Endeavour
BRAC
schools Giving the Disabled
a New Lease of Life
Kavita
Charanji
‘Children
who learn together, learn to live together'. This principle
holds true in BRAC's schools all over the country. As we near
Class 3, Dattapara 2 of a BRAC primary school in Tongi, Babul,
a little boy of 11, rushes out to greet us. Though speech
and hearing impaired, he is able to make himself understood.
With the help of gestures, he conveys his wish to get news
about David Donaldson, a popular BRAC intern who was recently
in Bangladesh from the US. It is easy for the BRAC staff to
figure out what he is trying to say because he gesticulates
to show white skin and point upwards to depict a tall person.
He is able to write his name and spell a few words
Sanjida,
(Class 2, age 12, from Dattapara 1) also in a BRAC school
in Tongi, is moderate to severely intellectually challenged.
She has been in school for two years. She is very moody and
is reluctant to write at the moment. When she first came,
she would not listen to anyone. Now she listens and sits,
which is quite an improvement from the time she first arrived.
She chats a lot with her friends. BRAC staff and the other
children in class encourage her.
Sazeda
(12 years old, Class 2, Dattapara 2) is severely physically
challenged. She has no arms, one leg and only a couple of
toes. Despite her serious handicap, she can brush her teeth,
sweep, write and thread a needle-all with her toes. Currently,
she is carried to school by her cousin, Aduri, everyday. BRAC
is thinking of giving her a wheel chair. Medical specialists
have ruled out the option of an artificial limb because she
operates with her one leg, which will not be possible with
an artificial leg.
In
a little over a year since it began, BRAC's Inclusive Education
Unit (under the BRAC Education Programme) has been a remarkable
case study in the keywords of disability empowerment, activity
and participation. Many of the 14, 000 disabled children in
the BRAC schools are able to write and dance, to the applause
of their classmates. Take the case of Babul, the son of a
brick puller. Though he can only call himself Babu, he dances
enthusiastically with a friend to the tune of a well known
song. BRAC staff think of getting him a hearing aid but first
there is a need to assess whether the aid will benefit the
young boy.
What
is extraordinary about him is that he enrolled himself in
the school.
There
are many such case studies in BRAC's Inclusive Education Programme.
But how cooperative is the community towards these physically
or intellectually challenged children? Says Limia Dewan, Unit
Manager, Inclusive Education Unit (BRAC Education Programme):
"The community is very sensitive to the needs of these
children. BRAC staff hold monthly parents' meetings where
they are sensitised about disability."
As
against integrated and special schools, BRAC has opted for
inclusive education. Inclusive Education is an approach which
addresses the needs of all learners in ordinary classroom
situations, including learners with special needs, indigenous
children, children with disabilities, girl children and poor
children. The programme strives to create a classroom environment
where educational needs are met irrespective of ability, gender,
ethnicity or economic background. Having created programmes
of inclusion for the above groups, BRAC's next task was to
target the disabled.
This,
in effect, means one classroom and one teacher who will address
the needs of all children in the classroom. There are several
benefits from this kind of education. First of all it addresses
the needs of marginalised communities in rural areas. Secondly
it provides cost-effective education and leads to greater
interaction between children from various backgrounds, those
who are marginalised and those who are not. Inclusive Education
also does not require significant modifications to BRAC's
existing Non Formal Primary Education and can be implemented
quickly in the field due to BRAC's extensive network of field
offices.
The
types of disability addressed by this programme are physical
(43 percent in Bangladesh in 1999), visual, (23 percent),
hearing (21 percent), intellectual (8 percent) and multiple
(5 percent).
"BRAC
deals with a range of disabilities and seeks to create educational
programmes for them," says Clara Rubincam, an intern
at BRAC's Inclusive Education Unit.
"The
focus is holistic. Instead of just providing education through
the BRAC schools, there is an emphasis on providing employment
opportunities for disabled adults in the BRAC Programme Offices.
The programme also emphasises on networking, targeting, advocacy
and assistive devices such as wheelchairs, crutches, ramps and
glasses anything that will help the disabled to either overcome
their disability or increase their mobility." Currently
BRAC has 35 disabled computer operators in its 44 regions and
hopes to expand that number in future years as more qualified
disabled adults strive to enter the mainstream.
The crux of BRAC's Inclusive
Education Unit is the training of its head office and field
staff. After extensive training, 25 of the field staff were
promoted to become Core Master Trainers and, with the help
of head office staff, have trained approximately 500 master
trainers in the principles of inclusive education and disability
management.
These trainers are equipped
to train all staff and teachers in disability management and
devices to assist the disabled. Among those who have received
training from CDD is Rezaul Mazid, Materials Development Specialist
in BRAC's Education Programme. "In the course of the
training, I learnt how to provide aiding devices to disabled
students" he says. "In turn I taught the teachers
how to instruct them. In some schools, for example, we adapted
blackboards with a coloured frame (for the visually disabled),
worked out seating arrangements near the teacher for the hearing
impaired and steps to enter the classroom for the physically
challenged."
There
have been studies to gauge the success of BRAC's Inclusive
Education Unit. For one, a baseline study revealed the number
of disabled children in BRAC schools had leapt up from 6,500
students previously to 14, 000 such students after the awareness
programmes.
Says Reza, "Some mildly
disabled children who did not attend classes regularly began
to come when we provided them with wheelchairs. Earlier they
did not have such aides to come to school."
The other major challenge
the staff had to face was changing the mindset of some of
the families of these kids. BRAC staff have found that though
many households have TVs and possibly DVD players they remain
in the dark about their children's disability.
It has been a formidable task
for BRAC to target physically and intellectually impaired
children in its programme for Children with Disability. Says
Limia, "We faced difficulties with the intellectually
disabled because they cannot memorise. As a new programme,
we are still learning how best to accommodate children with
intellectual disabilities in our classrooms. But the school
helps these children in terms of socialisation; they can sing
and do everything except intellectual activities."
In a little over a year since
it began, BRAC's programme of inclusive education has gone
a long way. Given BRAC's standing as a well respected NGO
committed to the marginalised section, physically and mentally
impaired children will get much needed educational support
so that they can be empowered members of the community and
country.
Copyright (R)
thedailystar.net 2004
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