IT IS disconcerting that the education system in Bangladesh still cannot ensure the rights of children with disabilities. Teachers, students and parents have long been talking about the lack of infrastructural support and other resources needed for children with disabilities to access education. In this context, it is not surprising that the enrolment of children with disabilities in pre-primary and primary school is progressively declining. The Annual Primary School Statistics reported that the enrolments of such children dropped to 1.02 lakh in 2024 from 1.25 lakh in 2023. Among those enrolled, there is a stark gender disparity. Public schools are often infrastructurally ill-equipped to attend to the needs of children with disabilities. Parents with girl children with disabilities hesitate to send them to school, fearing sexual abuse. Teachers lack particular training, and there is no psychological care to meet the special needs. Clearly, there is a general lack of understanding and awareness of the special care and needs of these children, leading to routine violation of their right to education.
The number of children with disability, meanwhile, is on the rise. In 2022, the Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics reported that 25.5 in every 1000 people had some form of disability. The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics reported approximately 1.99-1.7 per cent of the population aged 5-17 have a disability, highlighting the need for increased visibility and support for these vulnerable children. At a time when there are barely any facilities to ensure access to education for children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, the government decided to discontinue its support for the national academy for children with special needs in August. There are only 11 government schools for children with autism, seven government schools for children with speech and hearing disabilities, five government schools for visually impaired children and one centre for mentally challenged children. In early March, teachers of non-government schools for children with disabilities took to the streets with their demands that include immediate recognition and monthly-pay-order facility, equipping all such schools with disability-friendly infrastructures and ensuring minimum education allocation of Tk聽3,000 for each student. There are a number of policy interventions, including the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2013, but they have not been translated into action.
The government should, under the circumstances, ensure children with disabilities are not deprived of basic access to education. As a first step towards building an inclusive education system, it should expedite the process of recognising the non-government schools for special children and other resources so special educational needs of the children are fulfilled.