60 pc disabled children barred from schools: Study
Dhaka, July 17 (UNB) – More than 60 percent of children with severe impairments in the country don’t attend school, revealed a study on child disability on Wednesday.
The study, titled, “Childhood Disability Study in Bangladesh”, prepared by Child Sight Foundation (CSF), Bangladesh, noted that the major reason behind the absence of disabled children was their non-acceptance in the school.
Conducted in 15 upazilas in Rajshahi division between 2008 and 2012, the study also estimated that 1.42 percent of the country’s children are sustaining various types of disability, including physical, visual, hearing impairments, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, club foot, cleft lip and muscular dystrophy.
Speaking at the result dissemination workshop of the study at a city hotel, CSF executive director Prof Dr Mohammad Muhith said non-acceptance in schools is responsible for 45 percent of the total absence of disabled children.
He stressed the need of building social awareness, ensuring quota for the disabled in mainstream schools as well as establishing specialised schools for the disabled.
Director General of Department of Social Services Nasima Begum said it is upsetting to learn that 60 percent of the disabled children are not going to school, while the national primary education coverage is 98 percent.
The government has already made progress in introducing integrated educational approach in schools with an aim to facilitate children with various disabilities, she said, adding that National Education Policy, 2010, also ensures the rights of the disabled children to receive education in all the schools in the country.
Social Welfare Minister Enamul Haque Mostofa Shaheed said that in order to facilitate special education for disabled children in the country, the government has been providing teachers and staff of the related institutions with 100 percent pay and allowances since 2010.
As per the Integrated Special Education Policy, 2009, the government has planned to increase the number of schools to provide special education to disabled children, he added.
The workshop was also addressed by Social Welfare Secretary Ranjit Kumar Biswas, CSF chairman Prof AH Saidur Rahman, Reader of International Centre for Evidence in Disability, London, Dr GVS Murthy, and acting Regional Director (South Asia) of CBM Dr Sara Varughese, among others.
The study, titled, “Childhood Disability Study in Bangladesh”, prepared by Child Sight Foundation (CSF), Bangladesh, noted that the major reason behind the absence of disabled children was their non-acceptance in the school.
Conducted in 15 upazilas in Rajshahi division between 2008 and 2012, the study also estimated that 1.42 percent of the country’s children are sustaining various types of disability, including physical, visual, hearing impairments, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, club foot, cleft lip and muscular dystrophy.
Speaking at the result dissemination workshop of the study at a city hotel, CSF executive director Prof Dr Mohammad Muhith said non-acceptance in schools is responsible for 45 percent of the total absence of disabled children.
He stressed the need of building social awareness, ensuring quota for the disabled in mainstream schools as well as establishing specialised schools for the disabled.
Director General of Department of Social Services Nasima Begum said it is upsetting to learn that 60 percent of the disabled children are not going to school, while the national primary education coverage is 98 percent.
The government has already made progress in introducing integrated educational approach in schools with an aim to facilitate children with various disabilities, she said, adding that National Education Policy, 2010, also ensures the rights of the disabled children to receive education in all the schools in the country.
Social Welfare Minister Enamul Haque Mostofa Shaheed said that in order to facilitate special education for disabled children in the country, the government has been providing teachers and staff of the related institutions with 100 percent pay and allowances since 2010.
As per the Integrated Special Education Policy, 2009, the government has planned to increase the number of schools to provide special education to disabled children, he added.
The workshop was also addressed by Social Welfare Secretary Ranjit Kumar Biswas, CSF chairman Prof AH Saidur Rahman, Reader of International Centre for Evidence in Disability, London, Dr GVS Murthy, and acting Regional Director (South Asia) of CBM Dr Sara Varughese, among others.
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