Equal opportunity: 37,000 differently abled 'students' out-of-school

Education official says all new schools being built in province will be handicap-friendly

PESHAWAR: Around 37,015 specially-abled students are enrolled in government schools in the province, however, around the same numbers of specially-abled students are currently out-of-schools across the province.

This was revealed by the annual statistical report of government schools for 2017-18 prepared by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government.

The report shows that Swat, which had been afflicted with militancy for years, tops the list with 3,372 specially-abled students (both male and female) who are enrolled in different government schools. It is followed by Mardan with 3,096 specially-abled students and Lower Dir with 2,790 specially-abled students enrolled in government schools.



Similarly, 1,939 specially-abled students are enrolled in Abbottabad, 848 in Bannu, 678 in Battagram, 1,675 in Bunner, 1,670 in Charsadda, 581 in Chitral, 917 in Dera Ismail Khan, 1,859 in Upper Dir, 1,034 in Hangu, 1,466 in Haripur, 1,013 in Karak, 1,025 in Kohat, 188 in Kohistan, 840 in Lakki Marwat, 1,369 in Malakand, 2,150 in Mansehra, 2,244 in Nowshera, 2,339 in Peshawar, 902 in Shangla, 2630 in Swabi, 225 in Tank and 165 in Torghar.

Of the total specially-abled children enrolled in schools, 15,851 boys and 8,357 girls are enrolled at the primary level. Moreover, 251 boys and 84 girls are enrolled in mosque schools. A further 1,347 boys and 643 girls are enrolled in middle schools, while 4,932 boys and 2,020 girls in high schools.

An additional 2,347 boys and 1,383 girls are enrolled in higher secondary schools.

According to the report, of in these students 440 (294 boys and 146 girls) students have complete visuals, 11,003 (6,599 boys and 4,404 girls) have partial visual impairment, 754 (478 boys and 276 girls) have full hearing, 3,079 (2,219 boys and 860 girls) have partial hearing impairment, 1,484 (921 boys and 563 girls) students have full speech capability, 5,997 (4,358 boys 1,639 girls) students with partial speech impairment, 3,332 (2,409 boys 923 girls) have hand or arm distillates, 5,828 (3928 boys and 1900 girls) students with leg or foot impairments and 5,098 (3322 boys and 1776 girls) students have mental or psychological handicaps.

According to out-of-school children survey by the K-P Elementary and Secondary Education Department, around 37,000 specially-abled students are out of schools across the province.

Talking to The Express Tribune, K-P Elementary and Secondary Education Director Farid Khattak maintained that the government has provided equal opportunities to all students in the province.

He said that as was being done with normal children who too are out of school, specially-abled children will also be enrolled in government schools.

Khattak went on to say that the provincial government has decided to build ramps and special toilets in all newly-established schools of the province.

The director shared that they also plan to run a massive awareness campaign at the school-level so that other students treat specially-abled students with respect and make them feel welcome in schools.

EEF Managing Director Zulfikar Ahmad told The Express Tribune explained that they first categorised all the specially-abled out-of-school children and then devised a plan to provide them with educational opportunities.



He added that to ensure educational opportunities for specially-abled out-of-school children, they have started a scheme titled ‘Tale Education Programme,’ under which online and remote education will be provided to such children.

In this regard, the EEF had provided such students with laptops and connected them with nearby community schools so that they could continue their education.

The director informed that they were also providing Rs700 in transport expenses who were keen on going to schools but did not have the means to do so.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2018.