Why Asige wants therapy for learners with disability

Nominated senator Crystal Asige has called for therapy services to be integrated into schools across the country to better support learners with disabilities.

Asige said that providing therapy within schools would ease the emotional, financial, and logistical burden faced by parents and caregivers who must currently seek these services in hospitals, often at great cost and inconvenience.

Asige was speaking during a media briefing on the Persons with Disabilities Act 2025.

She noted that as of now, many families are forced to take time off work multiple times a week, to accompany their children to therapy sessions in hospitals, a situation that often leads to tension with employers and financial strain on households.

“This is a reality that many parents live with. They must choose between going to work and taking their child to therapy two or three times a week. These constant absences can cost them their jobs. By offering therapy in schools, we are ensuring that children receive consistent care without disrupting the lives of their families," the senator explained.

Under the new law in the disability act, therapy will no longer be limited to medical facilities.

The Ministry of Health, working with the Ministry of Education, is now required to ensure that children who need therapy, such as those with autism, cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, or other developmental and physical conditions, can access it directly within learning institutions.

This measure is expected to make education more inclusive and reduce the number of children who miss school due to frequent hospital visits.

She explained that such challenges frequently push families of persons with disabilities deeper into poverty, even when the children are enrolled in school.

“By relocating therapy services to educational settings, both learning and family stability would improve,” she said.

The senator added that the inclusion of school-based therapy is part of a broader shift in how the country treats disability, moving from charity and pity to access and equity.

Also highlighted in her People with Disability Act, Asige has called on the government to consider conducting a separate census for PWDs citing the need of accurate data for effective inclusion policies.

She noted that the current data collection methods leave many PWDs invisible, especially those in rural areas and the ones with no visible disabilities.

“How can we design intervention policies when we do not know how many PWDs are present in the country?" she questioned.

Asige linked the push for accurate data to broader accountability, saying accurate statistics would help evaluate whether government funds and programs are reaching PWDs.

According to her, there were some disparities in the number of PWDs captured in the 2009 and the 2019 census.

She said that in 2009, 1.3 million PWDs were recorded but there was a sharp decline in the 2019 census which recorded 960,693 PWDs.

“This decline reflects underreporting and systemic gaps, rather than the real reduction in the population," she said.

She added, “We no longer have a reason to rely on incomplete figures; it is time to organize a special census so that every person with disability is seen, counted and included in national planning.”

The Act also seeks to increase the retirement age of PWDs from 60 years to 65 years, noting that they take longer time in school due to their disabilities and end up entering the job market late.

“For fair career progression, there is a need to increase PWDs retirement age to allow them also enjoy equal working years like the rest," she said.