THE ROLE OF EDUCATION SYSEMS
A. Indonesia (1)
All education curricula in Indonesia are developed centrally under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Culture. The Government of Indonesia has had considerable success in providing basic education for the people. The numbers of illiterate persons decreased from 39.1 per cent in 1965 to 15 per cent in 1990.
However, the education system has so far made little contribution towards the promotion of barrier-free environments. Schools and universities in Indonesia have few or no facilities for disabled and elderly persons. As a result of badly designed and poorly implemented guidelines and standards for the provision of access facilities, almost no educational institutions are accessible to the disabled. There is one special school for disabled persons that provides suitable facilities such as ramps and special toilets.
Access issues are included in some curricula, especially those for urban planners, architects, interior designers, civil engineers and health personnel. The Institute of Technology in Bandung, particularly its departments of architecture, regional and city planning and art and design, offer courses which address accessibility for disabled and elderly persons. Students on some of those courses are asked to design an aspect of the urban environment that facilitates access by elderly and disabled persons. The lecturers on these courses are qualified architects and/or urban planners.
Very few regular schools or universities accept disabled or elderly persons as students. The Indonesian Institute of Social Welfare, which specializes in education for social workers, is currently offering some courses on accessibility for disabled and elderly persons. The Institute does have a few students with disabilities, approximately five to 10 disabled students per year out of a total of 3,000 students. No student activities have so far been organized for the promotion of barrier-free environments.
B. Japan (2)
1. Introduction
In Japan, issues concerning accessibility to public buildings, facilities and transport for persons with disabilities and the elderly have received much attention in recent times due to the advocacy of organizations of disabled persons as well as the fact that Japan faces the prospect of becoming a rapidly ageing society.
To reflect this concern, a Handicap Sub-Committee was set up within the Planning Committee of the Architectural Institute of Japan. One of the major activities of the Handicap Sub-Committee was to promote education concerning barrier-free design in the higher education system in Japan. The Sub-Committee conducted a survey in 1993 to find out
- the situation of students with disabilities in the faculties of architecture and related fields in higher education, including engineering, structural design, environmental design and planning, and social science institutions; and
- the status of barrier-free education in these faculties. The survey was conducted among relevant faculties in universities, junior colleges and senior vocational high schools.
2. Target of the survey
Survey questionnaires were sent to 164 universities, institutes, colleges, and schools. Of these 96 (58.5 per cent) responded to the questionnaires. The respondents comprised 79 universities, seven junior colleges and 13 senior vocational high schools.
About half the institutions admitted disabled persons. Forty-four universities (55.7 per cent of the total number of universities responding) admitted disabled persons, compared to two colleges (28.6 per cent of the junior colleges responding) and three senior vocational high schools (30 per cent of the senior vocational high schools responding). The average number of students with disabilities admitted to an institution was small (one or two persons per institution). Compared to the faculties of humanities which do not require laboratory work, natural science faculties seemed to have difficulty in accepting persons with disabilities. Some institutions which had not admitted disabled persons commented that they would consider in a positive manner the admission of disabled students in the future.
(a) Admission procedures
Twenty per cent of the institutions indicated in their recruitment announcements acceptance of disabled persons. Some institutions announced that they respected the right of disabled persons to education and that there would be no discrimination based on disability in admitting students. In general, the admission of disabled persons was dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
(b) Access features at school facilities
In the provision of access features in the facilities of the institutions surveyed, senior vocational high schools lagged behind universities and junior colleges. As a whole, over half of the universities, colleges and schools indicated that they had improved accessibility in their facilities. However, most indicated that only partial improvements had been made. Only 10 per cent made overall improvements in all their facilities. Common features provided were accessible toilets for wheelchair users, ramps and elevators. Most improvements had been made when new buildings were erected or major renovations of existing buildings took place, thus most existing buildings remained inaccessible.
(c) The status of education in barrier-free design
- Persons specialized in barrier-free design at schools
Forty per cent of the responding institutions indicated that there were researchers on barrier-free design in their faculty. There is some indication that these researchers might not all be architects but might include professionals from other related fields. - Courses in barrier-free design
About 70 per cent of responding institutions have courses (involving lectures or design exercises) in barrier-free design. Interestingly, 23 institutions which did not have any researchers in barrier-free design still offered courses in this subject. Although only one college indicated that it had a researcher in barrier-free design, all the colleges responding to the survey indicated that they offered barrier-free design courses. This reflects the trend that courses containing subjects on barrier-free design have been widely accepted by higher education institutions. Out of 96 responding institutions, 47 (66 per cent) offered both lectures and design exercises in barrier-free design, compared to 20 institutions with only lectures and four with only design exercises. - Lectures on barrier-free design
Out of 68 institutions which offered lectures on barrier-free design, 29 institutions provided one lecture in the subject. Sixty institutions (about 90 per cent of those providing such lectures) offered three or fewer lectures. One university provided seven lectures on the subject. Regarding the content, a total of 45 lectures dealt with housing (housing for disabled and elderly persons), followed by general discussions (principles and methodologies), physiology and the psychological aspects of disability and advancing age (the human body, its range of mobility and reach, etc.), unit space (toilets, kitchens, bathrooms, etc.), and social welfare and health care facilities. The survey also indicated that six lectures covered barrier-free design education, while 126 lectures touched upon issues in barrier-free design. From these findings it can be assumed that most lectures include issues concerning disabled and elderly persons who are the direct beneficiaries of barrier-free design. - Design exercises in barrier-free design
Out of 51 institutions which offered design exercises in barrier-free design, 29 institutions offered one design exercise. Institutions with two design exercises or less constituted 80 per cent of the whole. The contents of design exercises were housing (30 exercises), followed by social welfare and health facilities (24 exercises). This indicates that the subject of design exercise was limited to housing for disabled and elderly persons, and social welfare and health care facilities.
3. Conclusion
The results of the survey indicate that issues in barrier-free design have been included in many courses offered by Japanese faculties of architecture and other related fields. However, the number of courses aimed at barrier-free design education in higher educational institutions in Japan is still small. As Japanese society is rapidly ageing, it is imperative that architects, designers, urban planners and other professionals be adequately trained to respond to the access needs of this significant portion of the population when designing physical environments.
The role of higher educational institutions is important in training young professionals to promote accessible and caring physical environments for all. To achieve high quality training in these educational institutions, the standardization of curricula on barrier-free design, including course contents, length, and the qualifications of the teaching staff, needs to be considered by all faculties of architecture and other related fields.
C. The Philippines (3)
1. Introduction
The basic knowledge of access issues and design features for promoting non-handicapping environments in the Philippines is widespread in the education system. However, the absence of a leading national or local government agency for implementing and monitoring compliance with accessibility legislation has resulted in a lack of compliance in nearly all educational institutions.
The recent decentralization in the delivery of basic services means that heavy financial burdens and decision-making on construction, repair and renovation of school buildings lie with local government authorities. Financial restraints are central to delays in modifying existing educational buildings.
2. Access concerns in the curricula
(a) Urban planning courses
Very few training institutions concerned with urban planning include access concerns in their courses. If they are included, access concerns are usually integrated into the content of a particular subject, rather than taught as a separate subject.
(b) Architectural courses
Access concerns are recent introductions in these courses. No institution offers accessibility as a separate subject. Innovative approaches include making accessibility a theme in theses covering design, a topic for special study, or a theme for design contests.
(c) Interior design courses
No institution currently offers access issues as a separate subject. Some design schools have been considering developing formal access courses to become part of the programme of instruction.
(d) Civil and construction engineering courses
It is generally accepted in the engineering profession that engineers implement designs developed by architects and no more than that. These courses, therefore do not include access issues.
(e) Health/rehabilitation personnel training
These courses include access issues as predominantly medical concerns. Accessibility is included as one of the many aspects of health or rehabilitation, but not as a separate course.
(f) Traffic/public transport personnel training
Very few institutions offer formal training for traffic or public transport personnel. The level of awareness of accessibility issues and concerns amongst this group is still low. Self-help groups of persons with disabilities have made efforts recently to campaign for the training of such personnel. The same groups have formulated suggestions for and designed modifications to vehicles to improve access to disabled and elderly persons to transport.
3. Examples of specific courses in Philippine institutions
(a) Mapua Institute of Technology
The Institute currently runs no specific course on accessibility in its architecture and industrial design programmes. All buildings designed by the students are, however, required to comply with the Accessibility Law.
At present, there is no special programme for disabled students. Disabled persons can enrol in the institute if they are physically fit and can cope with the study programme. There is no restriction to enrolment based on the type of disability which a student has.
The institute building dates from the late 1950s and no renovation has, as yet, been made. It is, therefore, difficult for disabled and elderly persons to have access to all areas of the school. One disabled student had to be carried by his father from one room to another until his graduation.
(b) College of Architecture and Fine Arts, University of Santo Tomas
Access issues and legislation are included in some architectural courses. Design courses, from first year to thesis level, include access issues.
The institute has installed elevators and access ramps. The elevator is for the exclusive use of disabled and elderly persons at all times.
No research has been undertaken at the institute into the possibilities of installation of access features. Poster and logo designing for disabled and elderly persons is part of the fine arts courses. The Department of Architecture students join in the National Design Competition for the Disabled.
Teaching staff do not give special privileges or attention to disabled or elderly persons. They believe that students should be treated equally regardless of their sex, level of intelligence and physical condition. The staff believe this is part of character moulding, and that it can help students overcome insecurities caused by their disabilities.
(c) The National University
This institution currently has only one student with a disability. The student does not need any particular access modifications. If a student using a wheelchair or other mobility device were to be enrolled at the university, he or she would only be able to use the ground floor as there is no lift to other floors.
Architecture students in the institution are made aware of building and access legislation. Computerized graphic design regarding space and access is considered in the design subjects.
(d) The Institute of Curriculum Development, College of Education University of the Philippines
This institution runs a "Special Programme of Education for Disabled Persons". The programme is designed for the training of teachers, lecturers and disabled persons. It is not a requirement that all participants be disabled.
The main objective of the programme is to ensure that disabled persons are brought into the mainstream of all educational activities. The emphasis is on educating teachers to become sensitive to all areas of disability and to the diverse needs of all age groups. There is also a home-based training programme to educate parents and minders of disabled children.
D. Singapore (4)
1. Introduction
Degree courses run by the National University of Singapore include those in architecture, civil engineering, building design, social work and medicine. Although all these courses touch on access concerns in the curriculum, there are no courses specifically on this topic. However, in all courses where a knowledge of building legislation is necessary, students in Singapore are usually acquainted with aspects of accessibility relevant to the Building Code.
2. Subjects related to access for disabled persons
Architecture courses demand a high proportion of design project work. Programmes set for students might include the design of specific building types for use by disabled people. In most major projects, students are expected to demonstrate a knowledge of current building regulations that specifically include compliance with the Code on Accessibility. Lecture courses on building construction cover areas relevant to construction regulations. Design thesis projects in the fifth year include provision for students to explore issues related to access and the built environment.
At present, no specific courses on access are provided within the School of Architecture. Within the School, the newly-opened Centre for Advanced Studies in Architecture (CASA) will develop and run short courses for "Continuing Professional Development" in a number of specialized topics. These will most probably include access issues. The courses will vary in duration. The depth of coverage will vary according to the topic and participants' background. Organizers and teachers will be architects, occupational therapists and other specialists. At present, no member of the staff of the School of Architecture is a person with a disability. It is the intention of the school to enrol persons with disabilities on the courses.
3. Accessibility in the National University of Singapore
The School of Architecture campus was designed some 20 years ago. The site is hilly and individual buildings are at a variety of levels. Access is possible in some areas and there are lifts to almost all floors. Uncut steps and kerbs hinder total accessibility around the campus. There are no special toilet facilities for disabled persons on the campus. Several parking spaces have been designated; in recently completed buildings, ramp access has been introduced. Major upgrading plans for the campus will incorporate enhanced accessibility. In the near future, many existing barriers will be removed and adapted toilets will be installed.
4. Research undertaken in the School of Architecture
The School of Architecture has generated a number of papers on topics related to accessibility. Future plans for research projects include an investigation of the use of "virtual reality". By using stereoscopic eyepieces linked to a powerful computer, accessibility problems can be simulated. This can ultimately be used as a tool for students to test their own design projects.
5. Special activities relating to access concerns
Special activities relating to access concerns are not organized on a regular basis. One exception to this was a short design project organized for third-year architecture students in 1989. Part of the project required students to experience wheelchair accessibility problems, and to make a short video of the results. Students were asked to draft ideas for an information broadsheet for the Singapore Council of Social Services and Singapore Institute of Architects. This one-week project was conducted within the School. No disabled persons were involved and no outside help was used.
1. Based on a paper by Haryo Winarso, Lecturer, Department of Regional and City Planning, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Planning, Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia.
2. Based on a paper by Katsushi Sato, Senior Researcher, Building Research Institute, Ministry of Construction, Japan.
3. Based on a paper by Angel Lazaro, Jr., Member, Federation of Organizations for Disabled Persons in the Philippines, Inc. (KAMPI), Quezon City, The Philippines.
4. Based on paper by James D. Harrison, Senior Lecturer, School of Architecture, National University of Singapore.
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ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Promotion of Non-Handicapping Physical Environments for Disabled Persons: Case Studies
- Chapter 4 -
UNITED NATIONS
New York, 1995