Blind children 'need equal opportunity' in regular schools

Blind children 'need equal opportunity' in regular schools

Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Aminah struggles to get a look inside the room from a window so
she could watch her son, Muhammad Irfan. She was not the only
one. Other curious mothers, six or seven of them, were trying to
do the same thing.

Inside, Irfan sat awkwardly on his seat, once in a while
covering his face with his thin hands. He didn't talk much -- in
a room full of high-spirited kindergarten age children. He was
very shy and obviously trying to adapt to the school environment.

"He's just been a month here," his mother said, trying to
excuse him.

Born blind, Irfan was late enrolling at to the school for
visually impaired children -- a common occurrence in a country
where parents are often reluctant to part with their children, or
who simply do not know where to send their impaired children to
get an education.

"People from yayasan (foundations) told me to bring him here.
I don't know if I have to pay the tuition fees or not," said
Aminah.

A breadwinner for her five children -- Irfan is the youngest
-- Aminah washes laundry to make a living.

That Saturday, the children should have ended their session at
10 p.m., but they extended classes for an hour for a group of
journalists who came to their school, located in the compound of
a school for extraordinary children SLB-A on Jl. Pertanian Raya
in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta.

The school is home to 60 students from pre-school age to high
school level.

When asked if Aminah, who was left by her husband for another
woman, wanted to send Irfan for further education, Aminah shook
her head and tears brimmed her eyes saying, "I don't know. He's
blind."

Certainly, she must not have heard anything about EFA --
Education for All -- a policy that the Indonesian government has
recognized for 15 years. And she must not have known that she was
not alone, as government gives support to people like Aminah.

"Access to education is a primary right for all children,
whether they are sighted or visually impaired. And we are obliged
to give equal opportunity to visually impaired children to get
their basic education," said David Spiro from the Helen Keller
International.

And for that reason also, Mudjito, from the National Education
Ministry's directorate general for extraordinary education said,
"It is an ongoing reform within our national education that we
want visually impaired children to go to regular schools, and
there is no need to segregate them from sighted children."

He admitted that at the moment many blind children could not
go to school because they were not taught the skills they needed
to cope with the environment of a regular school.

Statistics suggest that only 3.3 percent of the country's 1.5
million children with special needs receive any education.

"We want to lift the barriers. It's high time for us to
embrace inclusive education because it will also be less costly
for parents of visually impaired children. These children can
just go to regular schools," Mudjito said.

It is for this reason that the SLB-A in Lebak Bulus now has an
additional building called the Early Intervention Center for the
Blind -- the first in the country -- in which blind children,
aged between three and eight years old are introduced to the
basic knowledge needed for them to enter regular schools.

Designed and developed by Helen Keller International, the
center is equipped with computer facilities, JAWS (Job Access
with Speech), CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) and teaches the
children how to read Braille, as well as orientation and mobility
skills.

It serves as the beginning of an inclusive education system or
integrated school where sighted and impaired children study
together.

Also attending the Saturday media briefing were Stephen Hill
from the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural
Organizations (UNESCO) and Sylvia Djawahir from Braillo Norway.

Helen Keller International, together with UNESCO and led by
Braillo Norway and the Indonesian education ministry publish the
Inclusive Education Toolkit.

The toolkit -- a series of six manuals -- will provide a
comprehensive guide for teachers, administrators and school
communities to help them understand and create an inclusive
environment in every classroom.

"It's a new concept here but we have tried it out in West
Java, and it works well there. Some privately run schools have
also applied this kind of concept."

"Partly it (inclusive education) is also a moral education for
parents and the public in general that children and people with
special needs are among us, and that we have to learn to live
side by side with them," Mudjito said.

Spiro added, "It's not pity that these children want, but
equal opportunity in access to education."

So, hopefully, in four or six months when Irfan has learned
Braille and starts to enjoy the joy of searching for knowledge
and the thirst for more knowledge, his mother will know that she
matters and that she is not alone. And Irfan doesn't have to stop
there.

On the net:

www.hkiasiapacific.org

www.icevi.com

www.usaid.govc

www.dikdasdki.go.id

www.depdiknas.go.id

www.mitranetra.or.id

www.unj.ac.id