Kenya Re in partnership with SG Plc as the official media partner supports Lenana High School accommodate children with disability

08 September 2017

Kenya Re support two national school to accommodate children with disability

 

Lenana High School will soon have a dormitory designed to accommodate students with physical disability.

The project, financed by the Kenya Reinsurance Corporation (Kenya Re) through its first phase of the ‘Niko Fiti – Ability Beyond Disability’ campaign, aims to increase enrolment of students with disabilities at the national school.

“There are a lot of brilliant students with disabilities who cannot access national schools because of lack of physical infrastructure,” said Kenya Re Managing Director Jadiah Mwarania during the groundbreaking ceremony yesterday. 

In partnership with the Ministry of Education, Kenya Re will also refurbish the school’s sanatorium and washroom facilities and construct a rump at the school clinic before embarking on similar projects at Moi Girls Isinya.

Education PS Kipsang Belio said the Government spent Sh300 million on secondary schools and Sh459 million on primary schools last year to upgrade infrastructure and cater for physically challenged students. 

Dr Kipsang lauded Kenya Re’s assistance, saying it would help increase enrolment in national schools.

Special Needs Education Director Maria Cherono said a lot still needs to be done to accommodate more students with disabilities in school.

“We currently support a small proportion of children with disabilities in school. In secondary schools, we have 4,000 while special needs primary schools can only take 110,000,” she said.

Her department, Ms Cherono said, is reviewing policy and aligning resources to ensure all regular schools in the country accommodate physically challenged students.

Kenya Re Chairman David Kemei said the second phase of the campaign will support St Mary’s Centre for Children Living with Disability. Phase three will be rolled out in Kisii, Embu, and Trans Nzoia counties, where 1,300 assistive devices will be distributed to persons living with disabilities.

In the fourth and last phase the corporation will partner with the Kenya Institute of Special Education to adopt a block that will include a physiotherapy space for different people with disabilities, a gym, a children’s play area, and a hydrotherapy pool to relieve discomfort and promote physical wellbeing.

The Standard Group PLC is the campaign’s official media partner and will help create awareness through its various media platforms that include KTN Home, KTN News, the Standard newspapers, Radio Maisha, and digital platforms.

“We have also supported similar causes, including the Kenya Centre for Learning Disability Campaign, Little Rock ECD centre, a school for children with various disabilities, and Kenya Society for the Blind’s ‘My Eyes Your Eyes’ campaign, among others,” said Orlando Lyomu, the group’s acting CEO.