Experts urge govt to pay attention to students with special needs

People with learning disabilities should be given special education and training so they can become productive for the society.

These views were expressed by the experts during a day-long national conference on new paradigms of research in special education. The event was organised by the Department of Special Education of Karachi University at the Arts Auditorium on Wednesday.

More than one billion people around the world, of whom nearly 93 million are children, live with some form of disability. People with disabilities experience inequalities in their daily lives, and have fewer opportunities to access a quality education that takes place in an inclusive environment.

The experts urged the government to improve the quality of higher education for special students. They asked to develop a model demonstration education program that would offer research, training and service opportunities for students’ with special needs.

Director of special education Balochistan, Jumma Khan Durrani, said that rehabilitation of people with disabilities was need of the hour. Our society’s misperception about different forms and types of disabilities and the limited capacity of social actors to accommodate special needs often place people with disabilities on the margin. A large number of such people were out of schools and had been segregated from the society.

Chairman Pakistan Disabled Foundation Professor Shahid Ahmed Memon said that such events should to be organised as they provide opportunities to learn beyond a classroom and a natural process of education communication and promotion of interest among the students and trainees about the practical role of special education.