About 97 percent of children with disabilities in Tanzania do not get access to some of their basic rights, including education, says an official with the Tanzania Albinism Society (TAS).
The TAS Public Relations Officer, Joseph Torner accused parents of hiding children with disabilities because of various reasons. He said they include the fear of being laughed at by other people and being considered as a burden to the family.
Torner said this yesterday in Dar es Salaam during a media briefing on next month’s international conference on children with disabilities to be held in the city.
He said: “Only three percent of children with disabilities go to school, this is discouraging because being a disabled does not mean that you do not deserve to be educated,” he said. He therefore urged parents and guardians to change their attitude that disabled children are a curse from God.
However, he called on the government to ensure that it there is a conducive environment for children with disabilities to get education, including improvement of education policies.
On the coming conference, Free Pentecostal Church of Tanzania (FPCT) Secretary General, Elias Shija, said it will be attended by participants from Sweden, Rwanda and Tanzania.
The conference has been organised by the Free Pentecostal Church of Tanzania (FPCT) in collaboration with TAS and the Swedish National Association for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (FUB). It will be officially opened by the Minister of Community Development, Gender and Children Sophia Simba while Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda is expected to close it.
Shija mentioned some of the conference objectives as discussion on challenges facing children with disabilities and how to solve them.
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