Despite the government’s commitment to making schools inclusive and children friendly, the government in many instances has failed to make the school environment accessible to children with disabilities

Persons with disabilities in Nepal are doubly marginalized- first by poverty, and then by social and economic exclusion. Negative social attitudes and prejudice towards disability have ensured relatively low prioritization of national resources towards disability intervention and fuelled extreme exclusion for the average individual with disability. It is not uncommon for existence of disability to be blamed as a consequence of past wrongdoing by the parents or by the persons with disability themselves.

Furthermore, the understanding of disability as a human rights issue is still remote. This is expressed by the nationwide lack of awareness of the CRPD, its principles and even its existence among the dominant Nepalese population. Disabled people are often subjected to inhuman treatment and are largely perceived as objects requiring charity as opposed to subjects of rights. In Nepalese context, the need for community support and services is extensive. Some research has shown that most of the families of persons with disabilities have no planning for the future life of their disabled sons and daughters; and even in adult life the notion of independence for persons with disabilities is more or less abstract.

However, there are significant shifts taking place. For example, there is now a right to free primary education and which is currently being implemented in favour of children with disabilities.  There is still need to develop legal and social support systems to enable greater participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities in the community. Hence, continuous advocacy will be an integral part for the further development of these systems. Therefore, the disability rights issue has close connection with the development policies and programs of the government.

While Nepal is a signatory of several international human rights instrument including the CRPD, the national implementation process is still very slow. Additionally, there is limited expertise and physical presence of persons with disabilities and/or their advocates at the policy-making level. As a result, it is very difficult to effectively engage policy-makers in addressing the exclusion of persons with disabilities. Further, policy-makers are not ready to address disability issues because most policy-makers still embrace stereotypes about persons with disabilities, and it is challenging to change such mind-sets.

Education is the basic tool to increase the awareness level of people as well as for their empowerment. Therefore, rights sensitive inclusive education for persons with disabilities can contribute to significant change in life. Unfortunately, and in Nepal, the meaning and distinction between inclusive education, integrated education and special needs education is often blurred. Education policy makers are not fully aware of the ideology backing an inclusive education system.

The result is that the government is failing to ensure an inclusive education system that is available, accessible, appropriate and of good quality for children with all types of disabilities. As a consequence, there is high illiteracy prevalence among persons with disabilities escalating exclusion, unemployment, social participation and poverty.

The right to education for all persons including those with disabilities is rooted in article 26 of the Universal declaration of human rights which clearly states that “everyone has the right to education.” And the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities obliges state parties to guarantee an “Inclusive education system at all levels”. Article 24 of this convention requires the state parties to ensure that children with disabilities “are not excluded from the general education system on the basis of disability”.

It also states that such education should be in an inclusive and free environment. It should be provided with and on an equal basis with others in the communities in which they live. The convention goes further and mandates state parties to provide reasonable accommodation within the general education system on an individualized basis to persons with disabilities in order to facilitate their education. Despite the government’s commitment to making schools

inclusive and children friendly, the government in many instances fails to make the school environment accessible to children with disabilities. Since reasonable accommodation includes structural modifications in schools like the provision of ramps and other assistive devices as well as modification of the curriculum and evaluation methods, no provision by the government of Nepal inhibits the right to education for persons with disabilities.

The obstacles are mainly associated with limited financial resources, poor understanding of disability and low prioritization of inclusive education. In conclusion, a lot remains to be done for the effective implementation of UNCRPD Article 24 in the context of Nepal. Mainstreaming of disability should be a priority in all the spheres of public life. There are numerous obstacles to inclusive education for children with disabilities. To solve these obstacles, we need to overcome a ‘silos’ or narrow approach and we need to create synergies among stakeholders including governments, individual citizens, communities and organizations. As the gist of one Nepalese proverb notes it is better to light a small lamp than to curse the darkness. Focus should be directed towards positive action and not fears.

Joshi is a disability rights lawyer