Child inclusion requires improvement of social conditions

 Luanda - The secretary of State for Social Action, Lúcio Amaral, said Wednesday in Luanda that the process of children inclusion involves improving the social conditions of families.

Speaking at a meeting on "The Inclusion of Children with Disability: Current Situation and Perspective", the official said the government has created policies in the areas of education, with the expansion of inclusive schools, social protection and assistance with various technical means to support associations in favour of these children.

"A transversal, multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary work is necessary to respond to the aspirations and longings of families and carers", Amaral said.

Lúcio Amaral highlighted the importance of a change in mentality, as a way to eliminate inequalities that hinder the inclusion of children with disabilities in the social sphere.

For the president of the Angolan Federation of the Associations of People with Disability (FAPED), Venceslau Muginga, the situation of the child with disability in Angola lacks the practical execution of the projects outlined, since many drop out of school due to financial difficulties.

Muginga  said that many children with disabilities do not have the social assistance they should have, specifically those with intellectual, sensory and physical disabilities.

Regarding intellectual disability, Venceslau Muginga said that there's still little development in the teaching and learning process, with a lack of specialists in teaching children with autism.  

"Children with disabilities are excluded in the process of first training, such as nursery schools, where they rarely accept children with disabilities, especially those with autism, visual and hearing problems," Muginga said. 

As for cultural and sports activities, the FAPED president said disabled children have been very far from enjoying these rights.  

Muginga appealed that the General State Budget (OGE) should look after the children with disabilities, with the creation of projects that guarantee real inclusion at the level of education, day-care centres and scholarships.  

According to data from the 2014 General Census of Population and Housing, Angola has 656, 258 people with disabilities, which represents 2.5 percent of the population, of this number 164, 112 are children aged between 0 to 14.