Yangon, July (7)
There were restrictions on the right to education for children with disabilities in basic schools under the military regime, the volunteers who assist the disabled told Than Lwin Times.
Children with disabilities have suffered the most from the loss of their basic rights to education and human rights since the military coup.
“Education officials are not accepting the enrollment of children with disabilities, and they are demanding money from the children. The disabled children are facing difficulties because they do not have access to education during the interim education period. Regarding online learning for the disabled, it is impossible for them to access it due to financial and technical difficulties,” said U Zaw Lin Tun, chairman of the Myanmar Coordination Committee for Equal Rights of People with Disabilities (MCERP).
He also said that children with disabilities who do not have access to education will later lack knowledge and skills and will not be able to make their own decisions as before, and will have to rely on others.
“In the military council’s basic education schools, children with disabilities face discrimination from their peers, leading to mental health problems,” a person who helps people with disabilities remarked.
Currently, children with disabilities who live in cities have difficulties accessing education, and those from unstable regions do not have access to it at all.
After the military coup, people with disabilities have lost almost all of their basic rights, such as education, health, employment opportunities, and survival rights.
The previous NLD government provided monthly support to the disabled and sent school teachers to study abroad for disabled children. In addition, the NLD government had given tax breaks to companies that employ people with disabilities in compliance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Law.
According to the 2019 Inter-censal survey, 12.8 percent of the country’s population in Myanmar are people with disabilities, and the number of people with disabilities may increase almost daily due to the ongoing conflicts, said the volunteers who help people with disabilities.
News-Than Lwin Times
Photo-BBC