International Development Research Journal

Alexandra Bramsen

Geography 6

Professor Freidberg

October 3, 2019

Research Journal Topic Statement

The topic I am addressing in my research Journal is that of inclusive education of disabled children, which mainly focuses on the fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of quality education (Sustainable Development Goals, n.d). One of the points in this goal as well as improving the quality of education is to make it more accessible and inclusive. By achieving greater education of handicapped individuals, it acts to close the economic and social gap that has been created between able and disabled people. Whether it is through normalizing access to jobs for disabled by giving them an equal educational opportunity or even just giving them more independence from those around them that are able-bodied by offering access to knowledge and resources they might have been isolated from before. This can mean that a lot more of the SDGs are impacted by projects dealing with this issue. For example, Goals 1, 2, 3 and 8 for poverty, hunger, good health and wellbeing and decent work and economic growth, because traditionally marginalized disabled groups have the opportunity to get better work, access to resources and often times the programs combine with making sure the children are healthy and being treated well (Sustainable Development Goals, n.d). Some other SDGs that could be aided are 10 reducing inequalities and 11 sustainable cities and communities, all focused on creating equal and inclusive environments for everyone, and in this case that of the handicapped (Sustainable Development Goals, n.d).

The project that will be looked at is going to be evaluated based upon their work in bringing equal opportunity to people that are disabled as well as making education, economies, and general life more inclusive for them. The project I am investigating is the effort of the Salvation Army in education for disabled children in Eastern Africa. The Salvation Army has constructed several primary and secondary schools catering to handicapped, disabled children in Eastern Africa. In Kenya, there is Njoro Primary school for children with mental disabilities, Thika Primary and Secondary school for children with visual impairment, and Joytown Primary and Secondary school for the physically disabled (Special Schools, 2019). Then in Tanzania, there is Matumaini Primary and Itundu Secondary school (Our Schools, 2019). These are all programs that the Salvation army started to try and achieve a system of quality inclusive education in underdeveloped countries, Kenya and Tanzania.

Citations

Education. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.sawso.org/sawso/education.

Gebrekidan, F. (2012). Disability Rights Activism in Kenya, 1959–1964: History from Below. African Studies Review, 55(3), 103-122. doi:10.1017/S0002020600007228

Our Schools. (2019). Retrieved October 3, 2019, from https://www.salvationarmy.org/tanzania/ourschools.

Reynolds, C., Vannest, K., Fletcher-Janzen, E., Mpofu, E., Oakland, T., & Chimedza, R. (2014). Africa: East and Southern Special Education. In Encyclopedia of special education: a reference for the education of the handicapped and other exceptional children and adults, 1, 58-66. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118660584.ese0061

Special Schools. (2019). Retrieved October 3, 2019, from http://web.salvationarmy.org/kya/www_kya.nsf/vw-dynamic-arrays/D8EAC2FDA55ECE4BC1257553001A6FF7.

Sustainable Development Goals .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform. (n.d.). Retrieved October 3, 2019, from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300.

Thieme, R. (2015, November 15). The Salvation Army reaches disabled youth in Tanzania. Retrieved October 3, 2019, from https://www.newfrontierchronicle.org/the-salvation-army-reaches-disabled-youth-in-tanzania/.

Research Journal Entry 1- Context

Disability and the empowerment and inclusivity of disabled people is a serious global issue that has economic and social impacts on the community. Special education has been an important tool in enabling and educating handicapped individuals. East and Southern Africa have had particular attention over this issue as in 1996 an estimated near 6 million children were classified as disabled based upon World Health Organization estimates of 10 percent of a population being disabled (Reynolds, Vannest, Fletcher-Janzen, Mpofu, Oakland, & Chimedza, 2014). Then based on data collected, only 1 percent of what is considered an underestimate of the number of disabled children in the region go to registered schools (Reynolds et al., 2014). All of this data, as discussed by Reynolds et al., are considered to be huge underestimates, because of the stigmatization of handicaps that would lead to underrepresentation of handicapped children as their parents would be ashamed to come forward and label them as such (Reynolds et al., 2014).

There has been an evolution of special education throughout Africa, at first instituted by missionary groups, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), but there has been a shift in the need for more governmental concern over the issue (Reynolds et al., 2014). Initially, mission groups like the Salvation Army were major contributors to education during the colonial period, founding some of the earliest Special Needs, both residential and non-residential, schools in East African Countries. I will be looking at how effective the Salvation Army’s school for the physically disabled and albino Matumaini Primary in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania has been at providing inclusive quality education in the area. This may be in comparison to other establishments as NGOs also started investing in similar education projects (Reynolds et al., 2014). The issue is that these development contributors are quite limited and are very donor-dependent and countries that are trying to create developed and well-maintained education systems cannot rely too heavily on those kinds of contributors (Reynolds et al., 2014). While different governments have had varying degrees of influence in special education, countries like Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe that have had relatively stable political climates have been able to foster stronger and more established systems for programs in education that cater to the disabled (Reynolds et al., 2014). Even still, their efforts have not been extremely effective missing massive portions of the population that need assistance (Reynolds et al., 2014). Another point that is important for context, is that culturally the responsibility of education and development of children rested with elders in the community and were fostered through activities that they participated in at home and in their communities (Reynolds et al., 2014). Parents do not want to send their children to specialized schools firstly because little is known about them as they are relatively new and a different method of education, and secondly, they are cautious and wary of the true intentions of the schools (Reynolds et al., 2014). A door-to-door approach was found to vastly improve enrollment in the schools as it most effectively advertised the benefits and purposes of special education, and made the resource known to more people (Reynolds et al., 2014).

In conclusion, often countries have had a lot of effort pushing for special education, but the issue is that culturally they have not been well received and utilized or have been funded well enough to be considered sustainable and of high quality. Very little data has been able to be collected on the statistics of children that are disabled in the region, and the statistics that do exist are considered as vast underestimates.

Research Journal Entry 2- Tanzania Attitudes and beliefs towards disability

The Global North often claims that the Global South has extremely negative attitudes towards disabled people in their communities in comparison to the North. Joseph Kisanji investigates this claim by looking at Tanzanian tribal proverbs relating to disability, a similar method to what Serpell (1993) did in Zambia, to discern their understanding and interpretation of handicapped members of their community (Kisanji, 1995). What he found was that despite common assumptions like Reynolds et al. that parents feared to reveal the disabilities of their children, in actuality disability was accepted and integrated as a “fact of life” that they needed to tolerate and respect their existence (Kisanji, 1995, p.241). Sometimes there would be an air of negativity with the dread and disappointment of the loss of ability, yet culturally they valued the child over the child’s ability and took on accommodating attitudes like assigning parents their responsibility and that socially there needed to be respect and understanding that they could be contributors to society, even if only minorly (Kisanji, 1995). The proverbs also revealed a well-based understanding of the impacts of impairments on an individual, even though the mentally disabled were slightly less understood and often labeled as non-conformers (Kisanji, 1995). The reality was that in Tanzania’s original education system of elders taking on the responsibility of child development, they considered it their duty to care for and enable their special needs children. This could mean that there is a second dimension to low use of special education in places like Tanzania, that in fact, the cultural responsibility of that care, education, and empowerment fell to the community and that child’s parents, not a formal schooling system. This would render Salvation Army’s Matumaini Primary school, almost useless as it would have little impact on the wider community that generally take on the burden of educating their disabled children.

Kisanji, J. (1995). Attitudes and beliefs about disability in Tanzania. In B. O’Toole & R. McConkey (eds.), Innovations in developing countries for people with disabilities (pp. 227- 241). Chorley, Lancashire: Lisieux Hall.

Journal 3 local (2 non-academic sources)

Matumaini Primary school in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, operated and founded in 1969 by the Salvation Army, has been seen on the local level as succeeding in offering high quality inclusive education for physically disabled all over Tanzania (Nyerere, 2018). It works to provide not only academic support for the children and families but also mental and medical support (Physical Therapy for Disabled Children in Tanzania, n.d.). They work to give opportunities to the children who live in dorms at the school, that they would not be able to get at home, like participating in sports that they would not be thought of as capable in, but have adapted to love life and live it to the full (Nyerere, 2018). A lot of disabled people around town that work in academia and other professional sectors often went to Matumaini as a child, proving the positive effect of the school on working towards the SDGs 8 where there is decent work and economic growth as a result of empowering and education disabled children, and also goal 10 for reduced inequalities as it gives more independence and general access to the city’s and nation’s resources to these disabled individuals that went to Matumaini (Physical Therapy for Disabled Children in Tanzania, n.d. and Sustainable Development Goals, n.d.). The school also provides quality medical support for the children, with physiotherapy, operations and prosthetics, all provided through their community-based workshop program that engineers and sustains access to these resources (Physical Therapy for Disabled Children in Tanzania, n.d.).

While this all seems so great, there are some issues that the school faces that threaten and limit its positive impacts on the community and the quality of support for its disabled pupils. A lot of the work carried out by the school is completely dependent on international donations, so if there is a flux in incoming donations, a resulting drop in the resources of the school could occur (Nyerere, 2018). This means that often the workers at the school could have salaries as low as US$13-19 a month (Nyerere, 2018). Another, issue that has come up is how graduates from the school end up having nowhere to go and so get trapped back in the system of dependence and oppression (Nyerere, 2018). An example of this was given by a local worker from Mbeya, Tanzania, Josephat Nyerere, whose family ended up having to take in a graduate, Amina, who could not find anywhere to go except for a home where she was treated like a slave (Nyerere, 2018).

In conclusion, the school has had a major positive impact on the community and giving inclusive quality education to the disabled but is stuck in a volatile system of donor dependence and has been unable to deconstruct societal issues of reintegration of these educated disabled children.

Nyerere, J. (2018, June 4). A Need to Serve. Retrieved October 28, 2019, from https://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/need-serve.

Physical Therapy for Disabled Children in Tanzania. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2019, from https://www.legerdesheils.nl/ids/matumani-school.

Sustainable Development Goals .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform. (n.d.). Retrieved October 3, 2019, from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300.

Journal 4 international (2 non-academic sources)

Matumaini Primary school gets some global attention from both academic and missionary groups. I have found two examples of foreign parties coming in for short term trips with the purpose of aiding and bettering the special needs school for the physically disabled in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The first I will address is that of the study abroad service project carried out by the Computer Science Department of the University of Purdue. A group of students went and taught very basic computer skills to the 200 children of Matumaini Primary (Childres, 2017). The experience was said to be enlightening for many of them, and they felt very altruistic about their actions, and how by giving a couple of skills to these kids in a poor area could impact their future massively (Childres, 2017). While I do not question the necessity of education for the success and inclusion of these disadvantaged children, I question how much this one project could really impact the system? There was no mention of training a teacher to continue this sort of program at the school, nor of Purdue maintaining their relationship and support of Matumaini in the future. The project did not seem to be very sustainable if anything the university students who learned more from the experience than the children they were supposed to be teaching. One big reason for the program was so that the students could work in their communication skills, which would be important later on in their field (Childres, 2017). Other lessons were the general broadening of culture outside of the US bubble, and even outside of their able-bodied bubble (Childres, 2017). There were assumptions going in that the handicapped children would be extremely limited but discovered that a lot of them have adapted to life with their bodies and are what would be termed “handy-capable” (Childres, 2017). These assumptions can be very damaging for the children, as it puts them in a box that the outside world views them in, limiting them peripherally, never acknowledging all their incredible accomplishments. This goes against the central ideas of inclusion.

Similar themes of possible harmful global interactions appeared when looking at a volunteer from New Zealand, Tracey Layt’s blog about her 3 months at the school (Layt, 2014). She discussed her fancy yet grueling flight there and adjustment to the busy nonsensical city in length and then went on to discuss getting an upgraded hut that was still very basic by New Zealand standards, as well as talking about the school and how she was helping there (Layt, 2014). While her work revealed how wholistic Matumaini’s approach to education is and its extreme care for its students and their wellbeing, it also showed an intense inequality of incoming foreign volunteers and prospective donors with the staff and students at the school (Layt, 2014). Her special treatment in meals, housing and even with using generators when the power went out, made me wonder how much the students and staff sacrifice to make these foreigner’s lives comfortable when they are supposed to be making the sacrifices and coming to serve at the school (Layt, 2014). This donor and recipient dynamics and relationship confuse me in their backward yet understandable fashion. Donors do not like to be inconvenienced and need to be kept happy, so not only does the school have to run on the little it gets, it also has to backchannel some of its incoming donations to accommodating and bringing in these demanding donor parties.

Another article confirms this donor dependence of the school but explains more of its structure. The school is registered nationally so receives teachers from the government and has an implemented national curriculum (Thieme, 2015). However, it is still very donor dependent because it is private so is accountable for expenses (Thieme, 2015).

The general dependence of the Salvation Army on foreign investment for running its programs puts it at huge risk. Not only does it mean having to accept short term assistance that could have little impact on the children and may, in fact, leave behind some negative impacts, but also the school has to “do a dance” for volunteers and donors to keep them satisfied and invested. These types of relationships have a huge strain on the mechanics of how Matumaini is upkept and run.

Layt, T. (2014, July 18). Tracey is returning to Africa to volunteer – Updates. Retrieved October 28, 2019, from https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/traceyafricanadventure/updates.

Childres, K. (2017, July 11). CS Students Travel to Tanzania to Learn and Teach. Retrieved October 28, 2019, from https://www.cs.purdue.edu/news/articles/2017/tanzania-2017.html.

Journal 5 Reality of contexts; gender (2 academic sources)

When discussing inclusivity of education, the first thought is of gender and then the disabled are an afterthought. This psychology of priority is reflected in the policies implemented by Tanzania (Okkolin et al., 2010, Possi, 1996). It has put a major focus on getting gender equity balance in education, as culture has normally excluded females from that sphere, but has neglected to pursue the same effort and inclusivity of the disabled (Okkolin et al., 2010, Possi, 1996). This has been an issue that has continued over time as shown by the more than a decade difference between the two articles I looked at that echo each other on this unequal pursuit of this global goal (Okkolin et al., 2010, Possi, 1996). There has been little to no effort in planning for improvements in disabled inclusivity and in recording and setting statistical goals for it either (Okkolin et al., 2010). Furthermore, there is then increased marginalization of female disabled in education, so much so, that records show the majority of disabled as male, because of the gender precedent and then the neglect of special needs (Okkolin et al., 2010, Possi, 1996). Multiple factors come into play when trying to understand how there would be so little education of the disabled in general; having shielding parents, not many resources and options for special needs education, and also a lack of representation of disabled in education that might normalize the process by acting as “role models” (Possi, 1996). Primary education has gotten a lot of reformation in Tanzania, so has had fairly balanced and inclusive education, but as you go up to secondary, university and so on, there is an increasing gap in gender and disabled demographics (Okkolin et al., 2010, Possi, 1996). All this shows in the case of Matumaini Primary, that it is being a progressive actor in making up for the lack of focus on the inclusion of disabled in education. However, as it is a primary school, it falls into the category of education that barely suffers from this discrimination, so you might argue it is not making any changes anyway. An interesting statistic to look at would be to see gender distribution in the Matumaini Primary student body and see how it compares to national figures.

Okkolin, M., Lehtomäki, E., & Bhalalusesa, E. (2010). The successful education sector development in Tanzania – comment on gender balance and inclusive education. Gender and Education, 22(1), 63–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540250802555416

Possi, M. (1996). Gender and education of people with disabilities in Tanzania. UTAFITI, 3(2), 155-168. Retrieved from www.scopus.com

Journal 6 Special Education can relieve the burdens of Informal Caregivers

As discussed previously, parents are still the main care providers for their disabled children. This means there is a large number of informal caregivers in Tanzania. “Perceptions of caring for children with disabilities: Experiences from Moshi, Tanzania” is a study that investigated how the care was impacting the parents (McNally & Mannan, 2013). They identified multiple challenges in both the objective and subjective sphere that burdened these individuals (McNally & Mannan, 2013). The obvious case for the objective is that it threatens their productivity and leads to employment issues as the majority of their time and money go into caring for their high-needs child (McNally & Mannan, 2013). The subjective is a little harder to see, but there is the emotional strain that stigma can give to a loving parent, as well as isolation that can come with that situation as there are few people aiding them, and finally the shame that they get when their situation is pitied (McNally & Mannan, 2013). There were discoveries of positives from the study, such as seeing progress in the child, gaining respect from peers, and even the happiness that family time can bring (McNally & Mannan, 2013). These positives do not distract from the fact that they have needs that are not being met (McNally & Mannan, 2013). Financially they need support, it was also expressed that the finances would best be suited to go to schooling as that was what would really help them (McNally & Mannan, 2013). When looking at this perspective, the positive impact that Matumaini Primary would have on the community is clear, as it would make the lives of these individual informal caregivers so much easier, if expenses were not the issue. A lot of the issues that Matumaini faces are financially based; donor dependence and the unaffordability of the care by parents. Another interesting theme from the study to look at is how religion is used as a significant coping mechanism for those parents, which may put Matumaini Primary in an even more positive light in their eyes (McNally & Mannan, 2013). Furthermore, facilities like Matumaini, would mean that the care of the handicapped would move into the formal work sphere, improving the economy as it would free up the labor of parents that were acting as informal workers before. Finally, the study addressed how the best resolutions to the issues informal caregivers face are to have much better support systems and a peer support group for the emotional burdens (McNally & Mannan, 2013). Matumaini Primary could ideally become a network center that could not only give that objective support, but also make the connections between people to start looking at the subjective needs of the students’ families.

McNally, A. & Mannan, H. (2013). Perceptions of caring for children with disabilities: Experiences from Moshi, Tanzania. African Journal of Disability 2(1), Art. #21, 10 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ajod.v2i1.21

Journal 7 possible barriers Ghana (1 source)

It is necessary to assess how Matumaini’s special needs education might compare to the alternative of integration in general schools. There is a strong conclusion that disabled children face a lot of barriers in the general system. An article on these barriers being faced by children in Ghana revealed that there were three dimensions to the issues; lack of resources, negative attitudes, and then inappropriate teaching strategies (Mprah et al., 2015). The lack of resources was both human and material, the existing support structures were thin and overstretched because of low funding in the area (Mprah et al., 2015). Special needs students require well-built and quality support systems in order to have equal access to education that their unimpaired peers would have (Mprah et al., 2015). Negative attitudes draw on the stigma that disability is due to a curse from ancestral sins, which means that teachers and fellow students tend to discriminate against the disabled, making school an unsafe-threatening environment, which they do not want to be in (Mprah et al., 2015). There have been cases where students drop out because of the bullying (Mprah et al., 2015). Another issue that the special needs workers face sometimes, is the arrogance of teachers that do not want to be taught how to accommodate for students with special needs, because they think they already know it all and so go on teaching in styles that are not conducive to educating the disabled (Mprah et al., 2015). Another trend in Ghana was that while there were structures in place for children with visual, hearing, and mental impairment, not much accommodation was made for the physically disabled (Mprah et al., 2015). While we cannot extrapolate all of the findings in Ghana to Tanzania, it is safe to assume some parallels occur in the barriers to integrated education of disabled children. Drawing on these parallels, we can say that Matumaini would provide an opportunity to special needs education for children that would otherwise face many barriers trying to integrate into existing education systems. Matumaini also focuses on the neglected physically disabled, addressing a side to inclusive education, that is not being met in Ghana right now.

Mprah, W., Amponteng, M., & Owusu, I. (2015). Barriers to inclusion of children with disabilities in inclusive schools in Ghana. Journal of Disability Studies, 1(1), 15-22. Retrieved from http://www.pubs.iscience.in/journal/index.php/jds/article/view/306

Journal 8 Missionary schools in Africa Historical look (older sources) (2 sources)

Historically, education in colonial Africa has fallen into the realm of missionary work (Beck, 1966 and Oldham, 1934). This was a result of administrative restrictions in the colonies that meant that education of the native population was not prioritized financially (Beck, 1966). However, this outlook changed post World War I as the attention to human rights to education and the push for decolonization became more a part of political discourse (Beck, 1966). Such a change meant that there needed to be cooperation between the two invested parties of missionaries and the state in education. Both sides have their own motivating factors that limit education. Firstly, mission schools have a priority on the religious aspect of their education, which meant that for a long time, they were supplying just the rudimentary necessities of education that gave access to evangelism (Beck, 1966). They also pursued the civilizing aspect of education that was a driving factor for colonization (Beck, 1966). On the other hand, the government’s push for education was an investment in their future economy and giving more potential of output originally from a colonial standing point (Beck, 1966). The clash of motivations means that there are tensions that exist in the facilitation of education (Beck, 1966 and Oldham, 1934). Other issues that come up are that mission schools are only as good as the teachers they recruit, and their potential to disintegrate local culture with the overwrite of incoming western culture and Christian beliefs (Oldham, 1934). Though, mission schools have developed a much broader look on education, extending into health and agriculture, beyond the basics they used to provide (Oldham, 1934). They also have been used to give social cohesion that has aided in the development of the area (Oldham, 1934). All the mistakes in the past have aided in making the missions more well-equipped and aware of how best to approach education in East Africa (Oldham, 1934). Governments need to have some oversite and control over the reach of missions in education, because of the problem of disintegration of culture and quality, but they could not just destroy a whole system of education that has been built up over such a long period, that has visible benefits to it (Beck, 1966 and Oldham, 1934).

Matumaini Primary is a mission school that has government oversite and support, which means it simultaneously has all the benefits of a mission school and a school that is regulated by the government. However, as both parties can sometimes have questionable intents that second education to either religion or economy, it could mean that under poor circumstances, the quality of the education could suffer and become limited. A second concern, is that the sources that discuss how mission education has been in East Africa are old, and fairly colonially based, which is important in understanding the history and basis of the type of schooling given by Matumaini, yet it gives no insight into modern structures that may have different effects, faults, and motivations.

Beck, A. (1966). Colonial Policy and Education in British East Africa, 1900-1950. Journal of British Studies, 5(2), 115-138. doi:10.1086/385522

Oldham, J. (1934). The Educational Work of Missionary Societies. Africa, 7(1), 47-59. doi:10.2307/3180488

Alexandra Bramsen

Geography 6

Professor Freidberg

November 20, 2019

Research Journal Summary

In the assessment of Matumaini Primary School for the physically disabled, located in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, it was clear that the school was fulfilling a purpose in the community that needed to be filled, even though there could be more ideal situations. The SDG that the school addresses is that of quality education and making it inclusive to the disabled children all around Tanzania. The school is run by the missionary organization, the Salvation Army. It has support from the government of Tanzania, who help to provide teachers and give the curriculum that they teach (Nyerere, 2018). Major threats to the quality of the education at Matumaini would be its donor dependence financially making it unstable, and that its priority, as a mission school, is on religion, not the quality of education (Nyerere, 2018 & Beck, 1966 & Oldham, 1934).

While a special needs school like Matumaini is an option of inclusive education, there are other methods of education that are used. Firstly, it is widely acknowledged that the traditional method of teaching is for the child to stay home and be taught by the community, the responsibility of which falls with their elders (Kisanji, 1995). The major problems are that, especially with disabled children, this requires a lot of time, finances and skills that make the parent or elder an informal caregiver that will be limited in their productivity in society (McNally & Mannan, 2013). Another option is for the children to be integrated into regular schools with other children, giving them support structures in the system (Mprah et al., 2015). However, this has been problematic because of low resources, lack of teaching awareness and the marginalization of the children at school because of their disability, which has led to them preferring to stay home (Mprah et al., 2015). The only known method that has been succeeding slightly more is having special needs schools that have adapted to suit students’ needs (Mprah et al., 2015). Yet, the children are partially cut off from society and exist in a bubble, which is supposed to prepare them for real life, but when they leave, they struggle to survive independently (Nyerere, 2018). Is protecting them so much, in schools like Matumaini, damaging their success later in life? Other debates on this inclusive education are whether the Government should have full responsibility, or it is alright to let missions have such a large influence in education (Beck, 1966 & Oldham, 1934). Both parties have been seen to have ulterior motives to education, but missions long history in African education and the need for government regulation of their potential harm to the culture require there to be an agreement, a relationship, between the two in the area of education (Beck, 1966 & Oldham, 1934).

Evaluating the efforts of Mtumaini primary in creating inclusive education in Tanzania was difficult because of limited data in the area, little modern attention to the issue, and no scholarly articles on the work of the Salvation Army in special education. There is a huge underestimate of children with disabilities in Africa, partially due to lack of attention but also the local stigma that makes parents not want to come forward (Reynolds et al., 2014). As a result, data on how effective special education has been in the area, with attendance and outreach is even rarer. A couple of the articles used for assessment were from the 20th century, due to the rise in awareness of education post-war while countries were still under colonial administration (Beck, 1966). This does not explain the lack of attention now though, presumably, it could be there is little modern involvement or responsibility assumed by the Global North in Africa’s education system in these post-colonial times. Measuring the effects of the school was also difficult as sources dealing directly with the school were non-academic personal reflections on the school, which could have a bias in putting it in a more positive light as they were often from people that worked there. The most critical assessments were when other sources were extrapolated to critique Matumaini. The school’s partnership with the Government is a very positive thing for the regulation of the school, but the dependence on financial support reduces its sustainability, even though it has been upkept since its establishment in 1969 (Nyerere, 2018).

In conclusion, Matumaini Primary is a great school that is filling a huge need for special education in Tanzania, but it is not the end all be all for inclusive education. There need to be many more options for the many disabled children that are in the country. These options would need to include models of integrated education that worked, to realistically have special needs included in all spheres of life and not kept in its own bubble. This would require lots of financial stability in the sphere of education, which would mean that progress on SDG 1 for no poverty and SDG 8 decent work and economic growth would need to happen to have the opportunity to fund such development in education. The community needs to become more aware of the problem and educated on the issue of discrimination based upon negative stigma. Gender equality, SDG 5, also needs to be achieved as it has taken the spotlight in the pursuit of inclusive education, which has meant a neglect in disability inclusion, disparities for both parts of inclusion grow as you go up the education ladder (Okkolin et al., 2010 & Possi, 1996). The Government needs to be more conscious of this inclusion to truly implement it in their education systems and lead by example with acceptance and formation of disabled role models and voices in the community (Okkolin et al., 2010 & Possi, 1996 & Mprah et al., 2015). In general, the push is for SDG 10 reduced inequalities, so that special education will be most effective, as their pupils could then go out into a community that accepts them and gives them independence and equality.

Bibliography

Beck, A. (1966). Colonial Policy and Education in British East Africa, 1900-1950. Journal of British Studies, 5(2), 115-138. doi:10.1086/385522

Nyerere, J. (2018, June 4). A Need to Serve. Retrieved October 28, 2019, from https://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/need-serve.

Oldham, J. (1934). The Educational Work of Missionary Societies. Africa, 7(1), 47-59. doi:10.2307/3180488

Possi, M. (1996). Gender and education of people with disabilities in Tanzania. UTAFITI, 3(2), 155-168. Retrieved from www.scopus.com

Sustainable Development Goals .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform. (n.d.). Retrieved October 3, 2019, from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300