problems and facilities of education for the people with disability

In the name of kind God and greetings to all fans of the Change in Life Compiegne program; Once again I am at your service by presenting a discussion about the problems and facilities of education for the people with disability especially the blinds and deaf. The honorable guests that we are having with us today are Mr. Ali Mohabati the Coordinator of the Programs for the people with disability at the Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan, Mr. Samiulhaq Sami from the Handicaf International and the member of the Lawsuit Committee for the people with disability and Mr. Mahdi Salami the deputy director of Rahyab, the re-empowering organization for the blind disabled people.

Based on the reports there are round about four thousand five hundred people with disability (blind and deaf); sometimes back with the cooperation of partner organizations the Ministry of Education of Afghanistan has created a learning program for the children.

From the other side the governmental institutions explained that there is a need of eight schools for this purpose where the blind and deaf people would be able study.

Whereas all of us know that Afghanistan has its multiple problems in different sectors and we have always discussed these problems which are because of the lack of plans and fundamental activities.

Based on the population Afghanistan has the greatest statistics of the people with disability and the important issue is that less attention is given to this layer of the society.

For further clarification we have conducted our today’s discussion on this topic and the friends who are working in the area of disability are invited; here we would like to know that what activities are the done for the people with disability and how is there situation.

Question: Mr. Mohabati; as we all know that one of the responsibilities of the governmental institutions is the provision of education to the people of the society; are these institutions proven that they have accomplished their responsibilities for the people with disability?

Answer: Greetings to you and all fans of the program; in regard to your question I would like to say that to the extent that we have information the Ministry of Education has established special schools for the blind children in Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat but unfortunately this is insufficient. In these provinces there are non-governmental institutions also working but based on the statistics that we have these activities are very rare for them.

In the current conditions the statistics are showing that round about three to four thousand children are going to study in these schools but based on the number of the people with disability this facility is really insufficient and the governmental institutions are having responsibility for the creation of educational facilities for the people with disability. As you better know that the government of Afghanistan recently joined the convention for the rights of people with disability and the articles of this convention is strongly emphasizing on the educational facilities of the people with disability and it compel the government to stands on the articles of this convention and implement all the articles and after each two years update about their activities; therefore we are requesting from the authorities to work hard for the implementation of the items of this convention and serve for the people with disability.

Question: Mr. Mohabati; why the relevant authorities are not struggling for the implementation of the convention items and articles and as usual the laws are remaining on the paper?

Answer: Unfortunately the government is mostly unaware of the benefits of the convention and laws; the convention of the people with disability was endorsed lased year by the parliament and at the end of year 2012 it was approved by the president for the implementation but there are a number of institutions which are not aware of the benefits of the laws for the people with disability; but whatever is important for the lawsuit committee and other institutions of the civil society is to convey the benefits of the articles of the convention and other laws to the institutions but work negligence, lack of awareness from the laws and other examples are reasons that the responsible authorities are not properly overcoming with their activities. Based on my opinion the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD) should take this responsibility and should remind in the cabinet meeting about the union of Afghanistan with the convention of people with disability until all the relevant institutions understand their responsibilities in this regard.

Question: Mr. Mohabati; the union with the conventions has obligatory aspects or not?

Answer: The conventions are created based on the needs of the countries and is sent to the countries of the world for study and based on these studies further decisions are made that either the unite with them or not but regarding the convention of the rights for the people with disability I would like to say that this convention was sent to the parliament a year ago and finally it was approved by the president and after this it has an obligatory aspect and after the passage of each two years it should be reported to the United Nations

Question: Mr. Sami; do you have any statistics that show that how many people with disability are having access to education?

Answer: In the name of Alllah and greetings to you; regarding your question I would like to say that we don’t have an accurate and trustworthy data but based on the survey that the Handicaf organization conducted in the year 2005 almost there are eight hundred thousand people with disability and among them about twenty percent of them are having access to education in different centers; from the other side the Ministry of Education established five schools in the provinces of Afghanistan for the deaf; where two schools are in Kabul, one in Mazar-e-Sharif, one in Herat and one in the Jalalabad and similarly there are three schools for the blind in the Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif and Kabul.

Similarly a number of physically disabled people are busy in education in other schools; where they are facing a number of problems.

Based on the government laws and responsibilities in regard to the people with disability; the government has the responsibility of provision of the educational facilities for the people with disability but unfortunately excluding some main cities in the remote areas the government has not done anything for the people with disability.

Question: Mr. Sami; the statistics that you are holding and also the statistics shared by other institutions, how much it is accurate?

Answer: Regarding the statistics declared by the Handicaf Organization I would like to say that in the year 2005 there was no security problem and this survey was conducted in door to door and we can trust it to some extent but regarding the other surveys personally I cannot trust and also the Ministry of Education along with the Ministry of Public Health has struggled to collect some data regarding the people with disability through health care centers and we cannot say that up to which extent it is accurate.

Question: Mr. Mahdi Salami; based on your opinion the places built in Kabul are at the access of people with disability and especially the blinds and deaf?

Answer: I am also conveying my greeting to audience of the program; regarding the access I would like to mention a point that the Ministry of Education in the recent years has struggled to make the education environment public for all and also created the educational directorate until the children are attracted for the education and beside this our organization is also working in this regard and currently it is working for the blind disabled people.

Question: Mr. Salami; in your organization how many blind children are having access and busy in the education?

Answer: In our organization round about eighty persons have taken admission and each year they are contacting with this center and the trainings that we have before and after the school are provided to the children so that they are sent to the schools near their homes.

Question: Well Mr. Salami; based on the provided statistics for the creation of facilities by the Rahyab Organization, isn’t this amount rare as compare to the population of the people with disability?

Answer: Certainly; our activities in this regard is new and we are struggling that in the future we cover more blind children under our programs, from the other side our facilities are not sufficient to cover all of them and based on the currently facilities we could only provide this much of support.

Question: Mr. Mohabati; based on the reports available most of the people with disability in the remote areas of the country are aware of their rights, don’t you think that it will be a great challenge for the people with disability in the future?

Answer: Obviously; whatever you mention is anguish but our lawsuits are always continued until all the people with disability understand about their rights, the statistics that is currently shared with the media is saying that four hundred and fifty thousand people with disability are in the country and the statistics shared by the government has a tremendous difference with this number which is not comparable.

In the past almost 40 years back there was a school for the blinds in the country but there was nothing done in this regard; without doubt that the lack of access to the education could be the cause that they are not aware of their rights and it could lead to negative effects on the society level. Anyway in the current situations there are some changes which are observed by the relevant authorities where a technical deputies are established in the framework of the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD) and Ministry of Education which shows the interest of the governmental institutions in area of disability.

Question: Mr. Samai; based on your opinion what are the causes that create negligence in activities of the relevant institutions to serve for the education of the disables and then especially for the blinds?

Answer: The reasons and causes are too much; based on my opinion one of the most important reasons is the lack of awareness among the people of the society, relevant governmental authorities and overall in the government. The other problem is in the lack of implementation of the laws, where the government authorities are not implementing the laws which are required in regard to the people with disability and this lack of implementation of laws has caused that we miss many opportunities in regard to the people with disability.

Question: Mr. Samai; why the governmental institutions are not implementing their activities once they are getting the responsibilities?

Answer: As I mentioned before one of the important reasons are the lack of implementation of laws and lack of awareness of the relevant authorities from the disability related issues and this issue caused that the people with disability don’t understand and aware of their rights. Therefore there is a need of further struggles to be given to the authorities like the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD) and other institutions working in disability area and this is one of the responsibility of the governmental institutions to understand their activities in their working frameworks.

Question: Mr. Salami; the process that you and the Ministry of Education are working on, means that the combination of the blinds with the disabled children; in regard to their learning don’t you think that it will create problems for the blind children during their learning and training processes?

Answer: You have mentioned a very good question; I would like to say with proud that this process was really effective and to the extent that we have supported the schools working in this area are really satisfied and they are saying that this process are having positive and good effects. But these activities are in need of further struggles and efforts and all the institutions should work hard to reach their targets.

Question: Mr. Salami; you have mentioned about the services which are effective for the learning processes of the blind children, are these facilities provided by the Ministry of Education or not?

Answer: Obviously I would like to say about the Ministry of Education that if the Ministry is considering such activities then they should also consider about the facilities but the other offices working in this regard are also in need to have these facilities; for example our organization is having machineries which are helping us in the conversion of normal text into Braille and we have continuously done this activity.

Question: Mr. Samai; as a final question I would like to ask you that what activities would you propose for the solution of the education problems of the blinds?

Answer: Based on my point of view; if the Ministries of Education and Higher Education could implement their activities based on the convention articles for the people with disability then without doubt that all these problems would be solved.

Many thanks from all of you dear audience; that you have followed our discussions until end.