01 Jul 2013

Students with learning disabilities should be supported to realise their career goals, says director of Department of Tertiary Education Financing (DTEF), Mr Mracos Maeza.

Addressing Lobatse Town Council full session, Mr Maeza said special attention was given to disabled students to ensure that they benefitted from the country’s education system.

He said implementation of the 2010/11 project for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) was progressing well and their target had increased to over 340 children.

Mr Maeza said all orphans and vulnerable children were given an opportunity to enroll for tertiary education with points as low as 29 in their best six subjects upon completion of BGCSE. For other children, he said, they needed 34 points to enrol in tertiary institutions.

He said the Division of Special Education administers a special fund which assists in the placement of such students in schools. Mr Maeza said by so doing the department wanted to curb situations where such students fail to travel to designated places for enrolment.

The DTEF, he explained, had put in place a number of outreach programmes to ensure that its services were accessible to all. The director urged the Department of Social Services and councillors to identify and register qualifying candidates.

He further said DTEF had a special office designated to help such children and urged councillors to help nurture and groom the talents they possess. ENDS