The 24^th January is International Day of Education. The 2023 theme is ‘to invest in people, prioritise education’. KIT invests in an inclusive approach to education and seeks to support all students in their choice of training.

To support its focus on inclusive education delivery, KIT engaged a group of staff in an online disability awareness professional development program for VET staff and educators supporting students with disability in late 2022.

The e-learning program is developed by The National Disability Coordination Officer (NDCO) Program, Disability Awareness and the Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training (ADCET) and is free to participate in.

The program has been specifically developed to support inclusion of students with disability within vocational education and training settings, through enhancing the knowledge and skills of educators to ensure they provide reasonable adjustments in the way they teach.

“Audio and video content can be difficult for learners with hearing or vision impairments to access. The key lesson that I have taken away from the online training is how to support students who are deaf and/or with vision disabilities using audio description. I can use transcripts for audio and video content to provide a more complete picture of what is being shown or represented in a video,” explains Aren Ioata, KIT Teacher Aide.

All people with disability have the right to skills training and employment. This training provides a great opportunity for KIT staff to deliver on their commitment to ensuring all I-Kiribati can access and benefit from skills training.

KIT’s Student Support Services staff already work to create access to mainstream training for students with disability through providing teacher aides in classrooms, challenging the stigma of disability through positive promotion of inclusive skills outcomes, and removing barriers to education.

“This online module has given me a broader understanding of how I should support students with disability in identifying and addressing their needs,” says Taana Tabuariki, KIT Student Support Officer.