PRESIDENT Asif Zardari`s captivation with Sarah Palin sidelined a more worthy highlight of his visit to the United Nations in New York in September — the signing of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by Pakistan on Sept 25, 2008.

The convention which was adopted by the UN in December 2006 and came into effect in May 2008 currently has 136 signatories. Safeguarding the interests of 650 million persons with disabilities worldwide, the convention promotes non-discrimination, respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity and their meaningful participation in the social, economic, political and cultural lives of communities. Countries which sign and ratify it are obliged to guarantee the rights enumerated under the convention under domestic law.

For approximately 77 million children with disabilities worldwide, Article 24 of the convention recognises the right to education. It reads as follows

“(1) ... States Parties shall ensure an inclusive education system at all levels ... directed to the full development of human potential and sense of dignity and self-worth ... (2) ... States parties shall ensure that (a) persons with disabilities are not excluded from the general education system on the basis of disability, and that children with disabilities are not excluded from free and compulsory primary education, or from secondary education, on the basis of disability ... (d) persons with disabilities receive the support required, within the general education system ... that maximise academic and social development, consistent with the goal of full inclusion....”

Compliance with Article 24 would require Pakistan to move towards an inclusive system of education. The principle of inclusive education is based on the social model of disability which perceives the current education system and schools as inadequate. It requires them to adapt to meet the individual needs of all learners whose exclusion from mainstream education may have been the result of disability or psychological, social, economic or cultural factors.

Its predecessor is the integrated education methodology still implemented in many countries. Integrated education essentially follows the medical model of disability which sees individuals with the disabilities as the problem. Additional and necessary arrangements for pull-out or remediation are made for these pupils without pressurising the regular school setting to change.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 laid the foundation for `education of all` (as currently propagated by the World Bank) and was followed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989. Inclusive education was adopted at the World Conference on Special Needs Education in 1994 in Salamanca, Spain, restated at the World Education Forum in 2000 in Dakar, Senegal, and finally culminated in the Convention in 2006.

Besides the World Bank, UNESCO has been a major proponent of inclusive education particularly in developing countries where 90 per cent of the children with disabilities do not attend schools. Pakistan, Romania, Uganda, India, China, Indonesia, Panama, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are some of the countries in which the World Bank and/or UNESCO have undertaken projects.

In Pakistan, the methodologies of integrated or inclusive education are relatively unknown as our education system remains entrenched in the outdated mode of segregated schooling for children with disabilities and those without.

Currently, there is no specific law which protects the right of disabled children to be enrolled in mainstream schools. However, the courts including the Supreme Court of Pakistan have upheld the right of equality and non-discrimination enshrined in Article 25 of the constitution to direct medical colleges to grant admission to successful candidates despite their physical disabilities (Riffat Akram v. Chairman, Admission Board, King Edward Medical College, Lahore 1993 SCMR 2370).

A few top-tier mainstream primary schools in Karachi are experimenting with integration of children with disabilities if they are accompanied by resource teachers. In the public sector, instances of model inclusive schools are scattered.

Lack of parental awareness about disability and children`s potential for learning, albeit slow, dearth of special education needs educators and teacher-training programmes, physical inaccessibility of transport services and infrastructure of schools, gender discrimination, poverty and limited financial resources have seriously hampered the outgrowth of full-fledged programmes for large-scale implementation of inclusive or integrated schooling.

It is somewhat assuring to know that, at least in theory, the essence of inclusive education will trickle down into domestic law once Pakistan ratifies the Convention, whenever that might be.

For the overhaul of our education system to leapfrog into inclusive education, decades ahead of itself, the rewriting of domestic law would only be the starting point.

The administrative framework at the federal level needs redressing so that the portfolio of education currently divided between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Women Development, Social Welfare and Special Education is merged under the former. The latter may be revamped to discard the welfare or charity model of disability to adopt the social model which inherently seeks to empower and enable the disabled population.

An expanded yet flexible Ministry of Education advised by

international consultants may facilitate the transition towards an inclusive and, in certain cases, integrated education. The traditional method of rote learning may be eliminated and extensive teacher-training programmes and competitive programmes may be initiated in universities for a surge in the local pool of special needs educators, remedial experts and therapists, social workers, counsellors, and behaviour experts.

Most challenging of all is fostering a working relationship with families of children with disabilities many of whom are barely able to feed and clothe themselves. As primary caregivers and providers their awareness must be raised and negative attitudes transformed. Respect, love and patience that consequentially develop are the essential building blocks for creating an environment conducive to learning for the overall success of inclusion.

Given the ground realities as they exist today, the leapfrog towards inclusive education is as ambitious as it is gigantic. It is also dependent on our financial resources, the availability of expertise and the removal of the barrier of discrimination, an unfortunate part of the human condition.

Advocates for the rights of persons with disabilities would be grateful for small moves instead of gigantic ones as long as these are forthcoming in the right direction and not unworthily sidelined in the future.n

The writer is a lecturer for the University of London`s external LLB programme.

sadiamumtaz@gmail.com