Inclusive education for students with disabilities
Globally, there are 150 million children living with disabilities. They are often denied an education because they are the most vulnerable and excluded people in their communities.
How are children with disabilities excluded?
Children with disabilities are 10 times less likely to attend school than those without. Even if they attend school, they are more likely to drop out early while the level of schooling they receive is frequently below that of their peers.
Children with disabilities are often unable to go to school because of unsuitable school buildings. In addition, there is a limited understanding within their communities and among teachers about their learning needs, which is often fuelled by prejudices around disability.
How are girls affected?
Girls with disabilities experience greater exclusion and injustices as a result of their disability and gender.
They are less likely to go to school and are often considered a burden on the family because they are seen as a non-productive member of society.
Providing these girls with an education that meets their needs can play a fundamental role in addressing the root causes of the discrimination they face.
Embracing diversity through inclusive education
“Gender equality and quality education for all cannot be achieved without making schools and educational institutions inclusive.”
Disability inclusion and gender equality in education
At UNITY Foundation we are committed to building a world where inclusive quality education, starting with early childhood education, is a basic right for all girls and young women and no one is left behind. We work to advance gender transformative education as a means to bring gender equality and social justice to communities and societies around the world.
In celebration of International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2023, on 12:00 (GMT) December 4th, in collaboration Disability inclusion and gender equality in education UNITY Foundationsharing more of her experiences and professional insights into how we can build a more inclusive and equal educational future.
How is UNITY Foundation supporting students with disabilities?
UNITY Foundation is committed to ensuring that every child completes a quality, inclusive education without discrimination or exclusion.
In the last 3 years, our inclusive education programme has supported children with disabilities in Bangladesh. We help children with disabilities access primary and secondary schools that meet their needs. We also provide specialised physiotherapy and rehabilitation, and skills training to help children get good jobs or create their own businesses.
Racheal demands a political voice for girls with disabilities
Despite facing discrimination for having a disability Racheal embraces who she is and calls on other young people to do the same. Her activism has led her all the way to the Human Rights Council to represent girls with disabilities and give them a political voice.
As a young girl, Racheal faced stigma and exclusion because of her disability. “I was seen as abnormal and worthless,” she says. The prejudice she experienced growing up ignited a passion in her to fight for the rights of people with disabilities, recently travelling to Geneva where she spoke at the United Nations on the discrimination girls and young women with disabilities face.
She continues, “I was bullied because I walk differently from others. Out of fear that children would imitate my movements, I didn’t dare to get off my chair at school. I felt inferior from a young age.”
When she was younger, to protect her from discrimination, Racheal’s parents decided not to take her to village gatherings, where music was played and her siblings danced and ate together. “People always told my parents that they were being punished because they had a child with a disability,” she explains.
Harmful disability myths
Racheal explains that not only do girls and women with disabilities often face harassment in Uganda, but they are also more likely to be subject to sexual violence. She says: “Imagine being attacked, but you can’t see who the perpetrator is. Let alone flee. Disability makes girls and young women vulnerable and an easy target.”
“For example, that you can get rich from having sex with a girl with a disability. Or that all your bad luck would disappear. So-called witch doctors, often self-appointed medicine men, pass these kinds of myths along as advice to ‘patients.’ Almost all girls who are disabled and pregnant are so because they were raped.”
Talking about sexual violence or reporting it is out of the question as the community usually blames and shames the girl and her family. “Often girls do not dare to confide in someone about what they have experienced until years later,” shares Racheal.
Saying no to disability prejudice
One day, Racheal and her mother were walking through her village and saw a sign about activities organised by a group of girls and women with disabilities.
“Whereas I used to avoid other children with disabilities for fear of being associated with them, I was now actually looking for a way to connect with them. It felt like a life-changing opportunity.”
Racheal could not have known at the time that the sign would be the start of her activist career. “In the group, I saw that other girls and women didn’t let their disabilities hold them back. I wanted that too. It was such a relief to be able to share my experiences with others.”