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"speaker_name": "Mr. Khamisi",
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"content": "Yes, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I really do not want to advance that point of view, but I would like to say that in my own constituency, Bahari, we have one school for the disabled called Kibarani School for the Deaf. I have visited this school and I have seen the wonderful work that is taking place there, including the sacrifice by teachers in that school. I am convinced that we have no legitimate reason to marginalise the disabled for the simple reason that these are individuals who are as gifted as we are in various aspects of their own lives. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is disgraceful that, yesterday, when we were discussing an issue regarding the disabled persons, the Minister for Education told this House that the disabled children do not pay school fees. I would like to tell this Government that, indeed, the students of this particular school I have mentioned, pay school fees. When I visited that school, I saw the suffering of, particularly, the orphans and I offered to sponsor four students. I am now paying school fees for those students. So, I want the Government to take responsibility and admit that they are not doing enough for the disabled. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is important that we build more schools. The school that I am talking about is a primary school and it is the only one in the whole of Coast Province. In the next financial year, I have promised, through the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), to build a secondary school for the disabled. For this reason, I would like the Government to come and offer its hand and make sure that each district and constituency has properly constituted schools that are well- funded and well-equipped. Presently, most of these schools are not equipped 2410 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 11, 2007 at all. They do not have the necessary facilities such as the teaching aids. They do not have facilities for the disabled in terms of mobility. I think it is important that if we are talking about assisting the disabled, then we must help them in mobility as well. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the education of the disabled people is a specialised area and we need people who are well-trained to teach these people. We need to have special teacher training colleges to teach teachers, who will then be deployed to these institutions. At the moment, most of the teachers are volunteers. They are people who do not have the necessary qualifications to be able to handle special cases that are provided by the disabled. So, it is important that, as we discuss and support this Motion, we also urge the Government to provide facilities for training of people and experts who can actually handle the disabled students. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, among the disabled, we have orphans and very poor people. Therefore, it is important that as we do that, we also put special emphasis on these students by offering them bursaries and other assistance in form of uniforms, et cetera . I fully support this Motion, because it is very important. So, this House should fully support this Motion. With those few words, I beg to support."
}