangement were supposed to be done beforehand because the special children are slow. It ‘s a pity, because theses children are neglected and cannot cope in the mainstream classes at all,therefore, it is impossible for them to benefit in the same classroom being taught together with normal children.They will only benefit through the special programme designed special for them. In reality,these children with learning disabilities can be assisted by the provision of a remedial programme as early as from pre –school level.Preferable in the form of individualised instructions.Special  patience was supposed to be exercise by the teachers  during their teaching which is not being applied during the lessons in the mainstream’s schools. Our public schools ‘s classes are fully packed with 35 to 45 learners per class which is quite impossible for the teachers to give special attentions to these learners. I have visited many schools in the region, and most of school principal's I have spoken to have confirmed that there is a huge number of children who are struggling with reading and writing  and only few schools have the special classes to cater for these learners.

The parents' expectation is the government to construct more special schools for struggling learners because they cannot cope with academic subjects.Perhaps to intervene with well designed remedial lessons complemented by practical subjects which will be leading them   to technical qualifications in a near future. The teachers were supposed to be well equipped with proper training and relevant skills in order to follow the well planned strategies and methods as well as the special designed materials that will enable learners with learning difficulties   to reach essential basic competencies in the different subjects and skills. Travelling to United Kingdom one year back, I have visited some primary schools in Congleton and in Manchester≤.I was pleased to  discover that some schools there were employing inclusive education where special learners also formed part of the class. However, there is a huge difference in comparison with our country’s classrooms set up. Their teaching techniques are unique because their  classes consist of  two teachers  per class, meaning   that the class register’s teacher  is  assisted by additional teacher in order to give the special learners sufficient attention.

Through conducting interview with some teachers from various schools ,they have confirmed that they often feel that they don’t have enough knowledge to help children with learning  difficulties.Winkler (1998), stated that the experts are difficult to contact and often they are so busy that they cannot provide ongoing support.As a result of the new inclusion policy,the education  department should  make  provision for more training  at the district/regional level support. It is highly recommended for our government to reconsider the inclusive education and do thorough research on how to conduct it .The second recommendation is to train more teachers in special education and the last but not least to build sufficient special schools. I believe that education is about creating true learning opportunities for ALL learners. In order to educate the whole child, his heart and his will must be reached, as well as the mind.

Reference. Mwamwenda.T.S (2004).Education Psychology.Heinemann Publisher:South Africa. Winkler,G.(2004).All children can learn. Cape Town:Francolin Publisher