INVESTING ON THE SYSTEM

AS MEANS

TO REACH THE UNREACHED

( With a reflection of Hawassa project)

By Etenesh Beyene

Founder & ED June 4, 2015

Core Program Priorities

Child Disability Prevention

Rehabilitation of CwDs and VC

Promotion of Inclusive Education

Livelihood Empowerment

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Strategies

Applying community

Based Rehabilitation

program

Partnering

Investing on the system

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Basic Assumptions on IE

Each and every child, regardless of

his/her individual needs or social

circumstances, gender etc. has equal

opportunity to access education

together with other children of the

community.

The Concept of Inclusive Education

Refers to an education system that is

open to all learners, regardless of gender,

ethnic background, learning difficulties

and impairments

Inclusive education means welcoming allchildren without discrimination in toregular or non regular schools

It calls for a respect of differences andcreating environments responsive to thediffering developmental capacities ,needsand potentials of children.

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Inclusive schools

Schools opened to all children andstudents regardless of poverty,gender, ethnic backgroundlanguage , learning difficulties andimpairments

Teachers should find ways to knowtheir students ,to identify diverseneeds of learners and to provideappropriate support according tothe needs (UNESCO 2000)

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Objectives of the program

To make CwDs to have access to the neighborhood

regular schools with their non-disabled peers.

To achieve psychological, social and educational benefits,

by interacting ,learning ,playing ,and living together with

their peers.

Each and every child, regardless of his/her

individual needs or social circumstances, has equal

opportunity to access mainstream education together

with other children of the community

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Objectives of the program cont..

To over come attitudinal barriers and foster

positive attitudes by promoting the value of

appreciating differences ,mutual understanding,

tolerance and helpfulness among all children

To empower and engage families of CwDs as wellas the community to participate in facilitating theeducation of CwDs and their overall social andintellectual wellbeing.

To enhance the quality of educational system;

To reduce the alarming early school dropout rate.

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Situation prevailing prior to the

program /Identified Issues

less concern/understanding on

Disability

Inadequate data/Research on the

Number, Nature & Prevalence of

Disability

Curriculum & Pedagogy (not

flexible)

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Situation prevailing prior to the

program /Identified IssuesI Cont…..

Low enrollment & high drop out rate of

CwDs

Inadequate Training & support for Teachers

Existing physical Barriers

Labeling, Stigmatization, Peer rejection,

lack of love & respect for CwDs

Lack of Assistive Devices

Lack special need materials for CwDs

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Initiation of program Implementation

Initially, the organization planned to perform the following major activities:

Conducting Socio economic Baseline survey

Identifying/Consulting potential partners from GOs, NGOs, DPOs, primary schools, Universities & Teacher training Colleges, DPO’s Federation, Media, etc

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Initiation of program Implementation cont.

Selecting field technicians & different supporting Committee – like community committee ( project support groups in each kebele)

Facilitating MOU with different stakes e.g BL & Hawassa College of Teachers Education to launch sign language & brail reading & writing skills, family, cooperatives, health office, etc

Areas of focuses

A. Partnership/ Teacher Education for inclusion:

The program is attached to Teachers training institute / Hawassa College of Teacher Education /HCTE/

In realizing this, the annual forum on inclusive education has been hosted by the organization 3 times with the aim of awakening all stakeholders to discharge their responsibility

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Partnership continued ….

During the events, teachers training institutions and universities were participated. The papers presented included:

• Challenges and opportunities of inclusive education

• An overview of inclusive education in Ethiopian context

• Curriculum modification and adaptation

• Status of inclusive education in SNNPR

• Promoting Action research in relation to CwDs

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Training for teachers cont….

All school communities of the program are

bonded in a strong partnership.

They consider the issue as one of their

responsibility

All exerting their cooperation in whatever

means and roles possible to facilitate the

education of children with disabilities.

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B. Training for teachers

More than, 85 % of the teachers working in Government schools of Tula sub-city were well addressed through trainings.

Currently, the commitment of teachers and school principals on supporting CwDs were significantly improved.

They have developed action plan.

Besides, the capacity building of Schools; Parent Teachers Association, Guards and Admin staffs were also enhanced through repeated trainings on disability and inclusive education.

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In-service Training for Teachers on

inclusive education

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C. Resource Center as a support

system for inclusive education Resource rooms played a significant role in

bringing together the resources for CwDs to the cluster level.

15 clusters centers were fully equipped with special need materials.

Special training provided to cluster coordinators, special need professionals and concerned teachers.

The training have also focused on how to produce locally available materials with special need professional

Now teachers and CwDs are enjoying with the reference materials in their locality.

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Training for cluster coordinators on

theoretical & practical application of inclusive

learning materials- practical session

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Training for cluster coordinators on

theoretical & practical application of inclusive

learning materials cont……

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D. Parents/community & school link

cont……. They actually prepare the child for pre

inclusion and contribute their own share to

rehabilitate CwDs.

Community has also participated through

community committee/ project support

groups.

They sensitized the community through

different community events.

Different community members were

trained on disability and related issues.

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Parents/community & school link cont…

One of the achievements of the project that

has a great role on the success of the project

was the effort of Parent Teachers

Association.

In the project implementation the PTAs were

served as a bridge between the

Community and school.

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Parents/community & school link

cont…

They have played significant role in creating common

understanding in the community on the objective of the

project.

The role of the PTA was not limited in creating

common understanding rather it has reached at the

level assigning ambassadors in each village with a main

responsibility of controlling the education performance

of each student in their village

Awareness raising program conducted by PTAs on

CwDs and girls Education

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E. Capacity Building

to raise the participation of students with disabilities

and Girls in secondary education, different activities

that have a direct impact in creating access and

quality education for the target students were jointly

implemented with different stakeholders including Tulla secondary school,

Hawassa city administration

Education department and

parent teachers association.

The construction of new building which has 8 rooms

has created a golden opportunity for Girls and

students with disabilities to continue secondary

school in their village .

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Participation of CwDs in different activities

SNNPR Education Sector

GO-CSO Forum 26

F. Outcomes

Sign language and Brail reading and writing became a mandatory course for all teachers in Hawassa College of Teachers Education Cluster resource centers organized and

equipped with different teaching & learning materials Teachers are able to produce Inclusive

teaching learning materials for all students including students with special needs from locally available material

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Outcomes ….

From the total number of students with

disabilities (530) 439 are children with

disabilities enrolled in the different schools.

Among all the enrolled children with

disabilities the highest are from the physically

disabled at 62%.

The intellectually disabled and the speech and

hearing impaired constitute the lowest at 9%

each.

Outcomes … In the project area (Tulla Sub city ) Children

with Disabilities represents 30% of the child

parliamentarians

The social inclusion of children with

disabilities is improved

Prevention of disability became one of the

health extension packages

Inclusive Education Department is opened in

the Teachers Training Collenge of Hawassa

Sign language & Braille reading &

writing skill training

SNNPR Education Sector

GO-CSO Forum 30

Regional Workshop on inclusive

Education

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PTAs Meeting with BL

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School constructed and Handed over to GO

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G. Lesson Learned Commitment of stakeholders is basic for

inclusive practices The Inclusive forum enhanced openness in

discussing the issue of disability andavoidance of negative environments on theCwDs, and improved school communitysupport to CwDs and OVCs.

Strong collaboration was exercised inpromoting inclusive education & inclusivedevelopment among stakeholders involvedin the case.

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Lesson Learned…

Some government line departments are makinga paradigm shift. This paradigm shift is therethinking of going beyond its current plans/planmodification

The comprehensive service delivery mechanismof the project plays a significant role in realizinginclusive school, inclusive education, inclusivesociety and inclusive development

H. ChallengesImbalance of supplies i.e the Capacity of BL & the

demand from different stakeholders on inclusive

education is not equitable(to replicate the program)

Lack of trained staff/manpower to work with BL on

inclusive education

Handout expectation of families/community

members

Data limitation on CwDs in the Region for proper

planning

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I. Future Actions/Plans

Replicate the best practices of

Inclusive Education in other areas

promote the activities of BL & partners

Establish additional Resource

centers/clusters

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Future Action/plan…

Work in collaboration with GOs and other NGOs in generating disability focused baseline survey in the Region

Work hard with the duty bearers on the implementation of Inclusive Education Manual

Strengthen DPOs to discharge their responsibilities in achieving inclusive education

Thank you