This makes the fourth week since school has reopened for elementary school goers, but Doris Staine, 4, who has spina bifida but whose mental faculties are completely intact, has been forced to return to preschool – clearly a retrograde step for a bright child who has already graduated – because she has been rejected from the schools for which she has applied.
Her parents are upset at what they believe is an unfair act of discrimination, and they are seeking all possible recourse for Little Doris, who they say has always shown exceptional interest in learning.
An assessment done by the Ministry of Education’s Special Education Unit confirmed that Doris, whom they described as a self-motivated child, was perfectly capable to fit into the school system.
On the other hand, Doris can’t walk because of her congenital illness and she has to wear pampers because she does not know when she needs to use the bathroom, but this highly spirited child gets around by crawling or using her wheelchair, and her mother has committed to visiting school to change her pampers on a regular schedule, just as she did in preschool, to ensure acceptable hygiene. The disability experts, like her parents, do not see these challenges as valid reasons for keeping her out of mainstream school.
Stella Maris School – a school for the disabled – has indicated that even though Doris is well enough to attend regular school, they do have a space there for her if she needs it. However, the parents of Doris, Marvin and Licia, say that they are not giving up their fight.
Director of CARE Belize, Evan Cowo, told us that there is no reason why Doris should be excluded from having the education she and her parents desire for her. Cowo notes that there are many other children like Doris in Belize. Over 100 children attended a spina bifida clinic held last week at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in conjunction with the International Hospital for Children of the USA. Some were as young as 6 months; others were as old as 13 and attending high school, he informed.
Cowo also informed that he knows of 8 cases in the Belize, Orange Walk and Corozal Districts, where children with spina bifida, who have the same physical challenges like Doris, have been integrated into mainstream primary schools.
As we had reported in the storyMarvin and Licia Staine fight to get daughter Doris into school! dated Tuesday, September 18, 2007, the parents had approached the Queen Street Baptist School and St. Luke Methodist to have Doris admitted to the schools, but the schools said that they were not equipped to attend to her special needs and she was rejected.
The Staines and CARE Belize are not giving up, however, and an appeal has been made with the Ministry of Education through attorney David S. Morales. Morales wrote Education Minister Francis Fonseca on September 19, laying out the background of Doris’s case.
“Please be advised that Section 25(1) of the Education Act, Chapter 36, Revised Edition 2000 of the Laws of Belize states: ‘The education system shall ensure equitable access for both genders to education at all levels, shall be sensitive to the particular needs of the female gender, and shall cater to the special needs of challenged pupils,’” Morales wrote.
In addition to citing Belize’s laws and education policies to support his argument, he pointed to The Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), the World Declaration for Education for All (1990), and Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disability (1993) among other international conventions to support his position for Doris.
Morales underscored that a child’s disability is not ground to deny a child an education.
“Furthermore, that it is [the school’s] duty as well as your Ministry’s to provide any assistance that the child may require. The child is entitled to an education as is every other child,” Morales stressed.
Speaking with Amandala today, the attorney told us that he has finally gotten a response from the Ministry – though not the Minister himself – and they have conceded to the positions laid out in his letter, particularly the position that it is the responsibility of the Government to provide the infrastructure to accommodate the needs of children like Doris.
For now, the attorney has stayed plans to take the matter to court, pending the outcome of further discussions with the Ministry of Education.
If the matter ends up in court, however, it would be a precedent-setting case for Belize and one that Cowo feels deserves proper ventilation and resolution. If the outcome of talks with the Ministry is not in line with what the Staines, CARE Belize and the attorney believe Doris deserves, they plan to seek court redress for a court order to get Doris into mainstream school.
Morales said that he is currently researching similar cases that have been fought in Trinidad and Guyana.