From Despair to Hope. Danny Apuleni shares his story.
By Bruce Chooma – DRW
Danny Apuleni a 21 years old visually impaired ambitious young man completed his secondary school at Rusangu Secondary School in 2017. He was expectant of good results but was shocked when he learnt that his Grade 12 results were missing. In trying to follow up the case, his family learnt that there were a lot of cases of missing results especially for persons with disabilities. This made Danny to lose hope. He could not stomach the fact that other nondisabled young people were already applying for tertiary education and others finding employment while he was confined to a life of uncertainty.
Despite this frustrating reality, young Danny did not give up and so he approached a Disability Rights Watch paralegal desk where he narrated his story. Disability Rights Watch has paralegal desks in Lusaka, Southern and Eastern Provinces and received complaints from parents of pupils with disabilities who after sitting for examinations have their results either not received or their transcripts indicate that the learners were absent from the exams.
When the paralegals engaged the Examination Council of Zambia to resolve and find lasting solution for missing results cases, Danny’s case was brought to the attention of the Examination Council of Zambia and the matter was resolved.
This quick action by the DRW saved Danny from missing university education. He has been accepted by the University of Zambia to pursue a Bachelor of Arts with Education (Linguistic and Civic Education) for the academic year commencing 2020.
“Am so glad that after forwarding my complaint to Disability Rights Watch paralegal desk mid-2018, the Examination Council of Zambia was able to release my results. Upon receiving my results, I applied at the University of Zambia and I was accepted to study. I feel for my brothers and sisters with disability who are still in secondary schools if this situation is not handled property at the ECZ. Systems shouldn’t be a barrier to us in achieving our dreams” Danny said.
