Project Title: “Promoting Access to Education: Enhancing Knowledge, Developing Skills, Raising Sensitivity & Design Action for Children.
Project Duration: Year 2021
People living with disability (PWDs) face adversities in activities and participation at personal and societal levels throughout the world. However, the intensity is higher in countries like Nepal where the societal stigma and discrimination are compounded by the lack of disability-inclusive policy implementation and trained human resources in working with the PWDs. The independent living of PWDs is still a new concept in Nepal. Hence the investment in preparing Children with disability ( CWDs) for independent living is not talked about or advocated as it should be. The right of CWDs to education needs to be promoted along with the right of these children to schools in inclusive classrooms. Leaving CWDs behind in school education will never make Nepal achieve SDGs by 2030. There is a huge misunderstanding about disability in Nepalese society and also amongst schools. Due to this CWDs face annoying behaviour, and bullying and are marginalised from their fellow students, teachers and also parents of students without disability. The school which should be the center of equality and knowledge is not been able to play its profound role in the lives of all the children in its communities. School as the microsystem of a CWDs’ ecological system can be a change agent in promoting, practising, and protecting the right of CWDs to school education.
Realising the need to work for the CWDs in inclusive education, Kadambari Memorial College, School of Social Work has joined hands with Independent Living Centre – Kathmandu to model a university and practitioner’s partnership project called “Promoting Access to Education: Enhancing Knowledge, Developing Skills, Raising Sensitivity & Design Action for Children from 2019-2021with funding support from Australian Development Program.
Goals:
The project’s main goal is to contribute to a deeper understanding that a child should not be excluded from the right to education due to disability.
Objectives:
1.1 Develop a resource centre for the sustainability of information resourcing and processing of the development of inclusive education promoting schools at Kadambari Memorial College Library.
1.2 Enhance and sustain the capacity of local-level representative on inclusive education rights and responsibilities in their province 3
1.3 Create innovative and contextual training for school teachers and family members as practitioners of inclusive education in the two schools.
1.4 Design a participatory media campaign with the beneficiary and social advocate.
1.5 National Level Sharing and Advocacy of IE.
Outcome:
1. Developed a resource centre for the sustainability of information resourcing in CWDs inclusion in school education ( online and at Kadambari library)
2. Contributed positively to enhancing and sustaining the capacity of local level representative on IE rights of CWDs and their responsibility with advocacy meetings at the provincial government and local level at Tokha Municipality.
3. Developed training manual and contributed positively to training 24 school teachers of Tokha Municipality ward no 2.
4. Sensitise the public through a participatory media campaign by 20 social work students as media campaigners with 460 students of two schools at Tokha Ward two, a Facebook campaign and visual promotion and publication in the online portal.
5. Developed one review report on CWDs and inclusion in education.