Blind children 'need equal opportunity' in regular schools<\/p>\n
Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Aminah struggles to get a look inside the room from a window so
\nshe could watch her son, Muhammad Irfan. She was not the only
\none. Other curious mothers, six or seven of them, were trying to
\ndo the same thing.<\/p>\n
Inside, Irfan sat awkwardly on his seat, once in a while
\ncovering his face with his thin hands. He didn't talk much -- in
\na room full of high-spirited kindergarten age children. He was
\nvery shy and obviously trying to adapt to the school environment.<\/p>\n
\"He's just been a month here,\" his mother said, trying to
\nexcuse him.<\/p>\n
Born blind, Irfan was late enrolling at to the school for
\nvisually impaired children -- a common occurrence in a country
\nwhere parents are often reluctant to part with their children, or
\nwho simply do not know where to send their impaired children to
\nget an education.<\/p>\n
\"People from yayasan (foundations) told me to bring him here.
\nI don't know if I have to pay the tuition fees or not,\" said
\nAminah.<\/p>\n
A breadwinner for her five children -- Irfan is the youngest
\n-- Aminah washes laundry to make a living.<\/p>\n
That Saturday, the children should have ended their session at
\n10 p.m., but they extended classes for an hour for a group of
\njournalists who came to their school, located in the compound of
\na school for extraordinary children SLB-A on Jl. Pertanian Raya
\nin Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The school is home to 60 students from pre-school age to high
\nschool level.<\/p>\n
When asked if Aminah, who was left by her husband for another
\nwoman, wanted to send Irfan for further education, Aminah shook
\nher head and tears brimmed her eyes saying, \"I don't know. He's
\nblind.\"<\/p>\n
Certainly, she must not have heard anything about EFA --
\nEducation for All -- a policy that the Indonesian government has
\nrecognized for 15 years. And she must not have known that she was
\nnot alone, as government gives support to people like Aminah.<\/p>\n
\"Access to education is a primary right for all children,
\nwhether they are sighted or visually impaired. And we are obliged
\nto give equal opportunity to visually impaired children to get
\ntheir basic education,\" said David Spiro from the Helen Keller
\nInternational.<\/p>\n
And for that reason also, Mudjito, from the National Education
\nMinistry's directorate general for extraordinary education said,
\n\"It is an ongoing reform within our national education that we
\nwant visually impaired children to go to regular schools, and
\nthere is no need to segregate them from sighted children.\"<\/p>\n
He admitted that at the moment many blind children could not
\ngo to school because they were not taught the skills they needed
\nto cope with the environment of a regular school.<\/p>\n
Statistics suggest that only 3.3 percent of the country's 1.5
\nmillion children with special needs receive any education.<\/p>\n
\"We want to lift the barriers. It's high time for us to
\nembrace inclusive education because it will also be less costly
\nfor parents of visually impaired children. These children can
\njust go to regular schools,\" Mudjito said.<\/p>\n
It is for this reason that the SLB-A in Lebak Bulus now has an
\nadditional building called the Early Intervention Center for the
\nBlind -- the first in the country -- in which blind children,
\naged between three and eight years old are introduced to the
\nbasic knowledge needed for them to enter regular schools.<\/p>\n
Designed and developed by Helen Keller International, the
\ncenter is equipped with computer facilities, JAWS (Job Access
\nwith Speech), CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) and teaches the
\nchildren how to read Braille, as well as orientation and mobility
\nskills.<\/p>\n
It serves as the beginning of an inclusive education system or
\nintegrated school where sighted and impaired children study
\ntogether.<\/p>\n
Also attending the Saturday media briefing were Stephen Hill
\nfrom the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural
\nOrganizations (UNESCO) and Sylvia Djawahir from Braillo Norway.<\/p>\n
Helen Keller International, together with UNESCO and led by
\nBraillo Norway and the Indonesian education ministry publish the
\nInclusive Education Toolkit.<\/p>\n
The toolkit -- a series of six manuals -- will provide a
\ncomprehensive guide for teachers, administrators and school
\ncommunities to help them understand and create an inclusive
\nenvironment in every classroom.<\/p>\n
\"It's a new concept here but we have tried it out in West
\nJava, and it works well there. Some privately run schools have
\nalso applied this kind of concept.\"<\/p>\n
\"Partly it (inclusive education) is also a moral education for
\nparents and the public in general that children and people with
\nspecial needs are among us, and that we have to learn to live
\nside by side with them,\" Mudjito said.<\/p>\n
Spiro added, \"It's not pity that these children want, but
\nequal opportunity in access to education.\"<\/p>\n
So, hopefully, in four or six months when Irfan has learned
\nBraille and starts to enjoy the joy of searching for knowledge
\nand the thirst for more knowledge, his mother will know that she
\nmatters and that she is not alone. And Irfan doesn't have to stop
\nthere.<\/p>\n
On the net:<\/p>\n
www.hkiasiapacific.org<\/p>\n
www.icevi.com<\/p>\n
www.usaid.govc<\/p>\n
www.dikdasdki.go.id<\/p>\n
www.depdiknas.go.id<\/p>\n
www.mitranetra.or.id<\/p>\n
www.unj.ac.id<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/blind-children-need-equal-opportunity-in-regular-schools-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }