| Description of good practice: |
The Bangladeshi government clearly stated the rights of persons with disabilities in the Disability Welfare Act of 2001. The Act not only defines ‘disabilities’, it also states that persons with disabilities should have “Equal opportunities for participation in education, training, employment opportunities” (Asia Disability, 2008). The Act is divided into ten action areas: prevention, identification, curative treatment, education, health care, rehabilitation and employment, transport and communication, culture, social security, and self-help organizations. The policy also aims “To review the existing policies of the Government to protect and safeguard the rights and dignity of the persons with disabilities […] and to recommend corrective measures; or if needed be, put suggestion(s) for formulation of a newer policy to this effect, in consideration of the prevailing realistic situations related to the issues” (Asia Disability, 2008). There is also the National Policy on People with Disabilities which states that persons with disabilities should be provided with AT when needed, and that “Training on how to use assistive devices shall be provided by related
centers and organizations” (Borg, 2004).
The Second Primary Education Program (PEDP II) is the current program for funding different projects aiming to improve IE in Bangladesh (ADB 2008). It is funded by the European Commission (EC), and the outcome is measured by the number of CWD enrolled in primary and secondary schools, the number of special teachers that are trained in educational needs of children with disabilities, and the number of schools that are adapted to children with disabilities. Also behavior among parents and local community towards children with disabilities is monitored (The Danish Bilharziasis Laboratory, 2004). In 1993 the National Coordination Committee (NCC) was established. The committee has become part of the constitution since 2001. It is constituted to implement the statements in the Disability Welfare Act. The committee is empowered to seek all governmental ministries for
assistance when necessary (Borg, 2004; The Danish Bilharziasis Laboratory, 2004). NCC
includes representatives from the Bangladesh government, NGOs and DPOs (Disabled Peoples’ Organizations). The committee also works with the National Forum of Organizations Working with the Disabled (NFOWD). With some 140 member organizations, the NFOWD is the main organization for coordinated work regarding disability in Bangladesh. In the national government the ministry of social welfare is responsible for the rights of persons with disabilities in education, rehabilitation etc (Khan, 2006; APCD, 2001).
NGOs are active in Bangladesh and many of them are involved in IE-related programs. For
example, Action In Development, by means of home visits, assess the needs of individual
children with disabilities and, if needed, refer them to other organizations which can provide them with proper rehabilitation (CSID, 2005). Bangladesh Protibandhi Foundation has been running IE systems in several schools since 1998. The Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralyzed (CRP) established a special school in 1993 primarily for children with cerebral palsy. CRP recently combined these special needs classes with classes for children from CRP’s mainstream school into inclusive classrooms. Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) provides training for teachers on inclusive practice and positively encourages CWD to attend their non-formal schools through raising awareness in communities. Currently there are approximately 14,000 children with a variety of disabilities in their classes alongside their able-bodied peers, making BRAC the largest service provider for children with disabilities in the country (PEDPII, 2008). Initiated at the University of Dhaka, the Underprivileged Children’s Education Program (UCEP) runs a number of inclusive schools in urban areas targeting the poor, not just disabled children but also those who have had to leave school early to work to make a living. For all these programs, typically teachers did not receive any specific training on assistive technologies (CSID, 2005). CSID also notes that “Currently the inclusive education initiatives in the country are operating only with nongovernmental funds from a very few donor organizations and self-funds from national organizations.” (ibid, p v)
Despite NGOs’ effort, inclusive education in Bangladesh is far from being successful because inclusion is still the exception rather than the norm in the country (CSID, 2005). This is acknowledged also in government documents, “Providing education for children with special needs in Bangladesh is still in an early stage of development” (PEDPII, 2008, p 16). Nordström(2008) also comments that coordination among donors in the field has been “working poorly so far” with “only two meetings during 2008” and “unstructured meetings and unclear goals” and “without participation of government”. Improvement of classrooms is the issue which so far has been mostly dealt with in the country. The improvement is done by government as well as several NGOs. Main issues are accessibility (e.g. ramps) and toilets. Some NGOs, such as UCEP, CRP, CSID, have addressed further issues pertaining to adaption of classrooms for hearing and visually impaired, such as arrangements for better lighting and noise reduction. Nevertheless, so far only few schools are adapted to meet the
needs of these two groups of students. One major hindrance to classroom improvement is the existing national building legislation which allows buildings to have corridors and ramps that are inaccessible to wheelchairs or lighting that is unsuitable for the visually impaired students (Borg, 2008; Nordström, 2008). Neither is legislation on buildings enabling, even to the extent it actually defines requirements, as accessibility often can be neglected without punishment.
As shown above, many issues pertinent to IE issues are addressed in Bangladesh at the national level. However, the scale of the efforts so far is limited, considering that the country has some 150 million inhabitants, half of which are under 20 years of age. The number of disabled is not clear as no complete survey has been done.
In short, Bangladesh has approved reasonable legal preconditions for IE, however
implementation is lagging. Most existing IE education is provided by NGOs while national
coordination is underdeveloped. Small islands of good examples exist but they need to be scaled and coordinated before IE can be implemented throughout the country. |
