Gaza – (4/08/2010): PRCS’s Ability Development College in Khan Younis held a Scientific Day under the banner “Give us the chance to succeed: the future of disabled students in higher education institutions”. Relevant institutions, College students and faculty as well as many students with disability took part in this scientific day which aimed at raising the local community’s awareness as to the future of individuals with disability in Palestinian higher education institutions, with a view to overcoming obstacles preventing them from continuing their higher education.
Dr. Jean Calder, College Dean, recalled how the College grew little by little until it was licensed by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education in 2006, becoming the only University College in Palestine to grant Bachelor degrees in special education and rehabilitation.
Mr. Saber Al Nairab, Human Rights Officer at UNHCR, said that persons with disability constitute part and parcel of the world’s population: 600 million persons with disability live in the world with 109 thousand of them living in Palestine in general and 69 thousand living in Gaza Strip governorates. He also spoke about the uproar that preceded the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which came into force in 2008 after being ratified by 20 states. At the time, it was said that IHL covered persons with disabilities and granted them their full rights, hence, there was no need for special laws or conventions for persons with disability.
Engineer Hazem Shihadeh, Director of the Assistive Techniques Center at the Islamic University, which provides services to visually impaired students, spoke about his Center’s experience in accommodating and rehabilitating visually-impaired students, underlining that the number of such students soared from 4 to 67 in the nine years since the Center was created. “The Center provides numerous services to students, including printed and audio curricula, techniques to enlarge print for those suffering from partial disabilities, training students on how to reach the University’s various facilities, provision of assistants, and even finding jobs for some students with disability in line with the Palestinian Labor Law”, he said.
At the end of the scientific day, participants endorsed a number of recommendations, mainly: the need for higher education institutions to adopt clear policies towards students with disabilities; establishing “special services” offices to follow up on the affairs of students with disability, provision of readers/note takers, sign language interpreters, and hiring persons to help students with disability get around more conveniently.
During this Scientific Day, four graduates living with four different types of disabilities spoke about their success stories and how they finished their higher education despite all difficulties. Dalal Al Taji, who is visually impaired and works as the College’s Continuing Education Officer, related her personal experience from the moment she landed in Great Britain until she obtained her Master’s degree in humanities from Edinborough University.
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