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The 3rd Asia-Pacific CBR Congress

【Reporter】 Kazuya Omuro and Khalimov FIRUZ (AAR Japan)

【Title】 Promotion of Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities in Dushanbe, Tajikistan

【Background】

In Tajikistan boarding schools have long been considered responsible for educating children with disabilities. However, according to the government statistics, only 1,744 children with disabilities are enrolled in boarding schools in 2010 1). Considering the fact that the number of school-aged children with disabilities under 16 in the country is estimated to be 26,000, it is less than 10% of children with disabilities who get to go to boarding schools. We can assume that, while 97.6% of ordinary children are enrolled in primary and secondary education* 2), vast majority of children with disabilities are deprived of their rights to receive proper education in schools.

On the other hand, the government of Tajikistan names Inclusive Education (IE) as one of its main policies. Included in the National Conceptual Framework for the Inclusive Education with Disabilities (2011-15) 3) are the following: improvement of physical environment in existing schools to accommodate the needs of children with disabilities, training of healthcare workers and social workers, revision of curricula to satisfy the educational needs of all categories of pupils, and involvement of local authorities and communities to promote inclusive education.

However, most schools have not yet actually taken action, because the staff often have little understanding of IE, nor do they have expertise or experience to carry it out. Lack of facilities is another problem. The government of Tajikistan claims that it is eager to promote IE, but in reality, the policy has not been fully implemented.

This is why AAR has decided to promote IE in Tajikistan, targeting two schools (School A and School B), which are in charge of primary and secondary education in Dushanbe, the capital. Our purpose was to create a working model of IE in Tajikistan so that children with disabilities will have better access to education. Our project was conducted from January through September in 2014, subsidized by the Grant Assistance for Japanese NGO Projects by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

*primary and secondary education: the nine-year school

【Project Content】

(1) Reforms for barrier- free school buildings and provision of facilities and teaching materials for resource rooms for children with disabilities

In Schools A and B, we installed ramps for wheelchairs at the entrance and the handrails in the hallways, and redesigned the toilets. In addition, we set up resource rooms for children with disabilities in each school and provided materials for teaching and rehabilitation.

(2) Training the staff in charge of IE

In collaboration with local NGOs, we held a training session for teachers and other school staff four times, where we provided the participants with materials written in Russian and Tajik. We also held a workshop once, where the participants shared their teaching experiences and any concerns that they had, which turned out to be a good opportunity to exchange their opinions, and level the differences in their views.

(3) Empowering local NGOs, School A and School B

We invited the principals of School A and B along with two staff members from local NGOs to Japan, providing them with the opportunity to visit IE-related facilities, schools promoting IE and companies supporting people with disabilities. On the last day of their visit, the visitors presented their action plans and discussed how they can actually incorporate what they have learned in Japan back home. Upon their return, they submitted a report, and started immediately to execute their plans in their schools.

(4) Raising awareness of IE

A specialist on special education was dispatched from Japan to Tajikistan, and held a seminar and a workshop for teachers in School A and School B twice respectively. An additional seminar for administrative staff and a briefing session on IE for the parents with children with disabilities were also held.

Furthermore, the Japanese specialist visited the homes of children without disabilities who are not attending school, giving consultations about schooling.

School A, School B and a local NGO jointly held events to raise awareness of IE.

We initiated various activities so that people in Dushanbe would become more aware of the significance of IE. For example, we asked the local media to feature our events and the completion ceremonies of the barrier-free school buildings. We also distributed 700 copies of a brochure featuring IE at events to solicit a support for people with disabilities.

【Accomplishments】

(1) An increase in the number of children with disabilities enrolled in schools and improvements in the quality of their school life

Compared to the time before the project was started, the number of children with disabilities enrolled increased from 21 to 36 in School A, and that from 5 to 49 in School B. Among these were children with physical impairments, mental impairments and autisms.

According to a survey targeting the parents of children with disabilities enrolled in School A and School B, 93% (31 out of 39) of them said that, thanks to our project, the school conditions have improved. Many of the parents reported that their children were able to use the toilet by themselves, they have become more outgoing, and their school life has become more comfortable.

(2) Training of the staff in charge of IE

The total of 108 people including the teachers from 58 schools in Dushanbe and the local NGO staff completed the training sessions. 96% of the participants feel that they now have a better understanding of IE, and all of them said that what they learned in these sessions have proved to be quite useful.

In the monitoring after the sessions, 86% of those whom we were able to contact out of 75 participants were actually making use of the knowledge and the skills they acquired in their workplaces and in their daily life. We also found out that even those who don’t have any children with disabilities in their classes are sharing what they learned with their colleagues and make use of their knowledge in classes for ordinary children. They regret that they don’t have an opportunity to make the most of their knowledge simply because there are not in charge of children with disabilities.

(3) Practicing IE in Tajikistan by adopting the examples in Japan

Upon their return to Tajikistan, the four trainees that visited Japan have reported in detail on the tutor system where children with disabilities can turn to their tutors for help, the possibility of children with autisms going on to college, and administrative services for children with severe disabilities. We have confirmed that the visit to Japan led to their better understanding of how to promote IE.

Since then, the four have been actually practicing their action plans. Using the school budget, School A hired one teacher for a local NGO stationed in the school.

Another NGO, which used to operate out of one of the private homes, decided to move their office into School B, after discussing it with the principal. This local NGO has been involved in supporting children with autisms in its early stage; this arrangement has made it easier for pre-school children with autisms to be enrolled in schools by actually letting them experience what it is like to be in school.

(4) Raising awareness among all teachers, children without disabilities and their parents

Approximately 200 people attended events targeting ordinary students and parents that was held in School A and School B. 48 participated in our seminars, and 52 in our workshops.

The number of participants who attended our IE seminar was 21. 12 out of the 13 (92%) who answered the questionnaire said that they now had a better understanding of IE and children with disabilities. On the other hand, 32 out of 62 participants who answered the questionnaire at the seminar targeted at teachers conducted by the Japanese specialist said they have gained confidence. This is because they haven’t had an opportunity to accept children with disabilities in their classes. This result indicates that there should be more opportunities for these participants to make use of the knowledge they acquired in our seminar.

The Japanese specialist also visited the homes of children with disabilities whose parents have not yet sent their children to the schools nearby Schools A or B, encouraging them to start schooling. As a result, out of 13 such children 9 did actually start attending schools. Four of them are still not enrolled in schools for the following reasons: there is nobody at home to bring the child to school; the child is sick and under medical treatment; or the child is home-schooled. We lost track of one of the children, whom we cannot contact anymore.

【Discussion】

In School A and School B, we have successfully achieved the new enrollment of a total of 59 children with disabilities. This was due to the fact that we have provided a barrier-free learning environment by remodeling the school buildings, by training the teachers and NGO staff who are responsible for IE and by offering various learning opportunities at school. From now on, it is crucial to maintain such a desirable learning environment and improve the quality of education so that the children with disabilities can continue to study in school and complete the curriculum. In order to make sure that the remodeled school buildings and the equipment and the wheelchairs donated by AAR are properly maintained, both schools signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with AAR. We have also agreed to monitor the situation on a regular basis even after the end of this project.

In addition, in order to facilitate the acceptance of more children with disabilities in the future, AAR is planning to have the local NGOs base their offices in each of these two schools and support the staff in charge of IE and the management of these schools. These NGOs, which used to use private homes as their offices, have moved into the school buildings, which has made it possible to hold our seminars and training sessions, leading to the system of training and supporting those in charge of IE without disruption. From now on, School A, School B, along with the principal who visited Japan and the four staff members of the NGOs are expected to play a leading role in promoting IE.

Since School A and School B are pioneers in the field of IE in Tajikistan, there are few who actually understand and support their endeavors. Therefore, it is necessary to make sure that those who attended the training session will keep up their knowledge and skills, stay well-motivated and even become more motivated from now on. For that purpose, it is vital for teachers to learn to support each other by visiting resource rooms or classes where children with disabilities are participating. Through this, it is expected that what the trainees experienced and practiced in our project will be shared by other schools, with the leadership of School A and School B. In the future, we would like to establish a system where IE is fully supported and promoted by the Ministry of Education, Board of Education in Dushanbe and local communities.

【Where CBR (community-based rehabilitation) matrix is applicable】

Components of Education:

“Pre-school education, Basic/primary education, Secondary education, Non-formal education”

Since this project is offered to schools for primary and secondary education as well as the staff in in these schools, it is related to “Basic/primary education” and “Secondary education”. It is also related to “Non-formal education”, because we have provided the infrastructure so that local NGOs can give schooling in resource rooms. In addition, one of the NGOs involved in our project has successfully introduced pre-school classes to children with autisms after they decided to base their office in School B. This can be considered as “Pre-school education”, in which education at an earlier stage of life is expected to be efficient.

Component of Empowerment:

“Self-help groups”

The members of the local NGOs involved in our project are self-help groups consisting of the parents of children with disabilities. Since training these parents led to the enhancement of their ability, we feel that our project eventually resulted in the empowerment of these self-help groups.

【References】

1) Statistical book of education sector of the Republic of Tajikistan for 2010-2011 academic year. Dushanbe: Ministry of Education: 2011

2) [Website] http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/Tajikistan_statistics/html

3) National Conceptual Framework for the Inclusive Education of Children with Disabilities in the Republic of Tajikistan for the period from 2011 to 2015: Government of the Republic of Tajikistan: 2011


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