|
|
VIII. Overview of Education The education of children and youth with disabilities remains one of the most serious challenges facing Governments in the Asian and Pacific region. Evidence from the review of national progress in the implementation of the Agenda for Action for the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons suggests that fewer than 10 per cent of children and youth with disabilities have access to any form of education. The target of the Agenda for Action for the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons to increase the enrolment of children and youth with disabilities to close the gap between their current level of enrolment and the net enrolment rate of non-disabled children in each respective country or area in the UNESCAP region has not been met. Education is a basic human right and all children, including children with disabilities, have a right to education. This right has been enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the World Declaration on Education for All, the Dakar Framework for Action on Education for All and the millennium development goals. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the history of the United Nations and has been ratified by all countries and areas in the Asian and Pacific region. It mandates that States make primary education compulsory and available free to all children on the basis of equal opportunity, with protection from all kinds of discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of disability. It also requires that children with disabilities have access to, and receive education in, a manner conducive to the child’s achieving the fullest possible social integration and individual development. BMF links early detection, early intervention and education and requires, by means of its targets, that children with disabilities be an integral part of the population targeted by the Millennium Development Goal of ensuring that by 2015 all boys and girls will complete a full course of primary education. It further requires steps to be taken to provide measures for early detection and community-based early intervention for all infants and young children who need them, with support to their families. From Thailand comes Anita’s story. Her story expresses the difficulties faced by parents of infants and young children with disabilities, and the incredible initiative and resourcefulness shown by her mother. If early intervention services had been freely available from the time of her birth, Anita’s passage through school may have been smoother. If schools were truly welcoming and inclusive, with teachers trained to teach children with a diverse range of abilities, the outcome of Anita’s learning and enjoyment of school may have been different. The case study from Samoa is an example of good practice that may serve as a model for other Pacific island countries in the subregion. Legislation was passed mandating education for all children and then systematic steps taken to ensure the achievement of successful implementation. One of the most significant aspects of this story is the care with which the survey of children was undertaken, the database developed for ongoing multisectoral use, the provision of appropriate school opportunities in the village communities where the disabled children were located and the linking of the plan to the teacher training system to ensure success and sustainability.
|
