Do we stand by it? Africa!

 We are glad that African counties attended the Global Partnership for Education meeting which was held on 21^st May, 2015 in Korea. This was a great meeting because of the commitments the partner countries held themselves to. Mostly, we are cheered by the recognition of children with disabilities in the commitments. Many African counties were represented at the meeting. These commitments are made at a time when the world is developing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) – post-2015 development framework. Financing towards education is critical if the SDG indicators are to be met. African countries have a tendency of committing themselves to a lot of international protocols and statements but do nothing to financially support their commitments. Education is key for development. Without education, coupled with ICT, development will be a non-starter in Africa. It should be noted that when we talk about education in this era of globalization and inclusive development, we are talking about inclusive education. Inclusive education is about equal education for all regardless of social or economic status, gender, religion, disability, ethinicism, race or any other condition or status.

Children with disabilities are key in achieving quality education. It is therefore important that African governments allocate and disburse adequate finances towards quality education for children with disabilities. Such finances should go towards appropriate teaching and learning materials; ICT for inclusion; accessible infrastructure development; teacher training; curriculum development and awareness creation. Awareness creation should never be ignored in as far as implementing inclusive education because the right and correct messages must be sent out to the communities about this new phenomenon in Africa.

Financing inclusive education can only be effective when there are clear policies and strategies to guide the financing and implementation. Clear monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of inclusive education should also occur and this should include active participation of the communities and parents. Policies and strategies must be explicit in the way they address inclusive education as a transformative process that aims at including everyone in the implementation and monitoring of the education sector. Parents of children with disabilities and their children should play a critical role in this transformative process. So, African governments should be seen to lead the journey into the post-2015 SDGs.

Remember: children with disabilities are usually the first to be forgotten and the last to be remembered. Let us make them the first to be remembered and last to be forgotten.