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Essay / Essay on Disabilities in Education - 730
Educational policies in Zimbabwe do not overtly discriminate against persons with disabilities, for example, the Education Act of 1996 which states that. There is a general feeling that school authorities do not understand disability issues and are seen as unwilling to make any effort to ensure that these issues are effectively addressed. Most school heads are reluctant to enroll children with disabilities, so much so that families of people with disabilities must negotiate with authorities to have their children enrolled in school. People with disabilities report frequently facing negative attitudes from employees in the education sector. They believe that these attitudes are largely attributable to educational staff's uncertainty about how to manage students with disabilities and the overload of professional responsibilities. Teachers find it difficult to pay attention to students with special educational needs due to the large number of students in inclusive classes, while there are inadequate facilities for special classes in mainstream schools (Choruma, 2007). By viewing impairment as an ordinary part of life, and disability being the result of discrimination and exclusion, the social model has supported efforts to extract disability from medicalized special needs and to promote the integration of disability concerns in all development policies and practices. There have been many positive statements of intent from government and international agencies on the need to mainstream disability into development work (Aberlt, 2004). The main source of information for people with disabilities in Zimbabwe is radio, followed by meetings with other people. . Very few visually impaired disabled people have access to mainstream society, which is their human right, the way society is organized needs to be changed (Carson, 2009). Education for most people with disabilities begins at the family level. People with disabilities face negative attitudes from family members. These attitudes are mainly reflected in the idea that sending children with disabilities to school is a “waste of time”. They believe that people with disabilities are not capable of learning. Parents and families tend to prioritize household chores over education, in some cases regarding all children, but in many cases when it comes to people with disabilities. There is also a tendency to keep girls with disabilities at home, believing that they are even less capable of learning than boys (Choruma, 2007). The politicization of disability has also prompted