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Disabled children denied inclusive education

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The education ministry’s current policies do not reflect inclusive education as defined by the UN, commissioner for the rights of the child Despo Michaelidou-Livaniou said on Monday in support of a protest organised by disabled rights group Kisoa.

Earlier in the day, Kisoa held a press conference lambasting the education ministry for not doing enough to introduce inclusive education to schools, and saying they are starting a movement to put pressure on authorities to act.

A protest followed the press conference, with the group threatening more measures if no satisfactory changes are made.

The group said that the ministry was “wasting money”, having received funds for the preparation of a bill on inclusive education, which it never tabled, as its draft was full of contradictions.

“The right to inclusive education includes the right to equal participation of children with disabilities at all levels of the school environment and is non-negotiable,” Kisoa head Christakis Nicolaides said, noting that in 2011 Cyprus ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Accusing the ministry and its partners of ignoring the convention, he said they “stubbornly refuse to prepare legislation, design policies and implement practices” to give children with disabilities the right to quality education.

According to the convention, children with disabilities must be included in the general classroom, with differentiation in teaching materials and examination essays, with the provision of facilities and appropriate equipment, as well as properly trained school chaperones, but also with additional teachers in the general classroom.

Instead, Kisoa said that the ministry promotes the assessment of children with the aim of enrolling them in special units and special schools, resulting in their exclusion from mainstream education.

The commissioner’s statement, which came after the press conference, reflected a similar view, saying that the education ministry’s current policies “do not reflect inclusive education as defined by the UN” but “emphasise and selectively limit themselves to ‘support’”.

These practices, she continued, “seem to be aimed at improving the system of inclusion of children, while maintaining segregation and hindering the creation of a unified education system”.

She added that it is a constant position of her office that inclusive education is not achieved by piecemeal changes made only for children with specific categories of characteristics, but by applying a uniform system to the education of all children.

Michaelidou said it seems that the ministry did not take into account the recommendations her office had submitted for the proposed law on inclusive education, instead promoting administrative practices that show “either a refusal or an absence of political will or a lack of understanding of the concept of uniform education”.

Finally she said she hoped that “through dialogue and cooperation, it will be possible to create the appropriate framework, so that each professional can give their best in providing a high level of education, which meets the specialised needs of each child and the demands of modern social challenges”.

Meanwhile, Kisoa said it would be leading a movement “which will fight for the abolition of every structure of discrimination in education until the end”, with more than 30 organisations interested in participating.

Nicolaides described the implementation of opaque procedures for the recruitment of school chaperones as “one of the biggest scandals in the education of children with disabilities”, as many children are deprived of the chaperone support service for self-care issues, independence or communication.

Asked what measures Kisoa intends to take, Nicolaides said the first step was a protest, which was held immediately after the press conference outside the venue it was held in.

He said that aside from asking for the president’s intervention so that correct and effective measures are taken, the group will seek correspondence with the ministry once more.

They also intend to deliver information requested by the UN Secretariat so that Cyprus can be assessed on the matter of inclusive education.

Subsequently, he announced that there will be a march to the presidential palace, while in March they will go to Geneva, where Cyprus will be judged by the United Nations Commission.

Yioula Pitsiali, head of the organisation of parents and friends for children with brain paralysis, also gave a speech, speaking of discrimination and closed doors on behalf of the ministry.

“We demand here and now an end to the exclusion of our children by the education ministry,” she said.

“We demand equal access to learning here and now. We demand the design and implementation of a new legislation for uniform education that will respect all children regardless of diversity, that will accept and help them develop”.

During the event, MPs from Akel, Edek, Dipa and Elam, as well as academics, members from various organisations expressed their support.

 

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