Special education needs not fully satisfied

Baboki Kayawe | Friday May 20, 2016 15:12

A psychiatric and mental health nurse based at Kasane Primary Hospital, Tshepiso Lekoma, remarked at the second annual Botswana Society for Human Development (BSHD) mental workshop at the University of Botswana.  “All the educational facilities that we currently have are not specialised as learners are not categorised per their needs, and you will find that teachers are not specialised in dealing with one condition,” Lekoma said. Lekoma further questioned how possible it could be for these educators to deal with an assortment of disabilities when they lacked specialisation.

This, experts have argue forfeits aspirations of the Revised National Policy on Education (RNPE) of 1993 to ensure all citizens of Botswana including those with special needs have equal educational opportunities.

“…to promote the early identification and intervention, which will ensure the maximum success of the rehabilitation process,” states the policy.

In addition to challenges in providing an absolutely special education to learners with intellectual disability, an acute shortage of psychiatrists in the country has accentuated the status of mental health in Botswana, according to Lekoma.

“You will find that psychiatric wards are staffed with general nurses who have limited understanding of mental health issues,” she said. Moreover, she said the imbalance between psychiatrists and midwives suggests that the system has discrepancies.

In fact, a mental health specialist from Princess Marina Hospital with over two decades of practice, Gabaitsane Letlaamoreng said shortage of specialised human capital in this field is disheartening.

In some instances, it takes patients even four months to access specialists and this disturbs intervention programmes.  She emphasised the need for palliative care whenever dealing with patients and learners with mental disability. 

“There must be proper referrals.  The biggest challenge in the system currently is lack of specialists in the referral process, as well as lack of professional diagnosis,” she added. “The other thing is that parents must acknowledge that mental illnesses are there as well as to accept when thorough diagnosis has been carried out.  While there is a lot of stigma surrounding mental health, acknowledgement that these problems exist will make people more receptive to intervention,” Letlaamoreng said. 

Through the workshop titled, ‘Understanding Mental Health – Mental Illnesses and Intellectual Disabilities’, BSHD aimed to explore the different forms of mental health: depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, panic attacks and postnatal depression, among others.  BSHD chairperson, Sharon Tshipa said this understanding will help accelerate intervention and tackle discrepancies in the system.

“We want to understand reactions of different groups to mental illness and intellectual disabilities particularly in the African continent and Botswana as a case study.  The objective of the workshop is to determine treatment options available to patients and coping mechanisms for their families and friends,” Tshipa said.