Supporting inclusive education in Afghanistan: a father's story
20 August 2007
- Country:
- Afghanistan
- Organisations involved:
- International Rescue Committee
- Synopsis:
- I am the father of six children, four of whom are deaf. One has some hearing and was accepted by the local school. She sits at the front of the class and has a bit of extra input from the teacher. My three other deaf children were selected for the International Rescue Committee’s new inclusive education programme for deaf and blind children in Herat. I was chosen to be a Programme Officer for the hearing impairment section.
I wasn't sure if this inclusive education method would work. Would the other children tease my children? How would the teachers communicate with my children? I had been to see two schools for deaf children in other cities of Afghanistan and I thought maybe that was the only way. But after receiving some training on inclusive education and its benefits for all children, I decided to give it a go. We passed on the training we received to the teachers in the school, and we received more Sign Language training alongside the teachers. Some expert deaf adults came to train us both in inclusive education and in Sign Language. I was very encouraged to meet strong, confident deaf adults. I can now see a positive future for my children. One day when I have more time, I would like to start an association for the deaf in our city.
We now have 16 deaf children in the programme receiving education in regular schools. My colleague and I visit each classroom at least once a week. We give the teachers encouragement and more ideas and help them to solve any problems they face. Our programme is new and we need to do more work to improve the quality of education.
I am really enjoying my work and I enjoy being involved in my children's education. It is not so easy to encourage other parents to be involved. They have seen the positive changes in their children like I have, and they see the school system supporting them - but we have to put a lot of effort into convincing them to receive training in Sign Language themselves. I have contact with other parents of deaf children who are not involved in the programme. All of them want their children to go to school - if only we had enough resources.
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