As the Gov­ern­ment pre­pares to present its first na­tion­al bud­get since tak­ing of­fice in April, ad­vo­cates are urg­ing the in­clu­sion of mea­sures to sup­port chil­dren with spe­cial needs, mi­grant chil­dren with­out le­gal sta­tus, and vul­ner­a­ble youth.

Speak­ing to Guardian Me­dia, founder of Sup­port Autism T&T, Dr Rad­i­ca Ma­hase, said she hopes the new bud­get will pri­ori­tise in­vest­ment in spe­cial needs ed­u­ca­tion.

“Every child de­serves an equal op­por­tu­ni­ty to learn and grow, and for stu­dents with spe­cial needs, this of­ten re­quires tai­lored sup­port,” she said. Ma­hase called for “more spe­cialised teach­ers, ac­ces­si­ble fa­cil­i­ties and re­sources” to help stu­dents reach their po­ten­tial, adding that such mea­sures should be viewed “not as an ex­pense but as an in­vest­ment in our fu­ture.” She said long-term ben­e­fits “will be pro­found for stu­dents, for fam­i­lies and for the na­tion.”