August 24 2011 at 09:00am
A LIMPOPO charity has called on the government to support and better train teachers to reduce the dropout rate among epileptic school-going children.
Epilepsy is a disease characterised by the recurrence of seizures. It is estimated that four out 100 people will have a single seizure in their lifetime, but people are usually considered to have epilepsy after having two or more seizures.
According to the Sello Moloto Children’s Association, a lack of basic training for teachers has contributed to children with epilepsy dropping out.
Epilepsy South Africa agrees, and both organisations have called for urgent intervention from the government.
Sello Moloto Children’s Association manager Johanna Morumudi said they had discovered that some teachers were unable to cope with epileptic children and don’t know what to do when a child has a seizure.
Morumudi said the association had petitioned the provincial government to build a special school for epileptic children or train teachers to manage the condition.
The provincial Department of Health has since been ordered to conduct a study on the state of epilepsy in the province.
Source: http://www.iol.co.za
