Inclusive education in Kenya

The Nyanza Inclusive Education Programme (NIEP) is designed to meet the educational and developmental needs of disabled children by facilitating their inclusion within mainstream schools and the wider community.

It caters for 2,700 students of which 564 are disabled. The successful implementation of the pilot project led to the overwhelming demands for a consolidated and integrative expansion to the broader Nyanza province and the country as a whole.

The expanded programme was launched in July 2007 by Hon. Beth Mugo, Assistant Minister for Education. This five-year programme will build on the gains of the original Oriang pilot project and continue to focus on policies influencing teacher training and building capacity of parents and local community groups to lobby for educational policy change for the betterment of all children. The programme office is based in the Leonard Cheshire Disability Resource Centre in Kisumu City, the Nyanza provincial headquarters.

The work is carried out in partnership with Kenya Cheshire Services, Maseno University, Kenya Institute of Special Education and the Ministry of Education.