Minister of Education Tayseer Al-Nuaimi announced the ministry is conducting studies to create a special curricula for persons with disabilities through a ten year strategy in close partnership with the Supreme Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
For the occasion of International Day for Persons with Disabilities, Nuaimi explained that the ministry is planning to support and facilitate a stronger educational program for persons with disabilities as per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2017.
The act includes a set of rights in the field of education, such as adopting programs for integration between students with disabilities and their peers, and finding qualified personnel to facilitate the process while using modern technology in their teaching.
Nuaimi referred to the completion of a number of national strategies which improve the general life and rights of persons with disabilities, such as the National Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the National Strategy for Human Resources Development.
The plans currently being assessed were drawn up to contribute strongly to the implementation of what was cited in these strategies, especially related to the educational rights of persons with disabilities.
He added that the ministry had established many schools that specialize in educating students with disabilities, such as schools for the deaf and the blind, and provided attached rooms in public schools to take care of students with intellectual disabilities, hearing disabilities, speech disorders, and those with learning difficulties.
The ministry has also developed specialized programs in the field of educating these students, and providing qualified personnel to provide educational services and psychological and social support to them.
An educational system is also being evaluated to include within the ministry’s framework the preservation of the rights of students with disabilities in light of the coronavirus crisis. Nuaimi has started developing an educational system suitable for these students which can be activated within distance learning programs, taking into account their needs.
We have already started this with deaf students and we are currently in preparation to reach students with other disabilities, said Nuaimi.
Additionally, he stressed that the ministry pays great attention to its employees with disabilities, including teachers and administrators, as they constitute an important component in society.
They deserve praise and thanks for their appreciated efforts, as the disability did not diminish their resolve, he added.