Access to education

It is undeniable that disability in Bangladesh is looked upon very negatively. And although in recent times much has been done for the state to become more inclusive in so far as differently-abled persons are concerned, the facilities and the scope have remained limited when compared to the number of people with disability in the country, which in percentage terms is about 16 for every hundred, and increasing yearly.

Regrettably, of the lot, the most discriminated are the differently abled children. And among them the most disadvantaged are those that have attained school going age but only 20 percent have access to school. And that primarily because of attitudinal problems, not enough schools equipped with adequate capability or resources, which is compounded by the insufficient number of specialised schools. The statistic is a horrendous reflection of the degree of importance that we accord as a nation to children with disabilities. The government system can only cater for less than 2,000 such children whereas there are nearly 4,00,000 of them in the country. The NGOs can only cater to the needs of less than 100,000 of them.

Experience has shown that given proper chance and facility people with disabilities, either infantile or suffered due to a mishap, can be rehabilitated and become useful members of the society and contribute to the economy in equal measures as others. And in the case of children early intervention can in many cases mitigate the severity, if not completely, cure the disability.

The education ministry should enforce its existing instructions mandating quota for differently abled children in educational institutions, while at the same time launch a programme to raise awareness to remove the stigma that still prevails in our society.