Disability India Information Resources

skip nav

    Archieves

Disability News India (DNI)

Disability News India (DNI), is a disability News service dedicated to providing a quality up-to-date information to the Indian Disability. DNI's news section is updated two times a week, though we also add breaking stories as and when they occur. DNI– Subscription


Disability News India – June Issue



SYSTEM IMPAIRED

A general apathetic attitude towards educating the visually and hearing impaired youth is preventing them from equal educational opportunities. Surya Ragunaathan communicates the lack of awareness

India is one of the few countries in the world where 90 per cent of disabled children do not receive any form of education, although there are a handful of schools in Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi where inclusive education is being practiced. Innovative teaching techniques include theatre, music and group work, which have replaced traditional teaching techniques.

A number of schools, however, remain unconvinced that inclusive education will work in the long run; either they have different sections for disabled students or they have none. "The source of education is communication, with the hearing impaired through signs and with the visually impaired by speaking or drawing on the palm is possible. But, how does one communicate with these individuals? Most people do not know the answer to this question and this lack of awareness is a huge problem," says N U Nayak, Deputy Director, Helen Keller Institute for Deafblind, Mumbai.

Language obviously is the communication channel through which one becomes expressive. Language acquisition takes place almost involuntarily for people with normal vision and hearing. However, those who are visually and/ or hearing impaired must first learn to communicate using language before they can move on to formal education and using the computer.

Explaining this point further, Nayak says, "They must first learn to communicate through sign language. There are countless languages in India and thus every language must have its own sign language. So you teach them sign language, palm printing, writing and reading in Braille."

Two of the foremost reasons why most schools in India remain unconvinced about inclusive education are lack of manpower and restricted budgetary support. As teaching disabled persons is an enormous task, not many people with sincere dedication come forward. The ratio of disabled students to teachers is an alarming 12:1.More vitally, the issue lies with the attitude of people towards the disabled . "There is sympathy but little trust. Many people question, What can a disabled person accomplish by getting educated. The answer to this is often an assumed. Nothing much after all," explains Nayak.

Nikita Vaid, 21, is a visually impaired student who is the first of her kind to graduate in Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS), Mumbai. She recalls her experience with the authorities. "Initially the university refused to let me take the entrance test. I argued my case vehemently. The director agreed to interview me and I took the test after clearing the interview. I was allowed a writer barring all other considerations. The time limit was sacrosanct and the biggest hurdle was the visual reasoning section.

There is only so much a reader can do in describing shapes and patterns in a limited time.I took a chance with those and randomly marked my answers.I got through finally."Following this experience, Nikita faced similar issues during her BMS course, such as questions which require diagrammatical support to answer. Though the boards of SSC and HSC had a provision for alternate questions, she had no such luck with the university.

Aparna Gupta, 22, another visually impaired student says, "When I took my Maharashtra CET for the MMS course this year, I could sense a laidback attitude towards the disabled . The brochure is not clear about exam instructions for students of the Physically Handicapped (PH) category. Nobody at the Department of Technical Education (DTE), Mumbai was sure about the eligibility criteria for the writer. Besides, they didn't care to inform me about the details my writer needed. Just half an hour before the exam, my writer's photograph was asked for. Why can't this rule be written down in the brochure?"

India has drafted a parliamentary bill that aimed at improving education and employment prospects for people with disabilities. The ministry of Social Welfare and Empowerment, redefined welfare measures for an estimated 90 million disabled Indians. So, what happened to the bill? "It just remains on paper, "says Nayak." Implementation is most important which never happens in our country.The government must provide the required monetary support. Some of the gadgets used to train the visually and hearing impaired are not even known to people and are expensive. Not many schools can afford them."

For disabled persons to enter the mainstream society, other children and teachers must learn to interact with them with understanding and acceptance. Scores of students who appear for higher–level competitive exams today in our country, are asking for equal rights. Making the effort to foster attitudes of acceptance that are critical to the success of educating disabled persons in the least restrictive educational setting is the need of the hour.

Source: Times of India, Mumbai Edition

Back to Top

Inclusion and integration, a better choice for disabled people: Shantanu Dutta

In one of the overseas offices of my company, where probably a maximum of 20 people work, they have two toilets to service the office. One of them is meant for the disabled even though the office has no disabled employees. The folks working there told me that apart from complying with legal requirements and all that, the office did not want to make modifications in the architecture, at some future date, should they need to hire a disabled person making him or her possibly squirm with embarrassment. They wanted their place to be open and welcoming to the disabled, whenever they might turn up, be it in the distant future.

This reminds me of the Biblical story of the prodigal son where the father is ready and welcoming long before the returning prodigal son is any where on the horizon. He is always included in every thing and in every plan, even though absent from the scene. I suppose that is the truest picture of inclusion. Though the son is still absent, though the disabled person is still not present, I still think of him or her, include him or her in my plans, designs and thinking, so that one day when they come, they can merge seamlessly into the picture because the frame has always been ready to include them.

In our attitude to the disabled and most other disadvantaged, we have been welfare driven rather than inclusion driven in our approach. Simply this ? inclusion is embracing, welfare is condescending. The inclusive approach has as its paradigm that the disabled are part of us, our family, our society, our community and our hearts, plans; budgets are large enough to include them. Whether they are actually at our door step today or not, we are ready to receive them, to welcome them.

The welfare approach, on the contrary says that, that the disabled (and other disadvantaged) are among us, some how they are here and though they don't really belong and are in many ways different, we need to do some thing about them driven by partly by pity and partly by the nuisance value that they can be if we don't do some thing for them. Welfare therefore some how demeans the self worth of the person receiving it even as it tries in its own clumsy way to help. The inclusion approach on the other hand infuses dignity and self esteem because it does not see the disabled as a burden to be borne, but as a resource yet to be explored.

In India, we have a Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment which looks at issues of disability. It has done some good work. The National Policy for Persons with Disabilities has been adopted under is aegis and it addresses issues relating to social security, disability pension and education. The Government has approved the signing and ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability. The Ministry has recently released a 'Report to the People 2004–07' on Social Justice and Empowerment. The report was released by the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh on 22nd May, 2007.

In the otherwise excellent report available on the Press Information Bureau Website, there is a section titled" Welfare of the Differently Abled" which talks about all that has been done for them. Which is in some ways is a lot. The only problem is that welfare is disempowering. Inclusion is empowering. So why is the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment administering a raft of antiquated welfare schemes like providing subsidized motorized tricycles(better done by the Rotary Clubs) instead of pioneering inclusive, embracive and integrative policies, which the government alone can draft and legislate? Now will some of our honorable members of Parliament please raise this question in the House?

Source: www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp

Back to Top

90% disabled children in country out of school

Some 20 per cent of world's poorest people are disabled and 90 per cent disabled children in developing countries like Bangladesh are out of school. Mortality rates for disabled children in Bangladesh are 80 per cent even in countries where the average is 20 per cent.

Some 300 disabled persons worked in the past general elections as election observers, which number was the second in the world.

Disabled people are found in all the various marginalised groups of poor people. Although disability is not specifically mentioned in the MDGs, it is well understood that the MDGs cannot be achieved without addressing the needs and rights of disabled people.

Disabled leaders and persons from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand and representatives of donor agencies said this at a workshop at BRAC Centre Inn in the city yesterday.

Action on Disability and Development (ADD) and the Overseas Development Group (ODG) of the University of East Anglia, UK organised the South Asian workshop on 'Capacity Building of Southern Disabled People's Organisations (DPOs) in support with the Department for International Development (DFID).

Rokeya Afzal Rahman, former adviser to the Caretaker government, was present as chief guest in the inaugural session, while Hafizul Islam Miah, Director General of the Social Welfare Directorate, Shaila Rahman, Social Development Adviser of DFID, Momena Bandy, First Secretary of Pakistan, Kevan Moll, Consultant and Representative of the ODG of the University of East Anglia, UK, among others, spoke on the occasion.

Speakers urged the government to give opportunity to the disabled people to attend as international polling observer in the world so that they will explore their knowledge and communication with other nations.

Speakers said the disabled people have the opportunity to engage in development processes and are empowered to represent themselves through their organisations. By this workshop, disabled people will get opportunity to share their views and experiences and develop the regional entity, they also said.

The objectives of the DPOs project is to contribute to more effective poverty reduction programmes and specifically to the decrease in the poverty of the disabled people in line with the MDGs, they added.

The three–day workshop will end on June 5 where 25 disabled persons from seven countries including Bangladesh are participating and will explore ways to enhance the capacity of the Southern DPOs to engage in poverty reduction interventions. Of them, 10 are from Bangladesh.

Source: http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/article_36552.shtml

Back to Top

Need for empowerment of disabled people in Nagaland

The Persons with Disabilities (equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation) Act, 1995 confers a wide range of rights for disabled people. Campaigning for implementation of the disabled rights is the most important area for empowerment of disabled people. The task is very gigantic considering that there are thousands of disabled populations particularly in rural area who are left untouched. We can not enjoy a decent standard of living till we make a weaker section of the society self–reliant.

The central and state governments have adopted various schemes for the all round development of disabled persons under Norms and Principal of the Disabled Bill passed in December, 1995. But these plans are not fruitful in Nagaland. The reason is that there are Vocational Rehabilitation Centres (VRC) in most of the states in India. Unfortunately Nagaland does not have a VRC. Where as the thousands of disabled problems go unnoticed and are largely excluded from self employment schemes.

Persons with disabilities are members of the society and have the right to remain within their communities. They should receive the support they need within the ordinary structure of self–employment, education and social services. Implementing the schemes on disabilities including coverage of reaching the un–reached in the remote villages of rural areas are the need of the hour for the disabled. The empowerment of disabled in Nagaland may be a silver lining amidst dark clouds for thousands of disabled people.
L. Senti Walling, Executive secretary, Welfare Association for Handicapped, Lingrijan Dimapur.

Source: www.nagalandpost.com/Opiniondesc.asp

Back to Top

Copyright Information
All original graphics and photographs are © copyright 2006-2007 DisabilityIndia.com

Back to top