Pilot Iisakki flew a team from Light for the World South Sudan back from Maridi.
Light for the World Country Director Sophia Mohammed – shared her warm thanks as she disembarked with her colleagues at Juba International Airport.
‘We flew to Maridi with representatives from the National Ministry of Education to launch a teach training in braille and sign-language at the Maridi National Teachers Training Institute.
‘We fly with MAF every time we go this side – the west of South Sudan. It was the best flight ever!’
Ms Mohammed adds more about the training:
‘The training programme is an initiative of the Ministry of Education that we are supporting financially and technically. It is a nine-month course that will be rolled out every year to make sure all preservice teachers will graduate with knowledge of Braille and Sign-language,’ she explains.
Braille, is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired. In sign language, spoken words are represented with hand signals.
‘The training will mean that children with disabilities, especially those with hearing impairments and visual impairments, will not have any difficulty in schools, because the teachers will be trained. Every child will get the chance to learn. When they sit for exam’s, the teachers will be able to assist,’ Ms Mohammed enthusiastically explains.
Director General of the National Ministry of Education, John Sebi praised the contribution of Light for the World, as he shared more about the government’s vision for the inclusion of students with hearing and sight impairments.
‘We have initiated this project and launched it before at the National Teachers Institute here in Juba. We thought it wise to also take it to the Teaching Institute in Maridi, which we did yesterday.’
‘It is towards the end of the year, so the programme will start in February, at the beginning of the next academic year,’ Director General Sebi says.
The aim is for inclusive education to be available to children across South Sudan. ‘Why are we doing this? Because it is a target of the Ministry of Education for all children to have a chance to have an education. We don’t want children with disabilities to be left behind. That is why we are launching this programme to train pre-service teachers in braille and sign language in South Sudan.’
As they posed for a photograph, the passengers who included both deaf and sight impaired staff colleagues from Light for The World, with their assistants and interpreters, used the sign for inclusion – to visually get their message across. Inclusion for all!
We fly with MAF every time we go this side – the west of South Sudan. It was the best flight ever!