WILLEMSTAD – Curaçao's education system should become more inclusive by adapting to differences among students instead of separating or labeling children who require additional assistance, according to MFK Member of Parliament Sandy Losiabaar.
Losiabaar is advocating a broader change in how Curaçao approaches students who need additional educational support, arguing that children should be given the opportunity to develop according to their individual abilities and needs.
Her position forms part of her proposal to replace the term “special education” with “appropriate education.”
According to Losiabaar, changing the terminology should be accompanied by a different philosophy toward education. Rather than focusing primarily on the limitations of a student, the system should determine what support is necessary for that student to learn and develop.
This would also shift greater responsibility toward the education system itself.
Losiabaar argues that children learn in different ways and at different speeds. Schools should therefore be able to respond to those differences instead of expecting every student to fit into the same educational structure.
She placed the proposal within a broader international movement toward inclusive education, in which greater attention is being given to accommodating differences between students.
One of the main objectives, according to Losiabaar, is to prevent children who need additional guidance from feeling stigmatized because of the type of education they receive.
However, it remains unclear whether her initiative will ultimately involve only a change in terminology or whether it will also lead to substantive changes in Curaçao's education system.
No details have yet been provided about possible changes to teaching methods, school organization, funding or the way additional support would be provided to students.
Losiabaar said she will continue working on the initiative, with the ultimate goal of creating an education system in which children who require additional assistance are supported without being made to feel that they are different from their peers.