Disability - Awareness - Education - Rights - Info

national | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Friday September 26, 2003 14:57 by iosaf /ipsiphi/ O as if - with a little help from my friends - Reclaim the Streets!

in the week of "yellow ribbon" some thoughts and links from other marginalised citizens.

Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill 2003

An Bille um Oideachas do Dhaoine faoi Mhíchumas 2003
Presented yesterday to the Joint Committee on Education and Science of the Dail by the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science. (draft bill number 34 this year)

This bill like all bills is on the table a while.
It surfaced earlier in the year, and AHEAD the Irish organisation for students with Disabilities quite properly pointed out the flaws some of which include:

"The Bill applies to children between the ages of 3-18 and does not mention the support needs of school-leavers over the age of 18, which would be required to manage the transition to third level. This means that a person with a disability who has had the advantage of supports throughout the primary and secondary school system has no entitlement to the uninterrupted continuation of these supports during the transition to third level or while participating in third level courses. This is clearly inequitable and does not give people with disabilities either equality of access or equality of participation in tertiary education.

The UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides (Article 13) that "education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality". It is hard to see how a bill that does not provide for education beyond age 18 implements Ireland's ratification of the Covenant. The UN Committee monitoring the compliance of State Parties criticised Ireland's failure in this area - see paragraphs 9, 14, 15, 22, 24 and 27 of Concluding Observations Report of UN ESCR Committee, dated 14 May 1999. The UN Human Rights Committee repeated this criticism the following year - see paragraphs and 11 and 29 (e) of the Concluding Observations Report of UN Human Rights Committee, dated 24 July 2000.

Much of the Bill is qualified. An example is section 11.4 which states that where parents are dissatisfied with the achievement of goals specified in the educational plan, they may request a review and where the principal considers it appropriate to accede to their requests he or she shall carry out or cause to be carried out that review.... This approach is totally unsatisfactory and undermines the right of an individual to have progress reviewed where they believe needs have not been met. Clauses of this type repeat the Irish government behaviour criticised by the two UN Committees referred to above. Overall the Bill is very disappointing and will not improve access and participation of people to third level education as it totally omits to mention this sector whatsoever.

The Bill omits any mention of access to third level education. It fails to mention issues such as:

Flexible access to third level courses.

Assessment of support and accommodation needs required to participate in third level courses.

Creation of accessible pedagogic environments and appropriate methodologies such as Distance Learning.

Access to life long learning options and the right of qualified adults to access funded education at appropriate phases of their life, rather than post leaving certificate courses.

see their website:
http://www.ahead.ie/news.htm
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Disability Ireland are the national organisation for persons with Disability. Their official reaction to the Bill has been less "student political".
:
http://www.disability.ie/displaydoc.asp?docid=134&sid=13
also of interest is their list of places in Ireland which were designed or redesigned with Disabled people in mind.
http://www.disability.ie/displaydoc.asp?docid=348&sid=23


Disabled people _vote_ as well and indeed many do ·not vote·
Ireland became one of the first states of the EU to have a member of the Council of State who was disabled, during the Mary Robinson period. The President rather typically perhaps killing a few birds with one stone; disablity, youth and gay rights.
However Ireland despite the pride shown by it's current administration in it's education placing by the OECD. Whilst neighbouring UK was rather dissappointed, the Minister in Ireland was very happy. The good folk at the OECD had decided that Ireland had a good education system "thanks to the teachers, parents and children".

[["Ireland comes out well in many of the OECD's comparisons, which is a reflection of the quality of our schools and teachers and, especially, of the ability of our young people to meet the many and varied challenges they are likely to face in their lives" said Noel Dempsey, TD, Minister for Education and Science, commenting on the publication of ‘Education at a Glance – OECD Indicators 2003’."]]

http://www.oecd.org/home/

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You may like to "get involved"
contact http://www.disability-federation.ie/
for a list of groupings.
or help this weeks "Yellow Ribbon"

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Enable Ireland's Annual Yellow Ribbon Campaign takes place from September 22nd to September 28th throughout Ireland.
Yellow Ribbon symbolises the welcoming back in the commnity of people with physical disabilities.
Yellow Ribbon has two primary functions:-

1. General Fundraising
2. Organisation Awareness

This is the 11th year of our annual fundraising and awareness week. We really need your help to make it happen.
Can you spare just two hours of your time to join our Yellow Ribbon Team during the week around the Country ? If so please contact Belinda Kearns @ 01 8727155 Ext 216 or email
http://www.enableireland.ie/

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Links outside Ireland / UK.

for a very popular graffiti stencil logo
see:
http://www.wapd.org/

for some humour see:

http://www.dizabled.com/97_oct.html

for links to US organisations and groupings and lobbyists
http://www.nod.org/micassa/micassa1.html
"our nodes are as planetary as our people"


WHO definition of Disability:
http://www.sanita.fvg.it/ars/who/who_meeting1.htm