Education still a dream for most disabled

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Most of the disabled remain beyond the purview of primary education, leave alone higher levels, thanks to the government’s rules of business considering the issue as an act of ‘welfare’ rather than ensuring a constitutional and fundamental right.

Around 20,000 disabled people enjoy primary education provided in limited arrangements by the government and the NGOs (non-government organisations) every year. But these people don’t have access to either secondary or tertiary education and eventually end up as a burden to the society.

The government attitude to this particular issue is evident as only 12.25 percent of Tk 100 crore budget allocated for the disabled is meant for their education, social welfare ministry sources say.

The government is apparently indifferent to ensuring their educational rights and has entrusted only the social welfare ministry to have everything done for them.

The ministry of education as well as the ministry of primary and mass education has nothing to do with the disabled so far.

A lack of an effective curriculum, trained teachers, technical and special supports and a planned structure has miserably failed the projects and educational programmes taken by the government and around 400 NGOs, experts say.

Moreover, international policies including the UN convention signed over the last 50 years by the government have also yielded little result, they observe.

“It’s true that primary education couldn’t be ensured for the disabled. But recently we have initiated some measures that would ensure their education,” says MA Hye Howlader, social welfare secretary and vice-president of the national coordination committee for the disabled.

“I hope the scenario will change in the next couple of years as we have included ministries concerned in the latest action plan. If the next governments monitor the steps the scenario is sure to change soon,” he adds.

But in many of the developed and even developing countries education programmes now include restructured curriculum, modified examination systems, and other necessary facilities like free books, uniforms, transport and technical supports.

Besides, the governments also secure employment and rehabilitation for the disabled in both private and public sector.

In Bangladesh, such a situation is still a far cry. But the disabled here have not lost hopes or yielded to life’s struggle.

Only this year, disabled athletes from Bangladesh have won 15 gold medals in the Special Olympics World Summer Games against all odds.

Since 1995 Bangladesh have been participating in the Special Olympics Summer Games and have bagged 37 gold, 22 silver and 19 bronze medals in the last three meets.

“If the disabled are provided with education and necessary facilities and technical support they can work like a normal person and their performance in service is satisfactory,” says Hye Howlader.

He adds that they have recently managed jobs for 70 people in Gazipur as a move to ensure employment of the disabled.

A study says around 1.6 million disabled children await admission to schools at a time, while the government is able to teach only 1,335 in 78 institutions across the country.

The government doesn’t even know the actual number of the disabled in the country. Censuses by non-government organisations, however, claim 10 percent of the population are disabled.

The government provides 80 percent of the budget of SWID, an NGO that provides education facilities to around 7,500 intellectually disabled people in 46 educational institutions. However, the benefited are only 3 percent of around 41 lakh such people.

A USAID report on “assessment of educational needs of disabled children in Bangladesh”, however, claims only 1,500 out of 2.6 million disabled children are under the government education programme.

Around 10,000 to 15,000 children are under the education programmes of around 400 NGOs, the report adds.

The government does not have a monitoring system for the activities of the NGOs and the funds they are receiving in this regard.

Of the 78 institutions, 69 are for children with blindness under ‘Integrated Education Programme’ and ‘Special Schools for Blind’, seven for hearing and speech disabled children, one for intellectually disabled, and only one for providing training, employment, and for rehabilitation.

The schools for the children with hearing and speech disability and for the intellectually disabled students hardly have adequate facilities including necessary technical equipment, qualified teachers and instructors.

Moreover, the government can only ensure special facilities to around 600 disabled children in 13 institutions.

It has a single training centre to train up 25 teachers for the disabled, while two other NGOs including one in SWID also have separate training centres.

The Tk 5,000-crore programme taken under the Primary Education Programme-2 (PedP) in 2002 has turned out to be unsuccessful as the government succeeded to bring only a handful of disabled under it.

But the programme pledged to ensure children’s rights including primary education.

The PedP-1 was not successful either due to lack of coordination and consensus among the donors over the focal point of the programme.

But in many developed and developing countries including India, locomotion disabled and mildly disabled children have access to an integrated education in general schools.

Moreover, severely disabled children have access to special education arrangement. And with universalised compulsory schooling, general education systems have massively expanded and special education developed apace.

Many of these countries under their education programmes provide part-time classes, non-formal education, education through open schools, universities for children with special needs, restructured curriculum, a modified examination system as well as scholarship for the benefit of these children, counselling for parents, allowances for books and stationery, uniforms, transport, readers and escorts, residence facilities and other assisting devices.

As a result, about 95 percent of the disabled students in the United States attend to general schools.

“Babu used to bite people coming close to him or shout loudly or hurt himself. He liked to spend times in solitary environment. But he has changed after we took him to a school. He can now talk, count and even identify friends,” says Yeasmin, mother of Akib, a mentally disabled child.

“If we don’t take him to school for one week he becomes the same person he was earlier,” she adds.

“For ensuring quality education a competent and sensitise policymaking body is required in national level,” says Sabbir Bin Shams, executive director of Advancing Public Interest Trust.

“The people working in national level have hardly any idea about the issue of disability while the government’s policies don’t seem to have been taken considering fundamental rights and needs of these people,” Shams adds.

“Even if education is ensured to the disabled under the existing curriculum, which has little application, the disabled would hardly be able to bring any change to their life or make themselves self-dependent.”

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