Parents of five-year-old Galina, living in Darabars village of Syunik marz, wish for their child to receive education, but due to having infantile paralysis and due to living in a rural area, Galina is deprived of this right.

Inclusive schools already exist in Syunik marz, but Galina and dozens of children like her cannot study in those schools, due to the transportation issue.  Today, in Syunik marz, only 95 children with disabilities are able to use their right to education.

Three schools of Syunik marz implement inclusive education and one of them is located in Sisian (It takes one hour from Darabars to Sisian)։  Galina's mother, Hasmik Hovhannisyan says that she cannot take her child to the city every day, since she has health problems, and at home no one except her is there to assist, and her husband works in Russia. 

"In the past I managed to teach her, she knew the names of the states with their capitals, she knew how to count, she knew the alphabet and could recite.  I taught her Russian, but now I do not manage to teach her and she has forgotten everything", says Hasmik.

In Sisian 19 students receive inclusive education

"It seems to everyone that I can do only few things.  But it is not like that.  There are certainly some physical activities that I cannot perform.  I dress on my own, I  put my things in order, I put on my shoes.  I help my Mom.  We prepare salads and meals together.  But I cannot tie my shoes or thread a needle: But this does not break me: There are more important things in this life, for example creating relationships with people",- this is an abstract from Hayk Vardanyan's essay, who receives inclusive education. He studies at the Sisian school #3.  As he lives in Sisian, unlike Galina, he is able to attend the corresponding school and receive education.

Hayk has studied Spanish by himself and uses it to communicate with his elder sister, when he wants to communicate secret things.  He wants to become an actor and is very sad that no such club exists in Sisian.

In Sisian school #3 inclusive education is implemented for 19 children.  According to the school headmaster Naira Nersisyan, only due to long preparation work with parents it has been possible to break the parents' stereotype persuading them that a healthy child can study side by side with a disabled child.

"None of us can be sure that our child will not have such an issue tomorrow or some other day", says Nersisyan.

Nonetheless, Nersisyan also confesses that they are yet not able to implement inclusive education for children with mental disabilities, since parents are shy/ashamed to bring their children to school.   

Anik Babajanyan, the coordinator of the inclusive education project of the World Vision Armenia Sisian office, notes that the project is appropriate and necessary, but so far it is of formal character, since in other schools the teachers have not yet realized that during one class hour, each teacher should include all of the children into the learning process.

"As for those children who want to study but whose parents cannot take them to the nearest center, we cannot provide 115 buses for 115 schools",-says Ludwig Harutyunyan, the head of the education department of Syunik marzpetaran.

He informs that 115 schools exist in their marz, three of which implement inclusive education; another three schools are envisaged to start implementing inclusive education.

Karine Ionesyan

Source:  www.hra.am