Free School Transport To Benefit Disabled Children
Free School Transport To Benefit Disabled Children. Almost 3,000 disabled students in Mombasa have benefited from the School Transport for Children with Disability (STRIDE) program since its inception in 2021.
The program’s goal is to increase the number of disabled children attending local schools.
A recent gathering of stakeholders, including Labour CS Florence Bore, was conducted to assess the development of the social well-being of children with impairments.
The National Council for People with Disabilities, the Mombasa County Government, and the United Nations Children’s Fund, which offers technical assistance, are all partners in the project.
Bore praised UNICEF for its assistance in enhancing government efforts to help society’s most disadvantaged citizens. She demanded that the program be expanded to provide benefits to more people in other counties.
The program offers cash transfers to homes with such children to assist with school-related costs as well as transportation for disabled children to and from school.
It was discovered that many children with disabilities are unable to attend school because of transportation issues, stigma, or a lack of institutions that are accessible to them, which frequently compels parents to leave their children at home.
More collaborations are needed to fill financing shortfalls, according to UNICEF Kenya national representative Shaheen Nilofer and Norwegian Ambassador Andreas Holm.
Harun Hassan, executive director of the National Council for People with Disabilities (NCPWD), emphasized the need of correct data for social interventions and encouraged the county government to increase funding for the process of disability medical assessments.
In conclusion, stakeholders have urged for the STRIDE program’s expansion to include more participants in other counties because it has significantly aided the promotion of education for children with disabilities in Mombasa.
To enhance the social well-being of children with impairments, greater collaborations and investments in precise data collecting and disability medical evaluation are also required.