Beyond waiting lists and assessments

The following is a contribution from The Mico University College Child Assessment and Research in Education Centre.

We often hear about the long waiting lists for assessments for children with special needs, and while those waits are real and challenging, they are only part of the story.

Today, The Mico University College Child Assessment and Research in Education (CARE) Centre is shining a light on the other factors affecting services to children with special needs, the hurdles that remain even after an assessment is complete, preventing children with special education needs from receiving the support they desperately need to thrive in schools.

The access to education for children with special needs goes beyond waiting lists and assessments.

“Yes, they wait long for an assessment … but when they get it, there are still barriers to services which they require,” said Dr Sharon Anderson Morgan, executive director at The Mico CARE Centre.

Dr Anderson Morgan, while admitting to long wait times at The Mico Centre, as well as at the two other government-funded assessment centres, pointed to a critical area that often gets overlooked.

“I am making the point that assessment is just part of the problem. Getting an assessment is like going to the doctor; if you do not have access to the required treatment and intervention afterwards, then you are no better off,” she said. For many families, even after receiving an assessment, there is no change for the better as after waiting, then receiving an assessment report, families are challenged in following through on recommendations.

From an analysis of data collected at The Mico CARE Centre, only 67 per cent of caregivers followed through with referrals after an assessment of their child. Of those who attempted to follow through with referrals, a little under half (49 per cent) reported not being able to access any of the services to which they had been referred.

BIGGER PROBLEM

The data therefore point to a bigger problem that is really beyond waitlist and receiving an assessment. It is the beginning of navigating a complex system with frustrating roadblocks. The data revealed barriers to accessing the referred services from assessments as follows: location and availability of services, agencies being full, failure of entities to respond or reach out to the caregiver, wait time, as well as real and perceived costs.

To compound the matter, The Mico CARE Centre has also seen concerning trends where there are a number of students who are school-aged, but not attending school, who are registered for assessments. The Mico CARE Centre’s data reveals that 10 per cent of the students for assessments in 2024 were out of school. This highlights a heart-breaking reality: children are out of school while waiting for a diagnosis, and even after they get one, the path to accessing the right support can be fraught with challenges. Being out of school for any period widens the educational gap for these children who are already experiencing challenges that affect learning.

It therefore begs the question, what can be done for greater educational access for children with special needs? The situation is not a hopeless one. Dr Anderson Morgan envisions a three-tiered approach to assessments and intervention in Jamaica that will significantly impact and help alleviate not just problems of long wait lists but other issues involving assessments and interventions.

The first tier will begin with broad screening by the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information. This can be done using the data from the National Assessment Programme, already administered by the ministry, to identify children who require additional support and provide this through evidence-based instruction.

Where needed, children will move on to a second tier of screening with targeted support via small group instructions or specific interventions and the final tier would be a full psychoeducational assessment if students continue to struggle after the second tier.

In this way, students will receive earlier intervention and only those who have genuine assessment needs will be waiting for an assessment. This approach speaks to and promotes a more inclusive education system which Dr Anderson Morgan believes is the way forward to really have the kind of impact that is necessary for children with special needs.

Having a more-inclusive education system will allow students to be educated, as far as is possible, within their community schools, while being provided with the support services required within that setting. Creating an inclusive education system will require policy changes and all stakeholders working collaboratively in fulfilment of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), which speaks to equitable, quality, inclusive education.

While this is a monumental goal for Jamaica, this can be realised through progressive realisation of smaller targets over a number of years.

For his part, Dr Asburn Pinnock, president of The Mico University College, believes that the institution is poised to play a critical role in addressing the capacity-building needs of the system to support inclusive education.

SPECIALISATION

At The Mico University College all teachers in training complete several mandatory special education courses, regardless of their area of specialisation. As the oldest teacher training intuition in the Western Hemisphere, The Mico was the first institution to train special education teachers in the region and has the capacity to provide professional development courses for in-service teachers to up-skill them so that they can be prepared to support learners with varied needs.

Training for paraprofessionals, such as learning support aids and teacher assistants, is also an area of critical need which the institution would be ready to provide, as well as training school administrators in inclusive school leadership.

“I also strongly appeal to the government and private sector donors to provide additional scholarships so that we can train adequate special education teachers for the system and also to invest in expanding the services of Mico CARE Centre in other parts of Jamaica, as it is obvious that we have outgrown the current space and human resource establishment amidst a growing demand.”

It is every child’s right to have access to an education so that they can reach their full potential.

Therefore, hurdles encountered by children with special education needs in accessing education should spur a heartfelt call to action for everyone: parents, schools, agencies, policymakers, leaders, the media, community, and all other stakeholders. We need to look at the whole picture of what it actually takes to meet the educational needs of all students, regardless of abilities.

It requires a truly collaborative effort from all Jamaicans to break down the barriers that deny a child access to education, before, during, and after an assessment. This conversation should lead to national action which could possibly start with a national stakeholder working group on special education to examine the issues and needs of the sector and develop a comprehensive plan of action.

By working together, Jamaica can dismantle the barriers and create a system where children with special needs have access to the education and support that they need to thrive, including intervention and therapeutic services like speech, occupational and behaviour therapy. As Jamaicans, we need to move beyond the waiting lists and assessment results and also address the “other factors” that are holding our children with special education needs back.