The Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (HCD) on Wednesday signed three memoranda of understanding (MoU) with Amman Baptist School (ABS), Al-Madar International School and Retaal International Academy to provide inclusive education requirements for students with disabilities.
The HCD’s President Prince Mired bin Raad, who signed the MoUs, stressed the importance of concerted efforts to achieve equality, fair opportunities and non-discrimination, and enable disabled persons to access education on the basis of equality within an environment free of obstacles and barriers that limit implementation of “effective” inclusive learning.
During the signing ceremony, Prince Mired also said the HCD is “constantly” seeking to align Jordan’s policies, laws and regulations, with international conventions on the rights of disabled persons.
The HCD also provides technical support to various educational institutions to develop their programs, hire specialized staff and create infrastructure to enable schools to receive disabled students, Prince Mired added.
Under the MoUs, the HCD, in cooperation with the three schools, and according to implementation plans that are in line with components of Jordan 10-year Strategy for Inclusive Education, will provide technical support to prepare school buildings according to construction code requirements for disabled people.
The MoUs also seek to create a “sensory integration” room to provide occupational therapy services and a special room to teach orientation and mobility (O&M) skills to students with visual impairments, as well as providing the necessary support to activate support department’s role to provide assistance to disabled students in the classroom.
In implementation of the MoUs, the HCD will train the three schools’ workers on the human rights curriculum and effective communication with disabled persons, in addition to providing specialized inclusive education training.
According to the three MoUs, at least 5 disabled students will be enrolled in each of the three schools during their first academic year, and the number will double in the following school years.
The MoU comes in implementation of provisions of Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities No. 20 for the Year 2017, which addresses enrollment and integration issues of disabled children into educational institutions and provides “reasonable” accommodation and facilitations to help their empowerment and access to equality-based education.
Source: Jordan News Agency