Girl needs assistance

By SAWATO HAHAMBU
A WHEELCHAIR-bound student with multiple disabilities is unable to attend classes at Ororo Primary School because it does not have accessible infrastructures.
Cheshire disAbility Services PNG’s programme officer Joyce Koupere said they would assist Elisabeth Isaac, 16, by seeking sponsors to pay for the construction of a portable ramp to help her move around the school.
Cheshire Services had assisted Isaac during her early childhood education before she transitioned to Ororo Primary School, in June Valley, Port Moresby, to do grade three.
She is now in grade six.
“We want her to feel like she belongs in the school and belongs among the normal children attending the school,” Koupere said.
“We do not want her to feel that she doesn’t belong there.”
Koupere said the organisation could assist people living with disabilities such as Isaac through ensuring they had the advice and equipment to attend classes like any other children.
Koupere said the Education Department needed to consider the provision of facilities for students with disabilities. “The Education Department has approved all schools to be inclusive of persons with a disability, therefore, they must provide facilities in schools for such people.”
Isaac had to be carried to her classroom and back by her father Isaac Uwe over the past two years.
Her family decided to keep her from attending classes since the start of the second term because of the difficulty.
“We had no choice but to keep her at home because of the situation,” her father said.
Elisabeth’s mother, Kanabo, said she could not carry her because she had problems with her knee.
Ororo deputy head mistress Aileen Oundana told The National that the school had no access ramps or infrastructure for disabled students.
She said it had been difficult but Isaac had coped with being in her classroom the whole day.