Kathmandu: A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released today said children with disabilities face diverse barriers in getting quality basic education.

The report ‘Futures stolen: Barriers to Education for Children with Disabilities in Nepal’, said many children were unjustly denied school admission or their parents were unaware of their children’s right to education.

Inadequately trained teachers, inaccessibility of schools and lack of access to health care were some other factors that kept disabled kids away from school, said the report.

The report is based on 97 interviews. Fifty-two key informants including 15 children and four youths with disability and disability advocates, 23 parents or family members and ten teachers or principals were interviewed in March and April 2011 in eight districts in the central, mid western and far western regions.

The report said more than half of the 29 children and youth with disabilities or their family members reported that children did not attend formal school because they were denied admission.

Shantha Rau Barriga, researcher, HRW and advocate on disability rights said, “Tens of thousands of children with disabilities in Nepal are being shut out from or neglected by the school system despite national policies on inclusive and child friendly schools.”

She said the government had failed to make school environment accessible for children with disabilities. She added that the government, UN and other international non-government agencies had failed to address the issue.

The report recommends establishment of a disability commission to advise on policy and programme development and serve as a redress mechanism when rights are violated. It has also urged Ministry of Education to revise teacher training materials and school curriculum to reflect inclusive methods and information on children with disabilities.

According to National Planning Commission’s 2001 disability analysis, multiple disabilities were most common in Nepal, accounting for 31 percent of persons with disabilities. Among people with disabilities, 34.3 per cent had physical disability, 19.4 per cent speaking disability, 19.1 per cent hearing impairment, 11.1 per cent had epilepsy, 5.9 per cent had intellectual disability, 5.6 per cent had visual impairment and 4.6 per cent psycho-social disability.

source: The Himalayan Times