Editorial | Meeting obligations

That close to 400 Jamaican schools now have wheelchair ramps is a welcome development in the right direction. It deserves recognition.

But even as this advance is celebrated, it must be acknowledged that there is still much ground to cover – not only for students with physical challenges, but for all Jamaicans who suffer from some form of disability. The Government must accelerate its efforts to meet its obligations to these citizens.

It was only a little more than a year ago that there was a furore at Merl Grove, a high school for girls in St Andrew, over the absence of ramps at the institution to accommodate an incoming, wheelchair-dependent first-former. The child’s parents were reportedly told by Merl Grove’s administrators to find another school where her needs could be better met.

In the midst of that brouhaha, the education authorities announced that J$2 million would be spent building ramps at Merl Grove, and that the education ministry was ready to provide a ‘shadow’ to assist the child. The latter, the student’s parents said, was not necessary.

However, Merl Grove High School, with respect to its limited accessibility for students who use wheelchairs or face other mobility issues, was not unique. Few of Jamaica’s more than 1,000 primary and secondary schools – which, according to government data, accommodate around 2,500 special-needs students – had ramps. They were not designed with this crucial bit of infrastructure.

LEGITIMATE REASONS

But ramps and other amenities that facilitate people with disabilities are not only about students.

Available data suggest that around four per cent of Jamaica’s population – considered by many people to be an undercount – suffers from some form of disability.

Of the people in Jamaica who acknowledge their disability, one in three, or a third, said their problem was physical. The next largest group was people who were blind or otherwise visually impaired – 25 per cent.

People with disabilities are, by law, to be afforded the right to easy access to these facilities, especially when they have legitimate reasons to do so.

Indeed, as happens in the case with students, the absence of these accommodating facilities and/or infrastructure eliminates, or severely limits, the ability of people who, but for a specific disability, may be excellent at providing services in schools, perhaps even as teachers.

It is in part against this background that The Gleaner welcomed the disclosure by the education minister, Fayval Williams, of the number of schools where ramps have been built, and the administration’s plans to expand that project, including installing elevators.

ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS

Said the education minister: “We are beginning, for those schools with multiple levels, to put in lifts so that our students have access.

“We are not there yet, in terms of seeing that 100 per cent of our schools have ramps. But we have a pathway to getting there. Every year, there’s a budget for the installation of ramps in schools.”

Ms Williams knows well the phrase ‘what gets measured gets done’. So what she must now do, or should have done, is provide a timeline for the construction of the promised additional ramps and lifts, as well as other facilities, to support students and other people with disabilities to have access to school campuses.

But this is an issue that is of concern not only for Minister Williams and the education system.

Under the Disabilities Act, passed in 2014 but which came into force only in 2022, both the Government and the private owners of buildings that are opened to the public have an obligation to ensure that they are accessible to people with disabilities. Property owners are only exempt if they demonstrate to the authorities that it would be structurally impractical to comply with the law, or that retrofitting would constitute a “disproportionate or undue burden” on the owner. Additionally, new buildings, but for those that were under construction at the time the law came into force, have to meet the new accessibility standards.

Presently, the labour and social security ministry has responsibility for the welfare side of the Disabilities Act; the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation is in charge of the planning agencies; and municipal authorities issue building permits and have oversight of construction projects.

It would be useful if the bodies collaborate on a compliance audit with the accessibility requirements of the Disabilities Act, and what systems are in place, to ensure that the owners of public buildings become so. That way, the Government and other stakeholders can track the progress.