JIS: The Dunrobin Primary School in St. Andrew is now better able to accommodate children with disabilities, following the recent installation of a wheelchair ramp under the Government’s Ramps for Schools project.
The institution, located at 47A Red Hills Road, has one student on roll who is wheelchair bound.
Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, said that the Government is committed to providing an inclusive education system whereby all students can have access.
“We are not going to stop at the ramps. We are going to make sure our bathroom facilities cater for those with physical disabilities,” he said at the blessing and ribbon cutting ceremony for the amenity this morning (June 5).
Senator Reid noted that with the revised special education curriculum and the bolstering of specialised teacher support, the education sector is in a better position to cater for the various needs of children.
He said Dunrobin Primary must be an example of excellence and inclusive education.
Principal of the school, Noel Watt, expressed gratitude that the institution was selected to benefit under the Ramps for Schools project.
Tamara Brown, parent of 11-year-old Alex Fraser, who is the sole physically challenged student at the institution, also voiced her appreciation, noting that it was difficult for her child to get around.
She noted that although her son will be leaving Dunrobin Primary for secondary school this year, the ramp will improve the mobility of any other wheelchair-bound student who attends the institution.
Ms. Brown told JIS News that the students at the institution have been very kind to her son, who is awaiting his Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) results. “The students love him, I can’t complain; they have been so good to him,” she said.
The Government has allocated $50 million for the installation of wheelchair ramps at public educational institutions across the island under the Ramps for Schools project. The initiative, which will run initially for one year, commenced on Labour Day (May 23) with construction works at 18 institutions, including the St. Ann’s Bay Infant School, which was a national Labour Day project.
Another 112 schools are being targeted, to bring the total to 130 over the course of the year.
Data from the National Education Trust (NET), which is the implementing entity for the project, indicates that of Jamaica’s 971 public infant, primary and high schools, and over 2,000 early-childhood institutions, only 138 primary and high schools are fitted with ramps.
CAPTION (MAIN PHOTO): Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (left), assists student of Dunrobin Primary, Alex Fraser, in accessing the wheelchair ramp at the institution located at 47A Red Hills Road in St. Andrew, following a blessing and ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 5. The ramp was installed under the Government’s Ramps for Schools project.
CAPTION (IN STORY): Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (left) and student, Dunrobin Primary School, Alex Fraser (foreground), cut the ribbon to open the wheelchair ramp at the institution located at 47A Red Hills Road, St. Andrew, on Tuesday (June 5). At third left is Alex’s mother Tamara Brown.