Unicef sounds alert - State of the children report stresses on awareness, special needs : Ranchi

 

         Children with officials at the release of the report at Suchana Bhavan in Ranchi on Saturday



Among 85,000 children between 6 and 14 with disabilities, about 70,000 have been enrolled in schools, says a report of Jharkhand Education Project Council (JEPC) that finds a mention in Unicef’s Global Report on the State of World’s Children-2013.

The report, which was released at Suchana Bhawan today by the UNICEF in the presence of state authorities, also mentioned that the prevalence of disability was 1.7 per cent — about 5.5 lakh out of a population of 3.30 crore — in the state as per the 2001 Census.

The report also emphasised the need for inclusion of children with disabilities in schools and in society as a whole, saying that such inclusion was only possible when schools were designed to encourage all children to learn and play together.

“It is wrong to see the disability before the child. We need to concentrate on the potential and abilities of children with disabilities. The government is committed to making greater efforts to support the integration of children with disabilities. We have a long way to go,” said Mridula Sinha, principal secretary, department of social welfare, women & child development.

Chief of Unicef in Jharkhand Job Zachariah said the objective of compiling the data of differently challenged children was to ensure that they were brought into the mainstream and given equal opportunities like other normal children.

According to the report, the birth of children with disabilities were most often not reported by parents for fear of social stigma.

Sinha said that children who were disabled faced discrimination in all spheres of life, right from the time of their birth. The infrastructure in schools and educational institutes was inadequate and was incapable of catering to their special needs.

“Ramps and wider doors ought to be installed in schools to enable children with disabilities to attend school. Special water taps needed to be installed in toilets. Management of educational institutes are seldom aware that special children need special care. Small things go a long way in making a challenged child feel wanted and comfortable,” she added.

Zachariah also stressed on the implementation of Convention of Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention of Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD) that is supposed to ensure equal opportunities for special children.

The aim of organisations working for child rights was to ensure that laws for the welfare of children were implemented in letter and spirit. “Even the recent Right to Education Act which has come into force envisages the right of all, including disable children, to education and mandates that schools become more child friendly and child centered,” Zachariah told The Telegraph.

Among the others present were Mamta, director, primary education; R.P. Singh, director, state institute of rural development; Alka Nizamie, director, Deepshikha and Ashok Bhagat of NGO Vikas Bharati.



Source : The Telegraph , 15th June 2013