ICTs and Empowerment of Children with Disabilities: A Jamaican Case Study

The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of a process undertaken to improve the provision of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for children with disabilities in the formal education system of a developing country.

We review two inclusion-oriented interventions that have been implemented by a disability centre at a regional university in the Caribbean; firstly a survey of 100 primary and high schools in Jamaica to assess their technology accessibility and inclusiveness for children with disabilities, and secondly, a collaborative project between the centre and a government institution to provide assistive technologies, training and curriculum components for students with disabilities.

The results indicate that more than 77 per cent of Jamaican schools are inaccessible to children with disabilities, and 90 per cent of children with disabilities have not been provided with modern technologies to assist with their education. Inadequacies with the technological infrastructure of the educational system are related to broader inaccessibility issues for children with disabilities. A significant hindrance to ICT procurement is connected to costs of technology hardware and software, but institutional advocacy can be instrumental in mobilizing support for technology investments, particularly for vulnerable groups.

Partnerships between institutions, advocacy groups and government are important in developing countries in order to incorporate and sustain initiatives for ICT provision for children with disabilities in the education system.