Inclusive Education In Armenia
By Denise Roza,
Perspektiva, Moscow, Russia
 In December 2002, I traveled to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia to visit our partner - Bridge of Hope - and had the chance to learn about how they are achieving inclusive education.
At first glance, Yerevan's School No. 27 looks like any other school in the former Soviet Union - a drab, dilapidated three-story building. But then the visitor's eyes settle on a slope leading to the front door - a genuine wheelchair ramp and a rare item in this corner of the world, even in affluent cities like Moscow.
Inside, the school doesn't look like what we usually think of as an ideal integrated school, with fancy technical aids everywhere; Armenia is poor, and School No. 27 gets by without a lot of expensive contraptions. It makes up for this lack with its warm and accepting atmosphere. After just an hour's visit, I came to realize there was something truly special about this school.
How did this come about? How did this ordinary public school become a model of inclusive education in Armenia?
Armenia in the early 1990s
After Armenia gained independence with the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, living standards dropped dramatically during the country's rocky economic transition. Unemployment, widespread poverty and frequent interruptions in basic services such as electricity made life extremely difficult for the whole country, with disabled people among the worst affected.
The growing poverty led to increased isolation of and discrimination toward people with disabilities. Despite small gains in recent years, the needs of disabled people are still largely neglected at the local and national levels.
People with disabilities and their families are among Armenia's poorest, with limited or no access to education, health and social services. Because of widespread discrimination, they have fewer chances than non-disabled people to get jobs.
A Bridge of Hope for Children with Disabilities...
In 1996, five years after the Soviet collapse, Bridge of Hope - an NGO uniting parents of disabled children - was founded.
The earthquake in 1988 had left thousands of people with disabilities. A number of relief programs had been established to provide support and rehabilitation services. Susanna Tadevosyan began working in one of these programs in 1992. Over four years, Susanna met with many parents and family members, learning about their problems, fears, apprehensions and hopes. She learned that parents faced humiliation, hostility and stares of rejection beyond the walls of their homes. There was little or no support for disabled children and their families, and school was off limits for them - the only options were to study at home or in closed institutions. Thus disabled children were isolated from their peers and deprived of any opportunities to become members of the community.
It was this dead-end situation that motivated Susanna to invite parents of disabled children to a meeting to discuss ways to make changes and improve their lives and the lives of their children. After several meetings, they formed Bridge of Hope, an NGO that would speak out for the rights of disabled children to be fully participating members of the community. The organization provides children and their families with support and services to help them integrate into a sometimes hostile community.
Bridge of Hope Comes to School # 27
In the Spring of 1998, Susanna met the director of School No. 27, Anahit Bakhshyan. Anahit asked Susanna how disabled children were educated in Armenia. During her 20 years as a teacher, she had never encountered a disabled child. She was shocked to learn that disabled kids had no option but to study at home or in specialized schools. Some got no education at all. Susanna challenged Anahit to accept disabled children into her school the next fall. Nobody knew the challenge presented that evening would change the lives of so many people.
"I was very nervous," Anahit said of the day the first disabled student came to the school.
But the student, a girl named Ashkhen who uses a walker and has a vision impairment, made it clear that everything would be fine.
After she was introduced to the teachers, Ashkhen pulled out of her school bag a copy of Sunflower, a children's magazine produced by Bridge of Hope. Holding the magazine, she said, "The name of this magazine is Sunflower. I want you to think of me as one of the petals of the sunflower -- I am just like any other child, but at the same time, I am different and unique."
Ashkhen's statement surprised the teachers, who were expecting a helpless, sick and shy little girl. Thanks to Ashkhen's small presentation, everyone relaxed and realized inclusive education would not be as difficult as they had feared.
School No. 27 in 2003
Today, the school has more than 50 children with special educational needs, and they fit in like everybody else. The teachers have more than four years of experience and training provided by special education specialists from Europe. A team of professionals and teachers, together with the child's parents, evaluates the child and then develops for him/her an individual educational and development plan. Thus, each child's needs are assessed and met within the school. The program has received wide recognition in Armenia and has the Education Ministry's endorsement. School No. 27 has been named the country's model school of inclusive education.
New law and replication of success
In 1998, a law on integrating disabled children into mainstream schools was passed thanks to the lobbying efforts of Bridge of Hope staff and the Education Ministry. Five more schools in Yerevan have begun replicating School No. 27's successful model.
The program has also received support from international donors and organizations, such as Novib (Oxfam - Holland), Oxfam GB and UNICEF. Teachers have learned how to use interactive teaching methods and have begun applying them in all of their classes. The teachers' attitudes have changed, their fear and apprehensions have passed. According to Anahit, the entire school community has become a little more accepting of differences.
Today, disabled children in Armenia and their families have new hope for their children to grow up like every other child, to receive a good education, make friends, participate in school clubs, attend the prom -- in short to make mistakes or succeed just like their non-disabled peers. It is proof that integrating disabled kids into mainstream classrooms does not require millions of dollars -- an argument that often keeps people from taking even the first steps. All that is needed is a partnership of committed people and organizations. Thanks to this program and the efforts of all those who have invested time, energy and resources, children with disabilities in Armenia will grow up to be adults with aspirations, and opportunities.
|
